Key Results and Recommendations ESPACE: European Spatial Planning: Adapting to Climate Events Key Results and Recommendations Bryan Boult Head of Environment Futures and Sustainability Hampshire County Council EEA Expert Meeting on Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Indicators, September 2008

Issues for North West Europe High population densities Valuable ecological assets High economic prosperity Climate change will impact significantly on all of these sectors. Spatial planning systems have a crucial part to play in minimising these impacts but they currently do not take account of climate change. One of the key areas of work is the development of a suite of new tools and models for practitioners and policy makers to test existing policies and to look at how they stand up to the impacts of climate change.  One of these tools is the Decision Testing Tool which will allow strategic decisions to be simulated and tested against a range of future climate scenarios. This tool will allow the user to assess how sustainable various decisions are to the uncertain future that climate change will bring. Using the Main River catchment in Germany as a case study area, the Bavarian Water Management Agency (LFW) are developing a suite of models to simulate the impact of regional climatic changes on water management (e.g. - changes to the discharge levels and flood frequencies). The modelling work has already had an impact at a National level - in 2004 the results of the model simulations were used to formulate the first ever statement for the adaptation of flood protection by the Bavarian Ministry. The current regional water system in The Netherlands is not large enough to cope with the predicted increase in the frequency and intensity of rainfall.  In an attempt to 'make space for water', Waterschap Rivierenland (WSRL) has developed a range of Guiding Models that can be used in regional planning in the search for water storage areas  (ESPACE Project 2004a). In these models, several functions are interconnected to water such as ecology, cultural history, agriculture, tourism and urban issues.  This ensures that the models can be used as a holistic tool for planning by taking the characteristics of the local environment into account in the decision making process. 

Barriers Lack of institutional frameworks to support adaptation to climate change Lack of policies / legislation Lack of awareness amongst planners and decision makers Complexity of planning systems / frameworks Inability of institutional frameworks to support adaptation Uncertainty of impacts of climate change Uncertainty of extent of adaptation required Uncertainty of which adaptation measures are appropriate or will be successful

ESPACE Aims Ensure adaptation is recognised and incorporated into spatial planning systems at the European, national, regional and local levels. Develop adaptation strategies and policy guidance to deal with the long-term impacts of climate change. Raise awareness amongst a wide range of stakeholders.

“Putting adaptation at the heart of spatial planning” The Strategy “Putting adaptation at the heart of spatial planning” Partners spent 4 years developing both the overarching strategic outputs and the detailed policy guidance, tools and policies Working within the project was undertaken at a range of levels: Partner specific case studies Case study specific smaller groupings pf partners Collectively as part of the wider ESPACE partnership Workshops and conferences built on the work of the partnership but also allowed for input from a much wider audience Range of outputs have been delivered targeted at different levels (i.e. organisations, through to governments to the European Union

14 Recommendations The 14 recommendations are the “fundamental principles” of the ESPACE Project Each recommendation is complemented by a series of case studies, tools and examples of policy advice Aimed at all levels of governance including European Institutions, national governments and regional and local authorities.

3 Key Recommendations Make Climate Change adaptation a core objective of spatial planning Look beyond the lifetime of your plan by understanding your climate risks Combine two approaches for integrating adaptation into spatial planning Managing change Risk management

ESPACE Extension Through the delivery of ESPACE, it became apparent that there are some major obstacles to the delivery and implementation of adaptation to climate change at the local level. The ESPACE Partnership felt strongly that there was a need to investigate both what the key barriers are and how to overcome them. This led to the ESPACE Extension. The basis to the Extension was to better understand what needs to change in order for adaptation to climate change to be implemented effectively by the relevant local implementation/delivery agencies.

Conclusion – Review of Policy Barriers This research shows that adaptation is not yet viewed as an overarching policy objective, nor yet is it considered essential to our ability to meet other policy objectives, like sustainability. In undertaking this work, we assumed that many of the barriers to adaptation would come from policy itself, but we found that there are significant barriers in the perception and interpretation of policy. This finding underlines the importance of combining change management and risk management approaches for integrating adaptation into spatial planning. This piece of work has uncovered areas that need further investigation in terms of climate change adaptation, and this report formed the baseline for other projects in the ESPACE Extension, which investigated perceived vs. real barriers in spatial planning policy.

