Awareness and wider societal implications

Transcription

1 Awareness and wider societal implications

2 Awareness and wider societal implications

3 COLOPHON Title Awareness and wider societal implications Report number PREPARED Deliverable number D 8.9 Author(s) Adriana D. Hulsmann Quality Assurance By Gerard van den Berg Dealing with horizontal project-related issues including gender and science and society related aspects Document history Version Team member Status Date update Comments V1 A.D. Hulsmann Draft 7 March 2014 V2 A.D. Hulsmann Final 31 March 2014 QA Gerard van den Berg This report is Public

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5 Contents Contents 2 1 Introduction to the horizontal project issues Types of horizontal issues in the PREPARED project Impact of horizontal issues and activities in the PREPARED project Total impact of the PREPARED project 3 2 The PREPARED Enabling Change project Outcomes of the PREPARED project 4 3 City Utilities in PREPARED Cities network and city utility cooperation Demonstrations at city utilities What was the impact 8 4 Video demonstrations City video s Impact of city video s 13 5 Water Cycle Safety Planning Introduction to WCSP The concept Impact of the WCSP 14 6 Enabling Change, scenario thinking Introduction The concept The Impact of scenario thinking 16 7 City Branding Tool Introduction The concept Impact of the branding tool 18 8 Conclusions 19 PREPARED March 2014

6 1 Introduction to the horizontal project issues In this report the awareness and the wider societal implications of the PREPARED Enabling Change project are described. The horizontal issues in the project are addressed and how they contributed to the creation of awareness about the project and its activities and how the horizontal issues contributed to solving climate change induced societal challenges. 1.1 Types of horizontal issues in the PREPARED project Within the project a number of planned and additional unplanned project activities were carried out that can be ear-marked as cross-cutting or horizontal issues. Issues that applied to all or many of the work areas and were of interest to all city utilities involved, even though they might not have been directly involved in the cross-cutting activity during the four years of the project. Some of the horizontal issues that are described in this report are: Cities network and city utility co-operation Demonstrations at city utilities Co-operation in the water sector City Branding tool Water Cycle Safety Planning Enabling change, scenario thinking City specific information video s City specific posters compiled in poster booklet(s). 1.2 Impact of horizontal issues and activities in the PREPARED project For the various cross-cutting issues and activities the impact on awareness about the project will be described as well as the science and society related aspects. 1.3 Total impact of the PREPARED project Concluding remarks are made of the total impact of the combined cross-cutting issues and activities on awareness, science and society related aspects. The conference at Århus PREPARED March 2014

7 2 The PREPARED Enabling Change project The objective of the PREPARED project that lasted four years from February 2010 till January 2014 was to prepare the European water sector for the changes in climate that the sector needs to answer to. Challenges posed by climate change can impact on the water sector in different ways such as floods, droughts, changes in temperature and more extreme events. The focus of the project was on urban areas and was based on the needs from the twelve European cities that formed the heart of the project. These twelve cities identified the impacts that they thought would be most challenging for the normal daily operation of the water services they supply, such as drinking water supply, waste water collection and treatment and storm water management (including combined sewer overflows in case of extreme rainfall events). Relevant and advanced knowledge and practical experience from outside Europe was brought into the Prepared project by the utilities of Seattle and Melbourne. 2.1 Outcomes of the PREPARED project Fully in line with the utility driven approach adopted by the project the final conference was organised together with the Danish Utility Arhus Vand in Arhus in January Often the question is asked what came out of PREPARED?, hinting towards resulting new and innovative technologies. This question cannot be answered by mentioning a list of innovations. However, this does not have any adverse impacts on the success of the project. To understand this we have to go back to the original call text that the project was answering to: Optimising existing water related infrastructure with the objective to cope with climate change. In the case the optimisation of existing infrastructure is not sufficient to achieve this, new design rules are to be produced. Existing tools are to be used and implemented to facilitate the adaptation of systems and infrastructure and when necessary new tools had to be developed. This text makes it clear that the focus was not on the development of innovative technology but on showing utilities how existing technology could offer them innovative solutions to the problems they anticipated. Through the call text and the subsequent project approach that was used to answer to this call we tried to close the gap between research and innovation and implementation and demonstration in real situations. At the start of the project the twelve European urban water utilities and two non-european cities Melbourne and Seattle, brought to the table the challenges they were most worried about as a result of the changing climate. These challenges covered the most representative impacts and especially the extremes such as extreme rainfall events resulting in flooding and combined sewer overflows, droughts, sea-level rise and increase in temperature impacting on water quality and water consumption. Utilities have to make strategic investment decisions based on partly uncertain magnitudes of these challenges. In other words how to invest and cope with uncertainty. PREPARED developed and applied tools for utilities to deal with institutional and social processes through which climate change adaptation occurs. The tools enable contradictions and alignments to be identified and support collective negotiation of a strategy for climate change adaptation. Once applied this will the development of plans to support organisations in moving their policies and practices forward in a coherent and adaptive way. Another both behavioural and technical tool developed in PREPARED is the Water Cycle Safety Planning Tool (WCSP) where a close cooperation between different players in the urban water cycle, such a city council, water board and water supply company is required. This process of identification of risks in all PREPARED March 2014

