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This photo essay was submitted by Richard Friend, Senior Staff Scientist of ISET-International. In the Mekong Sub-Region, the relationship between water and cities has quickly become strained. These waters are a source of food, transportation and basic needs of life, but also a source of vulnerability as they become heavily polluted and refashioned due to city expansion. Through Richard’s involvement with the Mekong-BRACE and ACCCRN projects, he is able to share his unique perspective of these threats and vulnerabilities with us here. Much of the effects of climate change in the Mekong Region will be felt through water – at different times too much, too little or of poor quality, with the additional threat of severe storms and sea level rise in coastal areas. As the Mekong region urbanizes rapidly, much of this growth in cities will be along the coasts, deltas, floodplains and river systems that are already vulnerable to climate related hazards. With higher concentrations of people in these areas the risks of climate change become all the greater. Fish and aquatic animals constitute a critical part of diets in the Mekong, providing animal protein. As cities expand, natural water bodies are encroached on and refashioned, putting extra pressure on these precious resources As a storm approaches in Hue, traffic crosses a barrage across the lagoon that also acts as a flood defense. As the impacts of climate change intensify, the future viability of such infrastructure is coming under renewed scrutiny As the sun sets on the Mekong River in Northern Cambodia, local people take an evening bath

By Sarah Reed, Urban Program Advisor, ISET-International and Thanh Ngo, ISET-Vietnam. PANEL DISCUSSION “GETTING AHEAD OF CLIMATE CHANGE: BUSINESS RISKS, REGULATIONS, AND OPPORTUNITIES” WITH EXPERIENCE FRO­M INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL EXPERT. Hanoi 20 September 2013 – Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-Vietnam (ISET-Vietnam) and the Vietnam Urban Climate Resilience Community of Practice will host a panel entitled “Getting Ahead of Climate Change: Risks, Regulations, and Opportunities” as part of the Vietnam Green Biz 2013 conference “Global supply chains and business investments have been and will be further threatened by climate change in the future, especially in a country like Vietnam that is extremely vulnerable to climate change.” said Dr. Michael DiGregorio, senior consultant to ISET-Vietnam and one of the panel speakers. Thailand experienced devastating floods in 2011 that resulted in major disruption in international supply chains when floodwater inundated low-lying industrial areas. Like Thailand, Vietnam is expanding and putting major investments in high risk flood plains, while standards for infrastructure design and urban planning are based on historical experience that does not reflect the changing climate. Future regulations may also demand new climate risk compliance from the business community. Under these circumstances, risk management will need to be accepted as a normal part of land use planning through setbacks, set asides, and design standards for particularly vulnerable areas, according to Dr. DiGregorio. International and national panelists will provide an overview of financial, legal, reputational and insurance risks associated with climate change. Additionally, they will discuss implications of emerging regulations and trade agreements, corporate adaptation strategies, and opportunities for building green, resilient cities. Panel Speakers including: Mr. Robert Schiffer, Managing Director, Indochina Renewable Resources Management Mr. Donovan Burton, Climate Change Analyst, Climate Planning, Australia Mr. Jules Livingstone, Climate Adaptation Consultant Complexitas SSA, Australia Dr. Michael DiGregorio, Consultant to ISET-Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam Dr. Luu Duc Cuong, Director: Centre for Research and Planning on Urban and Rural Environment Vietnam Institute of Architecture and Planning Mr. Pham Ngoc Thach, Legal Department, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Ms. Sarah O. Reed, ISET Urban Programs Advisor, Vietnam Full report of the panel discussion is now available to download at http://ow.ly/qWXk5 compiled and edited by Sarah Reed, Michelle Fox, Ngo Phuong Thanh, and Ellin Lede. To watch presentations from Mr. Jules Livingstone and Mr. Donovan Burton on Climate Change and the Private Sector: Strategic Approaches, Mr. Robert Schiffer on Environmental Compliance under Trans-Pacific Partnership and Dr. Michael DiGregorio on “Flood Hazards, Urbanization, and Climate Change”, please visit ISET’s channel. For more information about Vietnam Green Biz 2013, please visit Green Biz Official website.

