TRANS-ADAPT Societal transformation and adaptation necessary to manage dynamics in flood hazard and risk mitigation SYNTHESIS - : Interpraevent
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Journal Series 1
Report 4
TRANS-ADAPT
Societal transformation and adaptation necessary to
manage dynamics in flood hazard and risk mitigation
SYNTHESIS
Klagenfurt, 2017
Imprint
Contributors
Sven Fuchs University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria
Mathieu Bonnefond National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, Geomatics and Land Tenure Laboratory, Le
Mans, France
Darren Clarke Maynooth University, Co. Kildare, Ireland
Peter Driessen Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Marie Fournier National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, Geomatics and Land Tenure Laboratory, Le
Mans, France
Amandine Gatien-Tournat François Rabelais University, Tours, France
Mathilde Gralepois François Rabelais University, Tours, France
Dries Hegger Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Heleen Mees Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Conor Murphy Maynooth University, Co. Kildare, Ireland
Sylvie Servain INSA Centre Val de Loire, Blois, France
Thomas Thaler University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria
Caroline Uittenbroek Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Martin Wenk University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria
Funding
The TRANS-ADAPT consortium kindly acknowledges funding received from
• the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy (BMWFW),
• the French National Research Agency (ANR),
• the Ireland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and
• the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
under the umbrella of the JPI CLIMATE Initiative.
Layout
Sven Fuchs based on INTERPRAEVENT
Citation
Sven Fuchs, Mathieu Bonnefond, Darren Clarke, Peter Driessen, Marie Fournier, Amandine Gatien-Tournat,
Mathilde Gralepois, Dries Hegger, Heleen Mees, Conor Murphy, Sylvie Servain, Thomas Thaler, Caroline
Uittenbroek, Martin Wenk (2017): TRANS-ADAPT. Societal transformation and adaptation necessary to manage
dynamics in flood hazard and risk mitigation, Synthesis. INTERPRAEVENT Journal Series 1, Report 4. Klagenfurt.
Publisher
Internationale Forschungsgesellschaft INTERPRAEVENT
Flatschacher Straße 70
9020 Klagenfurt (Austria)
ISBN 978-3-901164-25-5
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© Internationale Forschungsgesellschaft INTERPRAEVENT, Klagenfurt (Austria)
TRANS-ADAPT Societal transformation and adaptation necessary to manage dynamics in flood hazard and risk mitigation SYNTHESIS Cover picture: Flooding of the Gloriette parc, Tours, France, 2016. Credits: S. Mourrat (www.sophiemourrat.com)
Foreword Foreword JPI CLIMATE Foreword INTERPRAEVENT The historic Paris Agreement establishes an ambitious trans- Facing the challenges of climate change, the JPI CLIMATE pro- formation which is required if we are to avoid dangerous and ject TRANS-ADAPT analyzed and evaluated the multiple use irreversible impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement of natural hazard mitigation schemes with a particular focus sets out a pathway and a process by which this transforma- on underlying social transformation in communities exposed. tion can occur through collective global actions. Based on case studies in four European countries the project The Joint Programming Initiative “Connecting Climate Know- assessed changing responsibilities between public and pri- ledge for Europe” (JPI Climate) is designed to provide know- vate actors necessary to arrive at multiple use of mitigation, ledge to inform actions to address climate change. It is a which repeatedly leads to more resilient societies. Yet each pan-European intergovernmental initiative under which Eu- risk mitigation measure is built on a narrative of exchanges ropean countries act to jointly coordinate national climate and relations between people and therefore may condition research and fund new transnational research initiatives that governance. As such, governance is done by people interac- increase and enhance the provision of climate knowledge ting and defining risk mitigation measures as well as climate and services. It is focused on high-quality research with high change adaptation; and is therefore simultaneously both out- societal relevance in Europe and globally and has an overall come of, and productive to, public and private responsibilities. objective to strengthen the European, science-based efforts The aim of the INTERPRAEVENT Research Society is to sup- in tackling the societal challenge of climate change. port prevention against natural disasters and to facilitate in- TRANS-ADAPT is one of the six projects funded by JPI Climate terdisciplinary in the field of hazard and risk management. As by the joint call on „Societal Transformation in the Face of such, INTERPRAEVENT supports the exchange of knowledge Climate Change“ aimed to connect scientific disciplines and and experience between science, practitioners and decision enable cross-border research with the view to increase the makers in hazard and risk management. The synthesis of the science-practice interaction and supported by 13 European JPI CLIMATE project TRANS-ADAPT will be a valuable conti- countries. TRANS-ADAPT analysed local community-based nuation for all stakeholders involved in mitigation planning initiatives in the policy field of local adaptation strategies to to prevent losses from natural hazards. The TRANS-ADAPT flood risk in four countries. It aimed to describe the proces- partners synthesized the outcomes of the project in order to ses through which these initiatives are initiated, implemented provide a guiding