8 parts of the water cycle in an integrated approach, encourages interaction and innovative cooperation between the stakeholders, without the undesired transitions from one sub-system to another and an optimal solution from the viewpoint of the whole water cycle. WCSP exercises accelerate cooperation and helps to find better climate proof solutions. From Paul Fleming Seattle Public Utilities we learned that despite all the climate modelling efforts uncertainty is not going to disappear or decrease significantly. The water sector has to learn to deal with uncertainty and a continued dialogue and co-production between climate modellers and users is needed. Users as shapers of research. Management has to deal with uncertainty and respond through robust decision making and portfolio planning. Climate change poses science, management and policy with challenges and undercuts key assumptions and strategies. This call for actionable research and utility engagement and innovation and should results in dynamic, flexible and adaptive management approaches and making choices that are not sensitive to uncertainty. Research and science needs to move to the next level of actionable research : science that provides data, analyses, projections or approaches that can support assessment of management of the risks and impacts of climate change. It is ideally coproduced by scientists and decision-makers working together and creates rigorous, understandable, accessible and usable products to meet the needs of all stakeholders. Population growth and urbanisation cause major societal challenges, as according to the UN 2012 there will be 9.3 billion people by 2050 with a dramatic increase in urban and peri-urban areas. Societal challenges correspond to a concern which is shared by citizens across Europe and where a solution cannot be found within an acceptable timeframe without major technological breakthroughs. Societal challenges share a number of elements, including complexity involved in finding a solution, the need for an interdisciplinary approach and the fact that the solution itself not only addresses the challenge but at the same time generates huge business opportunities. Many of the challenges addressed in Horizon 2020 are linked to the water cycle and according to Professor Riku Vahala (University of Aalto and chair of the Project Advisory Committee of PREPARED), many of them have been addressed in PREPARED. Quality and security in the water sector are ensured by assessment and management of risk at all levels in the water cycle and the monitoring of water quality comprehensively using rapid and on-line analytical methods. The water cycle is managed in an integrated way through better understanding of the impacts and interactions of all water-related activities, decision support system, on-line monitoring and early warning systems, in addition to better communication and PREPARED March 2014

9 direct involvement, adaptive management for climate change and more extensive use of aquifer recharge. Demand and supply are balanced through the use of alternative water sources and rainwater harvesting and effective incentives. The environmental impact is reduced through effective use of energy and chemicals (advanced control systems) and reducing water-based emissions. Assets are better managed through climate adaptive solutions, integrated operation of sewers and WWTPs using real-time measurements and real-time control (satellite information, radars and sensors). PREPARED has contributed to the competitive advance of the European water sector through the continuous development of robust and cost-effective technological solutions, solutions that have been tested in real situations at the utilities and are available for transfer to other sectors and areas of Europe and the world. PREPARED March 2014