Article Originally posted on CDKN Blog July 2013 Kate Hawley of ISET International introduces a climate-resilient housing design competition underway in Vietnam, which is part of a CDKN-funded project called ‘Sheltering from a gathering storm’. “This is the 2007 flood level,” explained Mr. Cao Giang Nam, a lecturer from Da Nang Architectural University in Vietnam. As I looked up, I realised the flooding level in Hoa Chau ward was taller than me, exceeding my height at 170cm. “How is this possible?” I ask myself. “How does someone actually survive flood waters taller than 170cm?” These questions continued to fill my head as we walked the roads of the Hoa Chau ward in Da Nang city. Many factors contribute to the almost annual flooding in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam. Flooding is often triggered by heavy rainfall events associated with the monsoon or typhoons either in the city or upstream in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon river basin. Storm surges and high tides during rain events can exacerbate flooding. Climate change is expected to result in shorter bursts of heavier rainfall, instead of the more consistent rainfall that is traditionally experienced. What does this mean? It means more flooding for the residents of Da Nang. For typhoons, the future risk is less clear. Since such limited information exists concerning typhoons in Southeast Asia, we cannot be sure of what will happen. The science suggests that typhoon frequency may reduce, but intensity may increase.[1] This would mean that when a typhoon hits, the risk of flooding is higher. However, a changing climate isn’t the only cause of increasing flood risk. A policy brief we published recently found that rapid development in Da Nang’s urban and peri-urban areas is also contributing to more frequent and severe flooding. Da Nang is a quickly urbanising metropolis in Central Vietnam which in recent years has enjoyed an 11% growth rate of its economy.[2] The city’s beach front is a key attraction for Korean Development Companies and home to the great ‘Dragon Bridge’ recently completed in 2013. In-filling measures have been used extensively by the city over the last few years. In the case of Da Nang this means that soil from the nearby mountains is transported to this coastal city and piled high in certain areas to create higher ground for the building of commercial and residential areas. In-filling constricts drainage and eliminates floodwater retention zones, increasing the risk in adjoining areas. The water has to go somewhere, right? Apparently, it goes here in Da Nang’s Hoa Chau ward. Alongside the rapid urban development, inappropriate and poorly constructed houses are one of the main sources disaster risk in Hoa Chau ward. Providing shelter following a disaster is also one of the largest recurrent costs for governments. In a recent publication we reviewed housing vulnerability and found that improving the design of shelter is central to reducing disaster risk and supporting adaptation to climate change. Against this backdrop, ISET-International and Hue University hosted the Resilient Housing Design Competition for poor and vulnerable households in Da Nang. This competition is part of a CDKN-funded project called ‘Sheltering from a gathering storm’, which is exploring the economic return and other costs or benefits of investing in climate-adapted, disaster-resilient shelter design with case studies in Vietnam, India and Pakistan. The design competition assembled a team of professionals and students from local architecture schools to address these issues through innovative housing designs. Participants developed climate-adapted shelter designs that are both technically effective and culturally acceptable; the best-judged design will be the subject of cost-benefit analysis research. They came together in April 2013 to share their creations with a panel of experts. The panel provided critical feedback, including how to ensure the designs were realistic and practical, and to consider the site selection. We were then whisked away for a group site visit to specific wards throughout Da Nang that experience yearly flooding and typhoons. This gave the students plenty to ponder, and here the stories unfolded. “My father passed away in the 1990 floods in Hue. That is why I am participating,” shares La Van Son, student at Hue University. I was suddenly thrown into the reality of what we are really trying to do. We are not only here to try and make safer houses, save lives and assets—we are creating a force of inspired young architects that will influence the way we will live in the future with climate change. Watch the story of these students and their involvement in the competition in this picture display: First Prize was awarded to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung of TT Arch Company. As shown in the picture display, above, his team designed housing for low-income families which can be built with locally available materials and local techniques; they avoided more modern construction techniques which are often applied improperly. A similar competition for the project’s India case study, centred on the city of Gorakhpur, is currently open and submissions are invited until the deadline of 15th August 2013. The competition seeks to identify alternative, climate-adapted urban housing solutions that provide comfortable living conditions to residents during flooding, water-logging and periods of extreme heat. Architects, engineers and designers (firms, individuals, groups, and students) are invited to participate. Details can be found on the Resilient Housing Design Competition’s India webpage. Image of conventional house, Da Nang, Vietnam (upper right), courtesy of Chris Goldberg. [1]ISET–International (2013, April). Da Nang: Typhoon Intensity and Climate Change. Boulder, CO: Sarah Stapleton.http://www.i-s-e-t.org/images/pdfs/iset_policybrief_danang_typhoonintensityandclimatechange_130508.pdf [2]Cu, N. H. (2008). Da Nang’s economic growth is stable or not. Journal of Science and Technology of Da Nang University, Vol. 5, page 125-134.