document for a future application of such and maintained, as well as to evaluate their success. The re- multiple use protection schemes in settings different from the sults produced by this project, are presented here. They iden- case studies. Thus, this report contributes to the main aims of tify lessons that can assist those planning or working on the INTERPRAEVENT such as providing information for stakehol- implementation of climate change adaptation strategies ari- ders in natural hazard and risk management, promoting sci- sing from flood risk in Europe and globally. entific debates and presenting conclusions to practitioners, The uptake of the knowledge produced by projects like TRANS- and supporting decision-making for all questions of techni- ADAPT is key to advancing climate action to implement the cal and non-technical preparedness. Paris Agreement. This is a priority for JPI Climate, which aims to innovate with the (end-) users on societal transformation for low carbon climate resilience and broader sustainability. Kurt Rohner, President JPI Climate has recently established an Action Group on So- Gernot Koboltschnig, General Manager cial Sciences and Humanities, which deals with valorisation aspects of research results and we count on successful pro- jects like TRANS-ADAPT and their partners to further engage with JPI Climate in achievement of its aims and objectives. With best regards and trust in the virtue of European collaboration, Frank McGovern Chairman of the JPI Climate Governing Board
Contents
Introduction 4
Societal adaptation 6
Bottom-up initiatives 8
Case studies Austria
Galtür avalanche protection 10
Pfunds flood protection 12
Großkirchheim flood protection 14
Case studies France
Angers flood protection 16
Le Mans flood protection 18
Blois flood protection 20
Case studies Ireland
Skibbereen flood protection 22
Clontarf flood protection 24
Case studies Netherlands
Rotterdam flood protection 26
Tiel flood protection 28
Kockengen flood protection 30
Recommendations for decision-makers 32
Contributors and Acknowledgements 34
Introduction
Introduction Therefore, TRANS-ADAPT centred on how emerging natu-
4 ral hazard strategies place the lead responsibility on local
In a context of climate change, extreme hydrological events organisations to determine local strategies to manage lo-
experienced in Europe have focused the attention of policy- cal risks, which demands societal transformation in vulne-
makers on flood hazards. Decades of top-down flood ma- rability reduction.
nagement policies, however, have given little consideration TRANS-ADAPT focused on the understanding of how bottom-
to social representation and local solutions, especially non- up initiatives may create innovative spatial flood alleviation
structural approaches. Only recently, there is increasing at- schemes and what they teach us about flood risk manage-
tention on dynamics beyond vulnerability and flood risk, such ment. TRANS-ADAPT dealt with cases where a significant
as climate change and dynamic forces of exposed societies. amount of responsibility is given to local authorities and/or
With the objective of giving rivers more space (EU Floods Di- residents. Bottom-up initiatives are concerned with the de-
rective 2007), flood management should consider the main- cision-making process and policy implementation in which
tenance and/or restoration of floodplains where possible. The local stakeholders address problems of local concern, first,
definition of multi-use in the scope of flood risk prevention to share flood management between the state and the local
goes beyond this concept and is the combination of several stakeholders, and second, to find more creative and innova-
functions or activities through space (on different plots of tive solutions to face adaptation to climate change in flood
the same location), or through time on a same location, as- risk management.
sociating at least one use of land that serves the interest of The main reason for this shift from centralised to decentra-
managing floods, regardless of the type of flood risk manage- lised organisation is that local scale can be more innovative
ment involved. As exposed societies contain a concentration in dealing with those tasks relating to risk and emergency
of people, economic resources, transportation, interdepen- management. TRANS-ADAPT understood and conceptualised
dent networks, social and informational activities, agglome- societal transformation as specific local governance initiati-
rations throughout Europe are especially vulnerable to flood ves instigated by local governments, residents, NGOs or pri-
risk. In this context, the TRANS-ADAPT project focused on the vate parties with the aim of complementing conventional
question of how bottom-up initiatives lead to multi-functio- flood policies from the perspective of changing responsi-
nal use of flood hazard mitigation strategies. bility division between public and private actors necessary
The context of a changing role of the state in responsibility to arrive at more resilient societies. As such, current and fu-
sharing and individual responsibilities for risk management ture governance structures define the outcomes of, and are
and precaution lead to the question of innovative flood risk productive to public and private responsibilities. The trans-
mitigation strategies. Indeed, the implementation of the Eu- formative potential of these initiatives may come from re-
ropean Floods Directive (EU, 2007) puts responsibility on lo- plication or transfer of these initiatives to other contexts or
cal organisations to determine local strategies to manage they may induce wider institutional changes facilitating up-
local risks, which in turn demand societal transformation in take of novel initiatives.