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11 3 City Utilities in PREPARED 3.1 Cities network and city utility cooperation One of the key cross-cutting issues in the PREPARED project was the early involvement of the potential problem-owners and end-users the city water utilities. As the cities made known right from the start what research, technology and solutions they needed there was immediate awareness amongst them about the work PREPARED was going to do and what it would deliver. This approach ascertained the early adoption and implementation of the RTD outcomes, which is often not the case in purely research and science driven projects. The end-users defined the research needs, the research community worked together with the technology suppliers on the solutions and the water utilities tested and demonstrated the outcomes in their day to day operation. This was not always as easy as it sounds for a number of reasons. First of all utility experts that were enthousiastic at the proposal phase were not always employed at the utility by the time of the demonstration activities of they moved to another department. In addition utilities were faced with budget cuts and different priority setting. This resulted in many reorganisation activities and less time left for the demonstrations. But the most important barrier was the time needed for a utility to prepare their system for the demonstration activities, time that was vastly underestimated in the project. Berliner Wasser Betriebe took the initiative to form a network of participating city utilities. A network that met back to back with major project meetings and exchanged practical experience and shared problems and solutions. Meetings were often combined with site visits to the demonstration sites. 3.2 Demonstrations at city utilities Each of the European city utility (except Simferopol) demonstrated the outcomes of the PREPARED project. Whenever it was possible to actually visit the demonstration site this was open to the PREPARED partners and other utilities outside the project. 3.3 What was the impact Cooperation between utilities in the water sector is very important and should be encouraged whenever possible both in research projects and beyond. International exchange of information and know-how will cause more efficient operation and problem solving and will boost the standard of the European water sector as a whole. Duplication in research will be avoided where utilities can learn from each other and it is obvious that the European citizens will benefit from a higher service standard and less nuisance and interruption of these services. Addressing societal challenges in a wider European context will lead to better and faster results and problemsolving. For technology suppliers this further open the market as potential clients will get handson information about the products they offer. It is useful to both retain and enlarge the European utilities network. At the moment we are exploring such possibilities through IWA conferences and through linking complementary networks involved in PREPARED and in other FP projects. This is already done in the so-called city blueprint initiative from KWR and will also be done through the application of the City Branding tool developed within PREPARED (KWR and IWA). PREPARED March 2014

12 4 Video demonstrations 4.1 City video s For each of the PREPARED cities a short video was produced to highlight the challenges, the role in the project and what the project had brought to solve the problems in the city. The video s are a few minutes long and are aiming to inform the general public about the project activities and how the project has contributed to solving societal problems using public funding. All short video s are available on you-tube and on the project website Århus, Denmark addressing improved rainfall monitoring, integrated control of sewer and waste water treatment plants and early warning of water quality in receiving waters. This with the objective to produce excellent bathing water quality Berlin, Germany addresses the management of substance flows within the water cycle under climate change conditions, especially to safeguard the drinking water supply for Berlin that relies on natural water treatment methods as bank infiltration and artificial groundwater recharge near the city s many rivers and lakes. 1 All videos were produced by PREPARED March 2014

13 3. Oslo, Norway demonstrated models and knowledge for the operation and maintenance of wastewater networks that are exposed to rapid changes in flow. This to avoid combined sewer overflows and protect the water quality Simferopol, Crimea Ukraine, addresses the vulnerability of the city s surface water sources for the production of drinking water and the impact of climate change on the availability of water combined with the increased demand and higher evaporation losses through increased temperature. PREPARED March 2014

14 5. Genoa is faced with challenges as a result of climate change as long periods of no rain impacting on the availability and quality of the water as well as an increased frequency of extreme events, A decision support system for efficient water management is demonstrated Eindhoven, Netherlands In the demonstration the city tested the water cycle safety plan framework to identify risks in all parts of the water cycle in an integrated approach. Through innovative cooperation between the various local stakeholders Lyon, France demonstrated the improved measurements and knowledge of rainfall through the combination of radar images and rain gauges to improve estimates and modelling of discharges and water levels at small scale or urban catchments. PREPARED March 2014