Conclusions from Partners’ Actions Increase the adaptation knowledge of and relevance for leaders and decision-makers Pursue policy consistency through shared guidelines Tap into existing partnerships and networks Improve access to information and advice Need to convince local politicians of urgency Difficulty to define climate proof due to complexity Lack of instruments and guidance to deliver policies Cash for knowledge building in practice promised by Government Do not put climate change in special box Multi functionality is essential (air quality + heat islands, infrastructure + flood defense) Cross sectoral approach (organisations) Professional boundaries must be crossed

Conclusions How national governments set legislation and the culture of how legislation is interpreted, is an important influence on whether policies pose barriers to adaptation At the European level, consistency of legislation allows experiences to be shared across the Member States, but also creates problems with a “one size fits all” approach.

EEA Workshop Discussion Points How best to structure the monitoring of adaptation actions? How to possibly develop vulnerability indicators?

Key Issues at National Level Climate proof !? Urgency? Responsibilities? Behavioural change? How should we deal with uncertainties? How do we reserve space for investments (possibly) needed in the future? Analysis of vulnerability How are threats and opportunities of areas analysed and used? Strategies Which spatial strategies are carried out to enhance resilience and flexibility? Measures How are climate proof measures realised in the development, planning and design of areas, housing districts and buildings?

Outline Strategic Vulnerability Analysis Before the plan process begins use 3 key ESPACE recommendations To achieve truly ‘sustainable development’, make climate change adaptation a core activity in spatial planning Climate change adds an extra dimension to planning - it can challenge basic assumptions on availability of land (change the shape of the country) and its uses over medium and long term. Adopt 2 main approaches :- Change & Risk Management Prepare to review national planning laws, policies, codes etc to ensure climate risks are considered over whole of the decision lifetime

National Strategy Reduce vulnerability + enhance adaptive capacity Resistance, resilience and flexibility (= climate proof) Risk management Sensible use of natural systems (soil, water, air and ecosystems) Prevent social and economic disruption Minimise undesirable effects Identify opportunities (economic, spatial quality)

Adaptation / Resilience Indicators Most of the current indicators being used to measure adaptation are process indicators – i.e. they monitor progress made in identifying adaptation actions in different sectors and how far they have been implemented. Climate change presents a wide variety of pressures, and the relative urgency of these pressure may change over time, from area to area, and as our response to climate change develops. Therefore it is impossible to generate a single set of indicators to measure resilience for all time. As a highly strategic issue that challenges many underpinning assumptions of business-as-usual, climate change poses significant organisational development challenges to most organisations. Hampshire County Council, SECCP and ABA have been developing a tool for assessing organisational capacity to respond to climate change.

Indicators It is important to consider the development of indicators for assessing both vulnerability and adaptation within the context of spatial planning. Understanding the risks / vulnerability Assessing resilience How to adapt to risks and improve resilience – i.e. methodology – includes spatial planning, behaviour change etc. Measuring progress – output indicators, longer-term progress, data issues Reviewing “plans” As a highly strategic issue that challenges many underpinning assumptions of business-as-usual, climate change poses significant organisational development challenges to most organisations. Hampshire County Council, SECCP and ABA have been developing a tool for assessing organisational capacity to respond to climate change.

Indicators - Conclusions Output indicators for adaptation can only be realistically developed for the local level. Generic “global” indicators are only likely to measure process not outputs. Spatial planning does provide an opportunity to tie these two issues together to develop a coherent approach to adaptation. As a highly strategic issue that challenges many underpinning assumptions of business-as-usual, climate change poses significant organisational development challenges to most organisations. Hampshire County Council, SECCP and ABA have been developing a tool for assessing organisational capacity to respond to climate change.

Organisational Change Tool ESPACE – An Innovative Approach Organisational Change Tool

Organisational Change Tool What enables one organisation to tackle climate change more effectively than another? How does an organisation know when it's stalled on the climate change agenda? What does an organisation have to do next in order to progress? As a highly strategic issue that challenges many underpinning assumptions of business-as-usual, climate change poses significant organisational development challenges to most organisations. Hampshire County Council, SECCP and ABA have been developing a tool for assessing organisational capacity to respond to climate change.

Organisational Change Tool Improving the capacity of organisations to respond to climate change through: Identifying where organisations and projects stand in key performance areas Targeting improvements Maintaining progress Defining work programmes

Organisational Change Tool 6 Distinct Levels: Level 6 – The ‘Champion Organisation’ Level 5 – Strategic Resilience Level 4 – Breakthrough Project Level 3 – Efficient Management Level 2 – Stakeholder Responsive Level 1 – Core Business Focused Research suggests that organisational responses to sustainable development issues such as climate change progress in levels, with each Response Level both providing new capabilities and providing a foundation for work at the next level. While not every organisation needs to act from the highest levels, bodies that take substantial decisions which will affect communities, services and estates over decades – e.g. major public bodies – do need the ability to work from the higher levels when needed, as well as the systems to provide solid activity on a day to day basis.

Further Information www.espace-project.org