vulnerability reduction. TRANS-ADAPT paid special attention to the role of commu-
nities in the emergence of bottom-up initiatives. The project
focused on community-based initiatives for natural hazard
management strategies that are clearly different or a niche re-
lative to mainstream solutions of flood risk management. Yet
each risk mitigation measure is built on a narrative of exchan-
ges and relations between people and therefore may condi-
tion the outputs. Of particular interest given the involvement
of diverse actors are multi-functional use of the same place
or several (spatial and/or social and/or economic) functions
and interests. The initiatives are often pursued by local actors
and stakeholders, not with the aim of contributing to broa-
der societal transformation but to address local problems or
to seize local opportunities. TRANS-ADAPT had shown that
motives of community-based initiatives with multiple func-
tionality and use of flood risk mitigation measures include:
(1) lack of funding, (2) lack of legal protection to include lo-
cal interests or (3) lack of space, where classical flood risk
management measures, which are dominated by one type
of use (protection), cannot respond to the new circumstan-
ces. Acknowledging these constraints, a major challenge of
multi-functional use of natural hazard management strate
gies is to represent the complexity of coupled human-environ-
Case study locations. Credits: Google Earth mental systems and particularly the feedback loops between
environmental dynamics and human decision-making pro-
cesses to better understand the current social developments. 5
TRANS-ADAPT explored and analysed what and who is be-
hind these initiatives (legal, economic and socio-ecological
pressures) and showed the (often complex) motivation for
and key aspects of multi-functional initiatives. TRANS-AD-
APT was based on eleven case studies from Austria, France,
Ireland and the Netherlands. In these countries natural ha-
zard management has been institutionalised for decades,
but with different institutional settings as a result of multi-
ple dimensions of vulnerability. This will help to identify wi-
der lessons for other European regions currently working on Davos Frauenkirch - traditional local structural protection. Credits:
the implementation of climate change adaptation strategies S. Fuchs
arising from flood risk.
The TRANS-ADAPT consortium kindly acknowledges fun-
ding received from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science,
Research and Economy (BMWFW), the French National Re-
search Agency (ANR), the Ireland Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scienti-
fic Research (NWO).
Further reading
• Adger W, Quinn T, Lorenzoni I, Murphy C, Sweeney J (2013)
Changing social contracts in climate-change adaptation.
Nature Climate Change 3 (4):330-333
• Birkmann J, Cardona O, Carreño M, Barbat A, Pelling M,
Schneiderbauer S, Kienberger S, Keiler M, Alexander D,
TRANS-ADAPT kick-off meeting in Vienna. Credits: TRANS-ADAPT
Zeil P, Welle T (2013) Framing vulnerability, risk and so- Consortium
cietal responses: the MOVE framework. Natural Ha-
zards 67 (2):193-211
• Butler C, Pidgeon N (2011) From ‚flood defence‘ to ‚flood
risk management‘: Exploring governance, responsibility,
and blame. Environment and Planning C 29 (3):533-547
• Cannon T, Müller-Mahn D (2010) Vulnerability, resili-
ence and development discourses in context of climate
change. Natural Hazards 55 (3):621-635
• Driessen P, Behagel J, Hegger D, Mees H, Almesjo L, Andre-
sen S, Eboli F, Helgenberger S, Hollaender K, Jacobsen L,
Jaervelae M, Laessoe J, Oberthuer S, Avelar D, Brand U,
Brunnengraeber A, Bulkeley H, Compagnon D, Davoudi
S, Hackmann H, Knieling J, Larrue C, Linner B-O, Martin
O, O‘Brien K, O‘Neill S, van Rijswick H, Siebenhuener B,
Le Mans, France: Île aux Planches as an example for flood mitigation
Termeer K, Verbruggen A (2013) Societal transformations with multiple use. Credits: S. Fuchs
in the face of climate change; research priorities for the
next decade. JPI Climate, Brussels, Belgium
• Fuchs S, Keiler M, Sokratov S, Shnyparkov A (2013) Spa-
tiotemporal dynamics: the need for an innovative ap-
proach in mountain hazard risk management. Natural • Mees H, Driessen P, Runhaar H, Stamatelos J (2013) Who
Hazards 68 (3):1217-1241 governs climate adaptation? Getting green roofs for
• Fuchs S, Keiler M, Zischg A (2015) A spatiotemporal stormwater retention off the ground. Journal of Envi-
multi-hazard exposure assessment based on property ronmental Planning and Management 56 (6):802-825
data. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 15 • Thaler T, Priest S, Fuchs S (2016) Evolving interregional co-
(9):2127-2142 operation in flood risk management: distances and types
• Hanger S, Pfenninger S, Dreyfus M, Patt A (2013) Know- of partnership approaches in Austria. Regional Environ-
ledge and information needs of adaptation policy-ma- mental Change 16 (3):841-853
kers: A European study. Regional Environmental Change
13 (1):91-101
Societal adaptation
Societal adaptation ge of risk management strategies from the different case
6 studies in four European countries. For example, French
Climate change – fostered by natural climate activity but case studies deal with risk prevention, flood defence and
also human activities – is triggering changes in the extre- flood mitigation. Dutch case studies include one case with
mes of meteorological events, including the magnitude and flood preparation, one with flood defence and mitigation,
frequency of flooding. As a consequence, processes such as and one with flood mitigation. As case studies represent
heavy rainfall, increased activity of wind storms combined various combinations of flood management strategies, it
together with changes in the natural environment such as will be important to specify exactly which strategies have
increased deforestation repeatedly lead to severe river floo- been chosen by stakeholders, and if those strategies are
ding throughout Europe. European cities and villages are part of a larger flood management scheme. The interest
increasingly prone to these processes, which leads to more for TRANS-ADAPT was to address a similar question as the
vulnerable societies. The effects of hazard processes on the- central pillar: how do bottom-up initiatives lead (or not) to
se vulnerable societies are high, and specific challenges re- multi-functional use of land, in urban and rural contexts,
sult for adaptation and mitigation. in the field of flood management? The TRANS-ADAPT case
In this context, societies are engaging at different levels in studies were similar in the way that there are successful or
adaptation processes. Adaptation is defined as the process unsuccessful initiatives to implement multi-functional alle-
of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, viations for flood management. The differences amongst the
in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportuni- case studies helped to evaluate the criteria and to analy-
ties. Therefore, adaptation includes initiatives and measures se the drivers and barriers, especially in non-conventional
to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems flood risk management.