by Michelle Fox, Director of Art + Communications; and Kenneth MacClune, Senior Staff Scientist Have you ever read the fine print on our Climate Resilience Framework and left wondering what exactly “Redundancy & Modularity”, “Safe Failure”, “Capacity to Learn” really mean—in practice? We’ve had the pleasure of working with Jamie Stroud—a talented illustrator based out of Boulder, Colorado—to help us visualize some of ISET’s Characteristics of Resilience. Agents: Capacity to Learn There are many instances where populations are given the opportunity to learn from past experiences. Remembering a flood, one man rebuilds his home on stilts. His neighbor repairs his home, failing to recognize that by rebuilding in the same location with the same construction plan as before, he puts his assets, again, in harm’s way. Institutions: Information The ability to access accurate and relevant information is a barrier for many communities regarding adaptation and resilience planning. On the left, a group of individuals are able to enter a public library, access information, and share it with their community members. On the right, the library is locked and valuable knowledge is only accessible to a small population. Systems: Modularity & Redundancy During a power failure, it is imperative to have a back up power supply that is not dependent on the grid. Food, health, communications, automatic teller machines (ATMs) and many other systems are dependent on a constant supply of power. Traditionally, petrol or diesel generators are used as backup devices. Here is a much more sustainable option—solar panels and batteries on top of a roof. The point of view comes from a dimly lit home that is without power, and we see that an electric pole has fallen. The family with the solar panel is able to stay cool in the summer’s heat, and maintain their usual set of daily activities in the household without relying on municipal power or a continuing supply of fuel. Systems: Safe Failure The concept of safe failure recognizes that no system is ever perfect or “fail safe”. It also recognizes that climate change is very hard to predict, and the severity of weather can quickly increase and overwhelm systems. Here, a waterway is designed to break on the side that is facing agricultural space rather than urban space, where the loss of assets can be devastating, and where flash flooding can be dangerous to the population. Though the waterway is failing, people and their assists remain safe. Systems: Flexibility and Diversity When designing a resilient community, it’s important to build systems that are flexible and diverse. For example, the cyclist on the left is unable to pass because the one road is blocked. The rider on the right, however, is able to take alternate routes.

By: Kate Hawley, Research Associate ISET-International “This is the 2007 flood level,” explained Mr. Cao Giang Nam, a lecturer from Da Nang Architectural University. As I looked up, I realized the flooding level in Hoa Chau ward was taller than me, exceeding my height at 170cm. “How is this possible?” I ask myself. “How does someone actually survive flood waters taller than 170cm?” These questions continue to fill my head as we walk the roads of the Hoa Chau ward. Many factors contribute to flooding in this area (and always seems the case). However, the City of Da Nang has put infilling measures into practice very actively over the last few years. Infilling, in the case of Da Nang, means that soil from the nearby mountains are transported to this coastal city and piled high in certain areas throughout the city to create higher ground for the building of commercial and residential areas. The water has to go somewhere, right? Apparently, it goes here. Da Nang is a quickly urbanizing metropolis in Central Vietnam experiencing natural hazards from flooding to typhoons, almost yearly. With a growth domestic product in recent years, just over 11 percent (Cu, 2008),1. The city’s beach front property is a key attraction for Korean Development Companies and home to the great ‘Dragon Bridge’ recently completed in 2013 and commemorated during the 38th anniversary of the Vietnam War.2 It is in this city that ISET-International and Hue University are hosting the Resilient Housing Design Competition (www.resilienthabitat.org) for poor and vulnerable households. Climate change is expected to increase the intensity of rainfall in shorter time durations instead of the consistent rainfall that is experienced (ISET-International, 2013)3. What does this mean? It means more flooding for the residents of Da Nang. However, typhoons are another story. Since such limited information exists concerning typhoons in Southeast Asia, we do not even know what will happen. It is speculated that typhoon frequency may reduce, but intensity may increase (ISET-International, 2013)4. Overall, it seems like Da Nang will be experiencing more intense storms all around. That is why we are here. We’ve assembled a team of professionals and students to address these issues through innovative housing designs. The Architecture students came from Da Nang and Hue University as well as one professional firm to share their creations with a panel of experts on April 26th. Like any honest panel, they provided critical feedback concerning the designs specifically giving critique on how to add realistic features and consider the site selection when designing their houses. This gave the students plenty to ponder. We were then whisked away for a group site visit to specific wards throughout Da Nang that experience yearly flooding and typhoons. It is here where the stories unfolded. “My father passed away in the 1990 floods in Hue. That is why I am participating,” shares La Van Son, student at Hue University. “His father,” I thought, suddenly thrown into the reality of what we are really trying to do. We are not only here to try and make safer houses, save lives and assets—we are creating a force of inspired young architects that will influence the way we will live in the future with climate change. 1 Cu, N. H. (2008). Da Nang’s economic growth is stable or not. Journal of Science and Technology of Da Nang University, Vol. 5, page 125-134. 2 http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/10/vietnam-fire-dragon-bridgehttp://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/10/vietnam-fire-dragon-bridge 3 ISET–International (2013, April). Extreme Rainfall, Climate Change and Flooding in Da Nang, Vietnam. Boulder, CO: Sarah Stapleton. 4 ISET–International (2013, April). Da Nang: Typhoon Intensity and Climate Change. Boulder, CO: Sarah Stapleton.

