Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Start of ARISE project: Adaptation and Decision Support via Risk Management Through Local Burning Embers

The 2013 floods in Central Europe have been a stark reminder of how vulnerable and hazard-prone European countries are and how costly disasters are even today both in terms of economic damage and loss of lives. In Austria and elsewhere, extreme events such as heavy precipitation, storms and debris flows are expected to differentially exhibit changes in terms of severity, frequency and duration. Sustainable and scientifically sound disaster risk reduction is considered a key element of climate change adaptation strategies by both the academic and policymaking worlds. IPCC’s Burning Embers – Reasons for Concern illustrate the future global risk development split into five categories and visualize the trends.
 IPCC'S "buring embers" diagram (2001)

The overall aim of the ARISE project – funded by the Austrian Climate Research Programme (ACRP) - is to develop a decision support system for climate-sensitive iterative risk management as a key adaptation approach. Its objectives are (1) to bridge the gaps between global initiatives related to climate change and disaster risk reduction and national, subnational as well as local risk management and adaptation needs,(2) to downscale the “Burning Embers - Reasons for Concern” to the local level, and (3) to support the building of resilience and adaptation capacities. A framework for iterative risk management and scenarios will be developed and adaptation measures tested in the City of Lienz, Austria. The consortium of 8 partners is led by alpS GmbH. The project was kicked off on April 2, 2014 in Innsbruck. For more information please visit the project website or contact Stefan Kienberger

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