against natural hazard impacts. Various types of adaptation The two guiding questions were:
exist, e.g. anticipatory and reactive, private and public, and 1. How are multi-functional bottom-up climate change ad-
autonomous and planned. Hence, adaptation is manifested aptation strategies with respect to flood hazards ins-
by adjustment in ecological, social or economic systems in titutionalised in different societal environments, and
response to observed or expected changes in hazard stimu- are there specific actions undertaken to reduce climate
li and their effects and impacts in order to alleviate adverse change vulnerability, such as permanent technical mi-
impacts of change or take advantage of new opportunities. tigation measures, temporal organisational measures,
Adaptation can involve both building adaptive capacity the- or a combination of them? Are incentives set to sup-
reby increasing the ability of individuals, groups, or organi- port citizens in their own adaptation efforts?
sations to adapt to changes; and implementing adaptation 2. What mechanisms and actions have been used to ad-
decisions, i.e. transforming that capacity into action. Both apt institutions for multi-functional climate change
dimensions of adaptation can be implemented in prepara- adaptation strategies? What are the conditions that
tion for or in response to impacts generated by a changing enable effective collaborations within flood risk ma-
climate. Hence, adaptation is a continuous stream of acti- nagement?
vities, actions, decisions and attitudes that informs decisi- Conventional mitigation of natural hazards institutionally
ons about all aspects of life, and that reflects existing social originates from the 1890s when the French system of forest-
norms and processes. technical torrent and avalanche control was adopted. Wa-
According to the general definitions, adaptation challenges tershed management measures, forest-biological and soil
the prevention of risks in the context of extreme events, and bio-engineering measures as well as technical measures
consists of adjustments in responses, and integration of pre- (construction material: timber and stone masonry) had been
vention against extreme events in local development. So- implemented. Thus, conventional mitigation concepts only
cieties face the challenge of continuing development and consider technical structures within the catchment, along
at the same time, building acceptable infrastructure and the channel system or track and in the deposition area. Ac-
making planning choices based on projected events. In this cording to the approach of disposition management (redu-
context, especially when it deals with national security and cing the probability of occurrence of natural hazards) and
protection, several strategies are taken by national autho- event management (interfering with the transport process
rities, but also by regional and local authorities – concer- of the hazard itself), a wide range of technical measures
ning urban development for example –, sometimes with the are applicable.
collaboration of civil society. Initiatives intend to make or- Conventional technical measures against flood hazards,
ganisations more efficient and socially beneficial, trying to such as deflection and retention walls as well as barriers
make more advantage of land. or flood protection dams, are not only very cost-intensi-
Collaboration with civil society in managing natural ha- ve in construction, moreover, because of a limited lifetime
zards and their impact is challenging, in particular because and therefore an increasing complexity of maintenance, the
for decades risk management has been institutionalised feasibility of technical structures is restricted due to a scar-
and assigned to public bodies and governmental agencies ceness of financial resources provided by responsible autho-
throughout European countries. rities. If maintenance is neglected mitigation measures will
Concerning these aspects, TRANS-ADAPT had shown a ran- become ineffective and can even increase the catastrophic
potential of natural hazards. Since conventional technical • Stocker T, Qin D, Plattner G-K, Tignor M, Allen S, Boschung
measures neither guarantee reliability nor complete safety J, Nauels A, Xia Y, Bex V, Midgley P (eds) (2013) Climate 7
a residual risk of damage to buildings, infrastructure and change 2013: The physical science basis. Contribution
harm to people remains. of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of
Experience from previous research suggests that values at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cam-
risk and spatial planning should be increasingly considered bridge University Press, Cambridge
within the framework of natural hazard risk reduction. To
meet this goal, integral risk management strategies seem
to be a valuable instrument to reduce the vulnerability of
buildings and infrastructure to natural hazards and to de-
velop strategies for a strengthened resistance, above all by
means of local protection measures.