By: Ngo Phuong Thanh, Program Assistant/Communication Officer, ISET-Vietnam Contributing Authors: Sarah Orleans Reed, Research Associate ISET-Vietnam; Tuyen Nghiem, Technical Staff; ISET-Vietnam “This is the first time that participants have learned about vulnerability assessments in a systematic way,” said one participant of the Second Shared Learning Dialogue Workshop (SLD 2) in Lao Cai, organized by ISET-Vietnam, NISTPASS and Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) on March 15, 2013. According to the report, the city is already facing risks from flooding and extreme weather events, which tend to occur more randomly and away from historical patterns. There are major impacts of natural disaster not only on the communities (human loss, physical loss, production loss, etc.) but also to the infrastructure system. Participants argued that there is still need for further analysis on financial capacity, mechanisms to implement and monitor the implementation of urban planning, and make planning more participatory in order to better adapt to climate change. In addition, the role of leadership in planning and enforcement of planning policies are also important factors. The issue of infrastructure was also raised during the SLD: in particular, the dike system on the banks of the Red River, which was built to prepare for a 4–7% frequency flood. However, the city has historically experienced 1–2% floods. ISET’s technical staff and working group members thus pointed to a less costly, urban planning solution, providing a flood buffer zone between the river and urban areas. The core working group also presented 4 pilot concept notes of which awareness raising and water shortage were selected as intervention activities to be implemented in the coming months. The workshop in Lao Cai showed the involvement and active participation of all members of Lao Cai working group throughout the process of vulnerable assessment and also for upcoming intervention activities. Hội thảo Chia sẻ – Học hỏi – Đối thoại lần 2 tại Lào Cai Thứ tư, 10/04/2013 Ngô Phương Thanh, Trợ lý Chương trình/Cán bộ Truyền thông, ISET-Việt Nam Sarah Orleans Reed, Cán bộ Nghiên cứu, ISET-Việt Nam Nghiêm Phương Tuyến, ISET-Việt Nam “Đây là lần đầu tiên những người tham dự có được một cái nhìn mang tính hệ thống về quá trình đánh giá tình trạng dễ bị tổn thương,” một đại biểu tham dự hội thảo Chia sẻ – Học hỏi – Đối thoại lần 2 (SLD2) ở Lào Cai nhận định. Hội thảo do ISET-Việt Nam, Viện Chiến lược và Chính sách Khoa học và Công nghệ (NISTPASS) và Sở Tài nguyên và Môi trường Lào Cai tổ chức vào ngày 15/03/2013. Theo báo cáo đánh giá tình trạng dễ bị tổn thương đưa ra tại hội thảo, thành phố Lào Cai đang phải đối mặt với nhiều nguy cơ từ lũ lụt và các hình thái thời tiết cực đoan, đang diễn ra với xu hướng không theo quy luật như trong quá khứ. Thiên tai có tác động lớn không chỉ đối với cộng đồng dân cư (về người, về cơ sở vật chất, về hoạt động sản xuất kinh doanh, v.v.) mà còn đối với hệ thống cơ sở hạ tầng. Các đại biểu cho rằng vẫn cần phân tích sâu thêm về khả năng tài chính, cơ chế thực thi và giám sát triển khai quy hoạch đô thị, và cần thúc đẩy hơn nữa sự tham gia của người dân vào hoạt động lập kế hoạch nhằm thích ứng tốt hơn với Biến đổi khí hậu. Thêm vào đó, vai trò chỉ đạo trong công tác lập kế hoạch và thực thi chính sách quy hoạch cũng là những yếu tố hết sức quan trọng. Vấn đề cơ sở hạ tầng cũng được nêu lên trong hội thảo, cụ thể là, hệ thống kè ven sông Hồng chỉ được xây dựng để đáp ứng với lũ tần suất 4–7%, trong khi ở thành phố đã từng xuất hiện lũ tần suất 1–2%. Chính vì thế, các cán bộ kỹ thuật của ISET và các thành viên tổ công tác đều đưa ra đề xuất về một giải pháp quy hoạch đô thị ít tốn kém hơn, đó là tạo không gian cho các vùng đệm chống lũ ngăn giữa sông và các khu đô thị. Tổ công tác nòng cốt của dự án cũng trình bày 4 đề cương về hoạt động thí điểm, trong đó 2 đề cương về nâng cao nhận thức và giải quyết vấn đề thiếu nước đã được chọn để xây dựng hành động can thiệp và dự kiến sẽ triển khai trong các tháng tới. Hội thảo này đã cho thấy sự tham gia và đóng góp tích cực của tất cả các thành viên tổ công tác tại Lào Cai trong suốt quá trình thực hiện đánh giá tình trạng dễ bị tổn thương và cả các hoạt động thí điểm trong thời gian sắp tới.