15 8. Wales project, this special case demonstrated the institutional and social processes through which climate change adaptation occurs. This cross-cutting issues is called Enabling Change. The tool enables contradictions and alignments to be identified and support collective negotiation of a strategy for adaptation Barcelona, Spain addresses two major challenges caused by climate change. Firstly the extremen rainfall events that cause flooding and secondly the threatening shortage of fresh water. A decision support system is demonstrated. PREPARED March 2014

16 10. Gliwice, Poland the demonstration addresses the enhanced real time measuring and forecasting technologies for combined sewer overflows in the central historical part of the city, with the aim to better control and safeguard the water quality in the river Lisbon, Portugal In this case the water cycle safety plan to better assess and manage risk in the urban water cycle is demonstrated as well as the real time monitoring and modelling of chlorine for disinfection control via booster stations Istanbul, Turkey Not yet completed 4.2 Impact of city video s The decision to ear-mark some of the PREPARED budget towards the production of public oriented short and sweet video s had the sole aim of providing information to the public and to create awareness for the activities of the city utilities. The challenges addressed in the video s directly relate to the societal challenges that the public in the area concerned may be confronted with. It is positive if the players in the water sector can show how they amongst others through the PREPARED project work towards these societal challenges. In addition the video s aim to justify to the general public how funds in the EU are allocated to address such relevant problems for the citizens. Finally the video s provide a way to share scientific and practical information to other cities in similar situations and to the scientific world on how knowledge can be used to applied to solve practical problems and challenges. PREPARED March 2014

17 5 Water Cycle Safety Planning 5.1 Introduction to WCSP Water cycle safety planning is a new and innovative concept that was based on the water safety planning approach for the supply of safe drinking water. As the urban water cycle consists of more than drinking water supply, but also concerns wastewater collection and treatment and stormwater management, the concept was enlarged to include all these water aspects in the water cycle safety planning framework. This WCSP framework was further developed and demonstrated as a cross-cutting issue in PREPARED. 5.2 The concept The WCSP provides a shift from risk management of water cycle system elements to a holistic approach for the total (urban) water cycle. An action or incident in one part of the water cycle can affect other parts. For example, combined sewer overflows can affect recreational water quality or water intake for drinking water supply. The WCSP provides an integrated framework for the total water cycle by addressing risks in view of the total water cycle by defining risks that cross the border between the elements of the water cycle. In the PREPARED project the WCSP approach worked through a stepwise and systematic identification and prioritisation of climate change related risks. Various players in a demonstration case commonly defined levels of control and monitoring at the most effective points in the water cycle and together defined adaptation measures to manage climate change related risks. 5.3 Impact of the WCSP The general reaction from those that were involved in a WCSP exercise was the enthousiasm of working together with other local players in the water cycle or even with colleagues working in other parts of the organisation. It created more understanding for each other s challenges and problems, resulted in better cooperation and also more efficient operation of the water cycle. At the final conference in Århus a number of utilities involved in the WCSP demonstration compared notes and came to the conclusion that the work on WCSP should continue and be used on a wider scale. Even though utilities might have use a different approach in the WCSP PREPARED March 2014

18 exercise the outcome was equally beneficial. It was therefor decided to produce a green paper on the practical use of WCSP s and share this outside the project and beyond the project duration. First the green paper will be produced and put out for consultation to receive comments and perhaps more practical experiences. The paper will then be used to produce a white paper to be presented at the 2014 IWA conference in Lisbon. Water Cycle Safety Planning is definitely one of the outcomes of the PREPARED project that will outlive the project and be used to the benefit of European citizens. PREPARED March 2014

19 6 Enabling Change, scenario thinking 6.1 Introduction The cross-cutting issue called enabling change, focuses on the stakeholder engagement to enhance the transition at all levels in a city or utility from scientists to designers, from spatial planners and local decision makers to the general public. The Adaptation Planning process aims to stimulate teams from water utilities to develop strategic action plans about how their activities and assets can become more adaptive to future challenges, while also complying with their organisational aspirations in a systematic way. Liz Sharpe University of Sheffield on Enabling Change 6.2 The concept Institutional Adaptation requires learning and review processes which incorporate and balance the range of preferred priorities, consider a variety of plausible futures, provide a clear route forward to taking action and be fully embedded and recurring over a period of time. 6.3 The Impact of scenario thinking The output of the exercises together with the stakeholders involved in the water cycle are identified robust responses, and the narratives to describe these as well as action plans with short, medium and long term actions respectively which describe how to deliver robust responses identified in the Scenario Workshop. Some key impacts are: A structured interaction between different groups that does not normally happen, highlighting what had to be done and the need to communicate that internally. Thus results in a documented action plan with recommended outputs that give clear steer about where to go next; enabled unconstrained and more visionary thinking. PREPARED March 2014