Further reading
• Adger W, Quinn T, Lorenzoni I, Murphy C, Sweeney J (2013)
Changing social contracts in climate-change adaptation.
Nature Climate Change 3 (4):330-333
• Banks J, Camp J, Abkowitz M (2014) Adaptation planning
for floods: a review of available tools. Natural Hazards
70 (2):1327-1337 Important aspects of TRANS-ADAPT. Credits: S. Fuchs based on
• Fuchs S, Keiler M, Sokratov S, Shnyparkov A (2013) Spa- wordart.com
tiotemporal dynamics: the need for an innovative ap-
proach in mountain hazard risk management. Natural
Hazards 68 (3):1217-1241
• Fuchs S, Kuhlicke C, Meyer V (2011) Editorial for the spe-
cial issue: vulnerability to natural hazards – the chal-
lenge of integration. Natural Hazards 58 (2):609-619
• Fuchs S, Röthlisberger V, Thaler T, Zischg A, Keiler M (2017)
Natural hazard management from a coevolutionary per-
spective: Exposure and policy response in the European
Alps. Annals of the American Association of Geogra-
phers 107 (2):382-392
• Hanger S, Pfenninger S, Dreyfus M, Patt A (2013) Know-
ledge and information needs of adaptation policy-ma-
kers: A European study. Regional Environmental Change Stakeholder consultation as one important step of societal
13 (1):91-101 transformation in natural hazard management Credits: S. Fuchs
• Holub M, Fuchs S (2009) Mitigating mountain hazards
in Austria – Legislation, risk transfer, and awareness
building. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
9 (2):523-537
• Jongman B, Koks E, Husby T, Ward P (2014) Increasing
flood exposure in the Netherlands: implications for risk
financing. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
14 (5):1245-1255
• Keiler M, Knight J, Harrison S (2010) Climate change and
geomorphological hazards in the eastern European Alps.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of Lon-
don Series A: 368:2461-2479
• Rojas R, Feyen L, Watkiss P (2013) Climate change and ri-
ver floods in the European Union: Socio-economic con-
Adaptation challenges the prevention of risks in the context of extreme
sequences and the costs and benefits of adaptation. events, and consists of adjustments in responses, and integration of
Global Environmental Change 23 (6):1737-1751 prevention against extreme events in local development. August
• Seneviratne K, Baldry D, Pathirage C (2010) Disaster know- 2005 floods in Austria. Credits: Austrian Armed Forces
ledge factors in managing disasters successfully. Inter-
national Journal of Strategic Property Management 14
(4):376-390
Bottom-up initiatives
Bottom-up initiatives ry to integrate disaster management and community plan-
8 ning. Current practice seldom reflects such a synthesis, and
Since the late 1980s the context of globalisation of exchan- this is one of the reasons why hazard awareness is usually
ges radically changed management and policies. The multi- absent from local decision-making processes. It is asserted
plication of actors, rules or sources of information highlights that if mitigation strategies are to be successfully implemen-
the importance of collaborative process characteristics in ted, then the disaster management process must incorpo-
reaching agreements. To solve emerging problems, uncer- rate public participation at the local decision-making level.
tainties and risks, especially linked with environmental is- TRANS-ADAPT provides a way to understand how bottom-up
sues, some experts and scholars have defined an ascending initiatives create innovative spatial flood risk measures and
process of problem solving, based on collaboration to find a what they teach us about flood risk management. TRANS-AD-
consensual solution. This collaboration is associated to bot- APT dealt with cases where a significant amount of respon-
tom-up decision making. sibility had been given to local authorities and/or residents.
Bottom-up initiatives represent a way to make decisions and TRANS-ADAPT defined bottom-up initiatives as the decisi-
implement changes from and with local users. In the field of on-making process and policy implementation in which lo-
flood risk management, it is an alternative to the traditional cal stakeholders in a local area address problems of local
and often governmental expert-based decision and a decis- interest, as a double trend, first, to share flood risk manage-
ion-making process for more innovative measures. Bottom- ment between the State and the local stakeholders, and, se-
up processes can be contrasted with top-down processes cond, to find more creative and innovative solutions to face
and necessarily imply a sound participation from local ac- climate changes in terms of extreme events in urban areas.
tors. There is a strong need for a new division of responsibili- The evolution of flood risk management governance shows
ty between the government and its citizens, leading to a new that the process is linked to the concept of shared responsibi-
balance between structural and non-structural risk manage- lities with European institutions, local authorities, private sta-
ment options, towards more tailor-made choices, depending keholders, lobby interest groups, advocacy actors and citizens.