BY: STEPHEN TYLER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, VICTORIA, B.C., CANADA. ORIGINALLY POSTED ON WWW.ACCCRN.ORG As the city of Da Nang expands, it will need to make more space for floodwater to accommodate future extreme climate events. This suggestion was put forward by many of the expert speakers at a recent high-level roundtable workshop on urban development in the city. The workshop was organized by the city’s Climate Change Coordination Office (CCCO) and by ISET, and included presentations on city plans from local government technical agencies, suggestions from international and Vietnamese experts, and review comments from representatives of national Ministries. The half-day workshop was co-chaired by Dr Phung Tan Viet, Vice-Chair of the Da Nang City People’s Committee, and Dr Marcus Moench, Director of ISET International. The workshop was intended to provide an opportunity for discussion of how urban development plans for Da Nang might have to be adjusted to accommodate climate change. While Da Nang is already recognized as a leader among Vietnamese cities for its investments in environmental improvement and international cooperation projects on climate change planning, city officials recognize the need to do more. Results of climate downscaling undertaken by ISET International suggested that climate change could lead to more intense extreme rainfall events in future. Da Nang already suffers from flooding, and urban development is expanding into low-lying areas adjacent to the floodplain of the Vu Gia – Thu Bon river system along the major roadways south of the city. Hydrology experts from Arup calculated that the volume of floodwater in the river system’s downstream reaches during recent flood events exceeded the capacity of the river channel by a factor of almost 20 times, so flooding was unavoidable. Future sea level rise and more intense rainfall mean that extreme events will probably lead to more severe floods unless multiple adaptive measures are taken. Suggestions included better management of upstream reservoirs, protection of broad riverbank setbacks to allow for flood volumes, large areas for floodwater retention to slow runoff, urban planning to reduce flow barriers and provide refuge sites, and flood bypass channel construction. Many of these adaptive measures require setting aside large areas of flood plain lands now and protecting them from intensive urban development. These areas may be suitable for recreation, habitat restoration, and for managed wetland uses, but once they are developed for urban residential or commercial uses, it will become very costly to protect them from floods. Dr Ho Long Phi, director of the Center of Water Management and Climate Change, Viet Nam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, advised Da Nang to avoid the costly planning mistakes made by Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City, such as over-development of urban lands, filling drainage channels and floodplains, and too little permeable surface area to slow runoff. With ACCCRN support, the Da Nang city Department of Construction now has a combined hydrologic / hydraulic model that can be used to assess flood levels under various scenarios of future urban development and river flows. City officials will use this model, and other suggestions from the workshop, to further examine planning options for urban development that is resilient to climate change. Phát triển đô thị thích ứng với Biến đổi khí hậu tại Đà Nẵng, Việt Nam: Hội nghị bàn tròn Thứ 2, 08/04/2013 Stephen Tyler, Cố vấn cấp