20 Collaboration that challenges the utilities standard ways of working: such as a change from current to future involving less market and more dominance to the public involved, less reliance on economic base measures and more on collective action, adaptation measures that are both technological and institutional and in the future a move towards more institutional measures (not economic based). PREPARED March 2014

21 7 City Branding Tool 7.1 Introduction In the proposal for the PREPARED project an action was defined city marquee to assess the preparedness of a city or utility for the impact of climate change on the water sector. There was a need to have a first glimpse of the level of preparedness through a quick scan of the challenges and the measures already taken and the measures planned. 7.2 The concept The principle of the city branding tool was based on the successful City Blue Print concept developed to assess the sustainability of cities. The principle works through 20 to 30 questions and a ranking from 0 to 10. This principle enables the visualisation of the situation in a so-called spider web diagram. Example of the risk (challenges) and preparedness (measures) spider web 7.3 Impact of the branding tool The visualisation of the preparedness of a city or utility gives a quick insight in the major challenges the water sector in that city faces and the level and extend of measures that have already been taken or are planned. This picture immediately communicates to the key stakeholders, including the public where they stand with respect to potential impacts of climate change. It also enables decision makers and politicians to not only compare their status with other cities in their country and in Europe but also can assist them in setting priorities for action and investment. So the tools both works for creating awareness and for appropriate actions to be taken. The city branding tool is another product coming out of the PREPARED project that will be further developed and applied outside the cities involved and beyond the life of the project. PREPARED March 2014

22 8 Conclusions This document has the aim to highlight the activities the PREPARED Enabling Change project has carried out to enhance the awareness about the project and its outcomes and also to mention the wider societal implications of the project. Too little water (water scarcity and drought), too much water (flooding), sea level rise (salt water intrusion), increased ambient temperature (more evapotranspiration and higher water demand) and especially extreme rainfall events (combined sewer overflows) all directly or indirectly impact on our daily life sometimes even causing immediate danger. In other words climate change has the potential to put pressure on society through the many ways in which it can impact on our day to day life. These challenges and risks are addressed through the PREPARED instrument water cycle safety planning. To address climate change induced impacts and to decide on appropriate measures decisionmakers need to know what the key challenges are and how to best invest in solutions. For this decision making process the city branding tool can be used. Therefore all players and stakeholders (not in the least the general public) have to have a say in these important decisions. In other words decisions made and a level of risk that is considered to be acceptable (e.g. water on the street but no damage to houses or flooded cellars) need to be supported by the community. In the decision making e.g. on priorities and investment using public money the cities and utilities have to balance risk and cost. After all to completely remove any risk the bill for the public will be unacceptably high even though technically this could be possible. In this process uncertainty about the climate change scenarios and the expected impact on society has to be dealt with. Uncertainty is not going to disappear but has to be taken into account in the decision making and the communication. The traditional approach utilities applied in the past need to be changed. For this a change in mind set is required to facilitate the implementation of a new adaptive approach through the creation of an environment that will enable change and transition. Tools developed within PREPARED together with our Australian partners will help to create adaptive water sensitive cities. All the above mentioned tools do not only facilitate decision making but at the same time help to create awareness about the tools and solutions made possible through PREPARED. Finally one of the main achievements of PREPARED lies in the cooperation, the cooperation between stakeholders in the water sector, the cooperation between problem-owners/end-users, the cooperation between various scientists with public and private utilities and the cooperation between utilities all over Europe. This has enhanced efficiency through sharing of knowledge, through identification of key challenges and avoidance of overlap and the creation of business opportunities for the European water sector as a whole. PREPARED March 2014