the spatial, social, economic or cultural characteristics of the In particular citizens are being increasingly required to take
nature of the place and the risk. responsibility for the management of their own flood risk at
Often, bottom-up initiatives are based on efficiency; there- a local community, business and individual household level.
fore, some goals should be decided and implemented by po- Stakeholders are understood as persons interested and ac-
licy-makers. However, it may turn out to be more efficient to tively engaged (in terms of support) in the policy system.
let users define goals and implement such goals themselves. This differs from individuals, which are those who are not
Bottom-up initiatives are not equal to public participation or actively involved or interested in the policy system. An indi-
any new way of local democracy. Nevertheless, bottom-up vidual, group or firm who will be affected by the consequen-
initiatives propose an alternative to hierarchical top-down ces of a decision and hence is regarded as having an interest
decision processes even if on the top of the pyramid there that needs to be taken into account in the decision. This may
may be a leadership institution (economic, political, and re- vary from being heard through to being involved in determi-
ligious) depending on the policies and the context. Moreover ning what the decision should be.
it is argued that in order for this shift to occur, it is necessa- TRANS-ADAPT paid special attention to the role of commu-
nity in the emergence of bottom-up initiatives. Besides stake-
holders involved in the flood risk management policy, there
are three characteristics that compose the definition of com-
munity, (1) a system of interrelations around a common in-
terest, (2) the improvement of their own representation of
spatial quality of life, and (3) a notion of spatialisation in
the community.
In the TRANS-ADAPT case studies, groups of people locally
based, on land that bears specific features geographically
defined, with a definite flood exposure, were studied. Such
groups included those in close proximity to rivers, flooded
districts, local authorities, political authorities, fisheries inte-
rest groups, environmental associations, etc. Each commu-
nity carried the objective of protecting their environment,
their quality of life and their future in using potentially floo-
ded areas for any purpose.
TRANS-ADAPT was based on two assumptions.
The first assumption was that community initiatives create
original ways of managing floods in terms of how commu-
nity-led initiatives are creating some new, original ways of
Bottom-up initiatives are important drivers in flood risk management. Credits: S. Fuchs managing flood prevention infrastructures, specifically mul-tiple use strategies. The first hypothesis is that the bottom-up
process of local actors is more innovative than traditional in- 9
stitutional arrangements. The main reasons for this shift from
centralised to decentralised organisation is that local scale
seems to be more efficient in dealing with those tasks rela-
ting to risk management.
The second assumption was that multiple use is a resilient
outcome that can be replicated. Do community processes
lead to a more successful outcome, in terms of vulnerability
reduction and resilience, in which multiple-use is the obser-
ved outcome? By multiplying the functions of land (leisure,
sport, commercial activities, fishing places) and by thinking
Information and communication are essential for creating incentives
about the vulnerability of those activities, TRANS-ADAPT de-
for bottom-up initiatives. Credits: S. Fuchs
termined if multi-functionality increases resilience, when it
is defined as the capacity of a system to respond to a distur-
bance by resisting damage and rebuilding itself without col-
lapsing into a qualitatively different state that is controlled
by a different set of processes. Classical flood risk manage-
ment measures, which are dominated by one type of use
(flood protection), cannot respond to the new circumstan-
ces. TRANS-ADAPT argued that such approaches hold much,
as yet unexploited, potential for realising unexpected solu-
tions for dealing with flood risks.
Further reading
• Green C, Penning-Rowsell E (2010) Stakeholder engage-
ment in flood risk management. In: Pender G, Faulkner
Bottom-up initiatives as a way to make decisions and implement
H (eds) Flood risk science and management. Wiley-
changes from and with local users. Credits: S. Fuchs
Blackwell, West-Sussex:372-385
• Hegger D, van Vliet J, van Vliet B (2007) Niche manage-
ment and its contribution to regime change: the case
of innovation in sanitation. Technology Analysis and
Strategic Management 19 (6):729-746
• Johnson C, Priest S (2008) Flood risk management in Eng-
land: a changing landscape of risk responsibility? In-
ternational Journal of Water Resources Development
24 (4):513-525
• Pearce L (2003) Disaster management and community pl-
anning: How to achieve sustainable hazard mitigati-
on. Natural Hazards 28 (2-3):211-228
• Thaler T (2014) Developing partnership approaches for
flood risk management: implementation of inter-lo-
cal co-operations in Austria. Water International 39 Meeting of stakeholders and decision makers. Credits: S. Fuchs
(7):1018-1029
• Thaler T, Fuchs S (2016) Regional governance in flood risk
management: examples of inter-local flood risk ma-
nagement approaches in Austria. In: Koboltschnig G
(ed) Internationales Symposion Interpraevent, Lucer-
ne, 30 May - 02 June 2016. Internationale Forschungs-
gesellschaft Interpraevent: 54-55
• Thaler T, Priest S, Fuchs S (2016) Evolving interregional
co-operation in flood risk management: distances and
types of partnership approaches in Austria. Regional
Environmental Change 16 (3):841-853
Discussion among stakeholders and hazard experts. Credits: S. FuchsCase study (Austria)
Galtür avalanche dam of lack of land. Consequently such multi-functional natu-
10 ral hazard constructions are gaining momentum in Austria.