cao, Victoria, B.C., Canada. Trong quá trình phát triển mở rộng, thành phố Đà Nẵng sẽ cần quy hoạch thêm không gian cho nước lũ để thích ứng với các biến cố cực đoan trong tương lai. Rất nhiều diễn giả là chuyên gia trong các lĩnh vực khác nhau đã nêu lên nhận định này trong một hội nghị bàn tròn cấp cao được tổ chức mới đây về chủ đề phát triển đô thị của thành phố. Hội nghị do Văn phòng Điều phối về Biến đổi khí hậu (CCCO) và ISET tổ chức, và đã có nhiều bài trình bày của các cơ quan chuyên môn của chính quyền địa phương về quy hoạch thành phố, đề xuất của các chuyên gia trong và ngoài nước, và xem xét ý kiến của các đại diện ở cấp bộ. Hội nghị diễn ra trong nửa ngày với sự chủ trì của ông Phùng Tấn Viết – Phó Chủ tịch UBND thành phố Đà Nẵng và TS. Marcus Moench – Chủ tịch tổ chức ISET-Quốc tế. Sự kiện này được tổ chức nhằm tạo cơ hội cho các thảo luận xoay quanh những điều chỉnh trong kế hoạch phát triển đô thị mà thành phố Đà Nẵng có thể phải thực hiện nhằm thích ứng với Biến đổi khí hậu (BĐKH). Tuy Đà Nẵng được xem là một trong những thành phố đi đầu ở Việt Nam về đầu tư cho công tác cải tạo môi trường và các dự án hợp tác quốc tế về lập kế hoạch liên quan đến BĐKH, cán bộ thành phố nhận thức được rằng còn rất nhiều việc cần làm. Theo kết quả chi tiết hóa bản đồ khí hậu do ISET-Quốc tế thực hiện, BĐKH có thể dẫn tới các trận mưa nghiêm trọng hơn trong tương lai. Đà Nẵng đã phải gánh chịu nhiều ảnh hưởng của lũ lụt. Thêm vào đó, quá trình phát triển đô thị đang mở rộng ra các khu vực trũng thấp phụ cận với lưu vực hệ thống sông Vu Gia – Thu Bồn dọc các tuyến đường chính ở phía nam thành phố. Theo tính toán của các chuyên gia thủy văn thuộc tổ chức Arup, tổng lượng nước lũ trên các khu vực hạ nguồn của hệ thống sông này trong các trận lũ gần đây đã vượt quá sức chứa của dòng sông gần 20 lần, vì thế lũ lụt là không tránh khỏi. Nước biển dâng và mưa lớn nghiêm trọng hơn trong tương lai cũng có nghĩa là các hiện tượng cực đoan có thể sẽ gây lũ lụt nghiêm trọng hơn nếu không thực hiện đồng loạt nhiều biện pháp thích ứng. Đã có một số đề xuất được đưa ra bao gồm: quản lý tốt hơn các hồ chứa ở thượng nguồn, bảo vệ khu vực đệm ven sông để trữ lũ, dành không gian cho các khu vực chứa nước rộng để nước lũ rút từ từ, quy hoạch đô thị theo hướng giảm vật cản thoát lũ và có các khu vực trú ẩn, và xây dựng các kênh đào thoát lũ. Nhiều biện pháp thích ứng được nêu đòi hỏi phải bảo vệ các một diện tích lớn khu vực đồng bằng trữ lũ, tránh tình trạng phát triển đô thị quá ồ ạt trong tương lai. Những khu vực này có thể phù hợp để xây dựng khu vui chơi giải trí, phục hồi sinh thái và quy hoạch thành đất ngập nước, nhưng khi đã được phát triển thành khu dân cư hoặc hoặc phát triển thương mại thì sẽ rất tốn kém để bảo vệ khi lũ lụt xảy ra. TS. Hồ Long Phi, Giám đốc Trung tâm Quản lý Nước và BĐKH, trường đại học Quốc gia thành phố Hồ Chí Minh cho rằng Đà Nẵng nên tránh những sai lầm tốn kém về quy hoạch tương tự trường hợp của Băng-cốc và thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, gồm việc phát triển đất đô thị quá mức, lấp kín các kênh rạch và đồng bằng trữ lũ, và để chừa quá ít diện tích mặt đất ngấm nước để nước thoát từ từ. Với sự hỗ trợ của chương trình ACCCRN, Sở Xây dựng thành phố Đà Nẵng đã có trong tay một mô hình kết hợp thủy lực – thủy văn, có thể sử dụng để đánh giá mức lũ ở những kịch bản phát triển đô thị và lưu lượng khác nhau. Các cán bộ của thành phố sẽ sử dụng mô hình này cùng các khuyến nghị đưa ra tại hội thảo để xem xét kỹ lưỡng hơn về các phương án quy hoạch nhằm thích ứng tốt hơn với BĐKH trong quá trình phát triển đô thị.