Even though beyond the narrow scope of flood hazard mi-
tigation, the Galtür avalanche dam is an excellent example Planning
of multi-use in risk management. The municipality of Galtür The limited living space, proximity of safe and hazard-pro-
is located 35 km southwest of Landeck in the western part ne areas, and continuous land use pressure – but also in-
of Austria near the Swiss boarder at an altitude of 1580 m creasing financial limitations – sparked strong community
a.s.l. The municipality covers an area of 121 km2 and 771 engagement to use the dam for additional purposes. The
inhabitants lived there in the year 2016. During winter- project was planned immediately after the avalanche event
time, up to 4000 additional persons are present in the ho- and implementation started even before the winter of 1999
tels and guesthouses of the village. More than 26 avalanche for reasons of timely avalanche protection of the village. The
paths, nine of which are equipped with defence structures dam was constructed as a multi-storey building following
in the starting zone, endanger the community. During the the adjacent federal road on a length of 135 m. The 345
so-called avalanche winter in 1998/99, major avalanches m long and up to 19 m high avalanche wall not only inte-
occurred throughout the Europpean Alps. A 50 m (160 ft) grates art and culture, but impresses with modern interior
high powder avalanche traveling at 290 km/h (180 mph) design and the exterior architecture adapted to the towns-
hit the village on 23 February 1999. As a result, 57 people cape and nature. Whereas the avalanche protection was pl-
were buried and 31 of them died. anned by the responsible section of the Austrian Service for
The Galtür avalanche dam was constructed as a multi-func- Torrent and Avalanche Control, the adjacent building was
tional protection scheme as a response to the 1999 ava- planned by a local architecture firm and is now operated
lanche events. The national, regional and local authorities by the Alpinarium Galtür society, a registered Austrian as-
developed an innovative management concept for the com- sociation targeted at a further promotion of topics related
munity which included snow fences made of steel in the to the natural heritage and cultural activities of the region.
avalanche starting zones on top of the slopes, and a 300m The basement is used as an underground car park, and also
avalanche dam to protect the mountain village in the run- includes the building equipment and appliances facilities.
out area. The Austrian Torrent and Avalanche Control Ser- The ground floor includes the museum of Galtür including
vice initiated the project, where the local citizens were the the necessary facilities, an indoor climbing wall and the
main driver for the development of a multi-functional use of fire station as well as the local mountain rescue service. In
the dam. Multi-functional use included an exhibitions room, the first floor, a coffee bar, lecture rooms, the administrati-
a panorama café, a climbing wall, a conference location and on and the archives of the museum are located. The com-
the centre of the civil protection integrated in the protecti- bination of protective walls and exhibition rooms makes
ve structure. The avalanche dam has multiple functionality the Galtür Alpinarium and its architecture unique in Euro-
as a response to the lack of space in the village; and there- pe. The multifunctional construction was a highly complex
fore a strong community engagement was observed to use and innovative project with strong citizen participation in
the dam with secondary purposes. As such, the Galtür ex- the decision-making process. Many efforts were invested
ample is a frontrunner of multi-functional natural hazards in developing new administrative arrangements to settle
protection schemes, especially to overcome the problem responsibilities and liabilities between the municipality, ci-
tizens and the Austrian Service for Torrent and Avalanche
Control – as well as in securing new financial resources to
develop and maintain structural protection schemes.
Implementation
The key players in implementing the Alpinarium were the
Austrian Service for Torrent and Avalanche Control and the
Federal State of Tyrol, which both led the discussions in Gal-
tür. Tyrol was powerful because of its importance regarding
funding sources, while the Austrian Service for Torrent and
Avalanche Control was responsible for designing and con-
structing the dam. The national, regional and local govern-
ment provided € 9.5 million towards the project, receiving
additional funds by international donors who supported re-
construction following the 1999 disaster, such as the Auto-
nomous Province of Bolzano, Italy.