Climate change and planned urban expansion in floodways will compound flood risk for the City of Hue, according to a new climate vulnerability assessment implemented by the Thua Thien Hue Province Climate Change Working Group and ISET-Vietnam under the M-BRACE program. The assessment highlights the importance of planning future urban development on the basis of solid assessments of future climate risks. When the B2 scenario is applied there are clear risks of reduced rainfall in the dry season, and also 30% more rainfall in the flood season. As worrying as these findings are, the assessment points out that historical precipitation records demonstrate that Hue has moved beyond the B2 scenario, and that these are underestimates of the full level of water-related climate threats. There are also concerns that existing infrastructure—drainage in urban areas, and upstream flood protection—are not able to cope with current rainfall pressures let alone future climate threats. The Working Group presented its findings to People’s Committee members, provincial department leaders, and academics at a Shared Learning Dialogue, sponsored by USAID on March 5th in Hue. Recommendations emerging from the meeting included integrating flood risk under extreme scenarios into the Urban Master Plan currently under development by KOICA, development of an electronic flood map and monitoring system through participatory mapping, and building awareness and capacity of city planners to integrate climate change into planning. For more information about M-BRACE, please contact Kenneth MacClune, Chief of Party, at Ken@i-s-e-t.org Nghiên cứu mới chỉ rõ nguy cơ BĐKH của thành phố Huế Thứ 3, 05/03/2013 Ảnh 1: Nguyễn Ngọc Huy, ISET-Việt Nam Ảnh 2: Nguyễn Anh Thơ, ISET-Việt Nam Theo một đánh giá tình trạng dễ bị tổn thương do Tổ công tác về BĐKH của tỉnh Thừa Thiên – Huế và ISET-Việt Nam thực hiện trong khuôn khổ chương trình M-BRACE do USAID tài trợ, BĐKH và việc mở rộng quy hoạch đô thị trên các khu vực thoát lũ sẽ tạo mối nguy cơ kép về lũ lụt cho thành phố Huế. Bản đánh giá nêu bật tầm quan trọng của công tác quy hoạch phát triển đô thị trong tương lai trên cơ sở đánh giá cụ thể các nguy cơ khí hậu tương lai. Sử dụng kịch bản B2 trong các phân tích, báo cáo cho thấy rõ nguy cơ giảm lượng mưa trong mùa khô, và tăng 30% lượng mưa vào mùa lụt. Dù rất đáng lo ngại như vậy, các kết luận này vẫn chưa đánh giá hết mức độ nghiêm trọng của các nguy cơ về khí hậu liên quan đến nước, bởi nó cũng ghi nhận rằng số liệu mưa trong quá khứ của thành phố Huế đã vượt quá mức kịch bản B2. Một số cán bộ cũng bày tỏ lo ngại rằng cơ sở hạ tầng hiện tại – hệ thống thoát nước ở khu vực đô thị, và tuyến phòng hộ lũ ở thượng nguồn – không có khả năng đương đầu với áp lực về lượng mưa hiện tại chứ chưa nói đến các mối đe dọa về khí hậu trong tương lai. Tổ Công tác đã trình bày các phát hiện này trước đại diện UBND tỉnh, lãnh đạo các sở ngành của tỉnh và trường đại học trong một hội thảo Chia sẻ – Học hỏi – Đối thoại của dự án vào ngày 5/3/2013. Tại hội thảo, các đại biểu đã đưa ra các đề xuất bao gồm: lồng ghép các nguy cơ lũ lụt trong kịch bản cực đoan vào Quy hoạch Tổng thể đô thị do tổ chức KOICA thực hiện; xây dựng bản đồ lụt điện tử và hệ thống quan trắc thông qua một quá trình có sự tham gia rộng rãi của cộng đồng; và nâng cao nhận thức và năng lực cho các nhà hoạch định cấp thành phố để lồng ghép BĐKH vào quy hoạch. Để biết thêm thông tin về chương trình M-BRACE, xin liên hệ ông Kenneth MacClune, Giám đốc Chương trình, tại địa chỉ Ken@i-s-e-t.org

In August 2012, the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), a regional program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, brought representatives of cities from Vietnam to Thailand, to learn from the experience of the floods of 2011 that inundated several provinces in the Chao Praya Basin with devastating consequences. The ACCCRN: Learning from Thailand’s Floods video captures this exchange. The countries have much in common. Vietnam has its own experience of heavy flooding, and like Thailand, is rapidly forging a path of urbanisation and industrialisation. The exchange allowed the cities to consider some of the root causes of the surrounding risks of flooding together, while also considering options for building resilience to future climate change. In particular the meeting raised the challenge of how to deal with a natural cycle of flooding, and the role that large scale infrastructure might play. In Thailand, much of the response to the flooding crisis of 2011 has been to build protection walls. As participants pointed out, as these walls get ever higher and ever longer they create their own new risks of failing and intensifying the flooding, and of deflecting the problem onto people in other places while not adequately addressing the underlying causes of the problem. Participants were reminded of the need to understand the natural cycle of water, the influence of land use change and critically to reconsider the kind of future world we want to create. As SE Asia rapidly transforms from a largely rural, agricultural society, cities (their governments, residents, businesses and civil society groups) will have an increasingly important role to play in shaping the future. Much of the urbanisation that is occurring now is happening with only limited planning, and little consideration of what the future will be like. Cities are growing beyond their own natural constraints, transforming landscapes in ways that are already creating problems. As the effects of climate change become more apparent, scientists warn that these problems will intensify. Much of the impact of climate change will be felt through water—too much or too little, or at the wrong time—as the number of users and demand among competing uses increases, and water quality declines. Climate change will create a world of uncertainty where the climate of the future is very different from the climate of the past, becoming increasingly variable. Additionally the risks of climate change impacts—with more people and assets concentrated in cities—will be all the greater. But we must be reminded that cities are also centres of innovation and creativity. The more urbanised we become the more the decisions that affect our lives will be made by cities at this local level. By building platforms to bring cities together to share experiences, knowledge, and ideas provides a new opportunity to learn from past mistakes and create a new common, resilient urban future. For more information on flooding in Asia and ISET-International’s shared learning dialogues, please see these suggested materials: Changing Cities and Changing Climate: Insights from Shared Learning Dialogues in Thailand and Vietnam Understanding the Economics of Flood Risk Reduction: A Preliminary Analysis Living with Floods: A Grassroots Analysis of the Causes and Impacts of Typhoon Miranae

Contributed by: Stephen Tyler, Senior Associate, Victoria, B.C., Canada. Originally posted by: ACCCRN.ORG When we work with local partners to help them plan for climate change, one of the first barriers we run into is that it’s hard to focus attention on problems that seem uncertain and far off in the future. The typical way to plan for climate adaptation is to use complex climate modeling to project future local climate conditions and then propose measures to avoid the worst of the potential future impacts. But for many analysts and decision-makers, this logical “predict and prevent” approach is challenging. That’s one of the main reasons why ISET-International developed an alternative approach that focuses on building climate resilience. The challenges include uncertainty, of course: climate models can never tell us what weather conditions will be like in any given year, they can only provide estimates and averages that vary depending on the assumptions and models used. And climate impacts become more severe only as we look farther into the future, so it seems that many actions can wait. But analysts and planners also know that climate change is not the only problem— climate change interacts with other complex issues, such as water availability, or public health; city engineering standards or ecosystem degradation. These interactions can take us by surprise, often in the face of extreme events when we have no time to adapt. (e.g. Hurricane Sandy). Resilience building is a different way to look at the problem. It strengthens key characteristics of complex systems, people and organizations to enable them to handle both anticipated and unanticipated stresses and shocks from future climate. The idea of climate resilience is increasingly common, but until now, it has not been well explained. Without a clear definition and framework for action, climate resilience could not easily be turned into operational guidance for local planners. A Framework for Urban Climate Resilience has recently been published in the journal Climate and Development, and is available free for downloading. In this article we describe a simple operational template, demonstrating how the characteristics of resilience can be synthesized from the research efforts of many different disciplines. The resulting conceptual framework provides practical guidance for what planners should look for in their own specific context, and allows them to focus on building resilience now, rather than anticipating changes at some future time. The Climate Resilience Framework was developed under the auspices of the Asian Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) and has been used by cities in Indonesia, India, Thailand and Vietnam to plan climate adaptation actions. By explaining climate adaptation as building resilience, and by articulating a simple framework that can be used in many different contexts, ISET provides the foundation for a range of tools for local planning and intervention. The framework can be used to guide vulnerability assessment, and explains the importance of shared learning in building resilience. It can be used to structure planning processes to design and choose local interventions. ISET has developed a series of training modules explaining the Climate Resilience Framework and how to use it for these purposes.