Challenges
The leadership at the local and regional level was key in dri-
Galtür avalanche dam. Credits: Google Earth ving the strong community engagement. It was also pow-Galtür
erful enough to influence the current policy discourse, due • Holub M, Fuchs S (2009) Mitigating mountain hazards
to its technical knowledge and expertise. The main chal- in Austria – Legislation, risk transfer, and awareness 11
lenges identified were the gap between policy guidelines, building. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
regulations and the implementation process at local level. 9 (2):523-537
Inhabitants showing higher risk awareness were more like- • Keiler M (2004) Development of the damage potential re-
ly to participate in the process. Another challenge was the sulting from avalanche risk in the period 1950-2000,
shift of legal responsibilities between the different public case study Galtür. Natural Hazards and Earth System
authorities involved and their regulatory power, such as pl- Sciences 4 (2):249-256
anning regulation (municipality) or permission to carry out • Keiler M, Sailer R, Jörg P, Weber C, Fuchs S, Zischg A,
the construction (Austrian Service for Torrent and Avalanche Sauermoser S (2006) Avalanche risk assessment – a
Control). Moreover, a central aspect was the question of re- multi-temporal approach, results from Galtür, Austria.
sponsibility for potential damage from future natural hazard Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 6 (4):637-
events, which was finally transferred to the municipality. 651
Thus, the avalanche dam contributed to improving social
capacity-building of the community of Galtür – increasing
risk perception, risk communication and risk education, with
respect to a sustainable mountain development.
Recommendations
The Galtür case study demonstrated a strong driver towards
encouraging local actors and stakeholders to support ‘their’
community scheme. Local actors and stakeholders have
used their social capacity to adapt the protection scheme
to their needs and interests in order to drive socio-economic
development as well as gaining the avalanche protection.
The processes included besides the representatives from the
government also the residents. The Austrian Service for Tor-
rent and Avalanche Control recognised the realisation of the
multi-functional dam as a legitimate solution for avalanche
protection. In terms of representation and transparency, all
Galtür avalanche dam. Credits: S. Fuchs
stakeholders were quite satisfied with the entire negotia-
tion process. Therefore, the outcome represented adequa-
tely the interests of the local population as well as of the
Austrian Service for Torrent and Avalanche Control. The pro-
ject has also received positive attractions in and outside the
country, which made it one of the first pilots of multifunc-
tional use in hazard protection schemes.
Summary
The community-based initiative encouraged citizens to ac-
tively engage in risk management. The initiative ensured
that local interests and well-being were met.
Multifunctional protection schemes provide multiple bene-
fits. Such schemes reduce pressure on limited land and thus Alpinarium Galtür. Credits: M. Keiler
mitigate land use conflicts. They can attract investors, pro-
viding new financial resources to complement scarce pub-
lic finances. And they can be used for risk communication
and education in promoting local resilience.
Major investments in disaster risk reduction often require
collaboration between local, regional and national authori-
ties – and both vision and a new division of responsibility.
Further reading
• Fuchs S, Keiler M, Zischg A (2015) A spatiotemporal multi-
hazard exposure assessment based on property data.
Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 15(9):
2127-2142 Galtür avalanche dam. Credits: J. HüblCase study (Austria)
Pfunds flood protection Planning
12 Following torrential flooding in 2005, the Austrian Torrent
The local authority Pfunds is located in the western part of and Avalanche Control Service developed a local flood risk
Austria close to the Swiss border, with a population of ap- management strategy to determine areas of the communi-
proximately 2,570 people. The town is situated on the Ri- ty exposed to torrential flooding. The Austrian Torrent and
ver Inn and the Stubenbach torrent. The river basin is part Avalanche Control Service proposed to develop flood defen-
of the Samnaun mountain range. Geologically, the basin is ces outside and insight the community of Pfunds to protect
located within the Engadin window, a Mesozocic ocean ba- the residential and non-residential buildings along the Stu-
sin, which was lifted and then over-thrusted by older layers benbach torrent. This included two retention basins, one in
(Silvretta and Ötztal layer). The dominant lithology of the the centre of the community and several flood walls along
basin comprises several local types of shale with interbed- the course of the torrent. However, the main challenge was
ded strata of quartzites. The Stubenbach torrent is charac- to implement the retention basins on private land. The local
terised by fluvial sediment transport processes and debris authorities initiated in close collaboration with local citi-
floods and is a tributary of the Inn river. Directly on the fan zens a new planning concept for Pfunds. Consequently, the
the municipality of Pfunds is located, where several dama- stakeholder engagement presented the concept of a mul-
ging torrent events were recorded since the 1830s. In 2005, ti-functional use of the retention basin in the town centre
Pfunds suffered heavy damage due to another event, with with the purpose of risk communication.
a magnitude up to 6 m and more than 60 damaged buil- The dam was funded by the national, regional and local
dings. After the event the local authority had been actively government as well as internationally funding schemes,
and intensively involved in the development of a local risk such as European Union. The share for the realization of
management plan. In overall, the risk management plan in- the retention basin was Austrian Torrent and Avalanche
cluded two main components: Control Service (62 %), the Federal State of Tyrol (21 %),
1. Natural hazard management: a retention basin was pl- the regional road authority (2 %) and the local municipali-
anned in the village; the retention basin acts as a pri- ty (15 %). The local authority and the EU-Interreg program
mary torrent protection measure. Therefore, it legally mainly funded the cultural installation.
falls under the authority of the Austrian Torrent and
Avalanche Control Service and the local authority of Implementation
Pfunds. The municipality has taken up the responsi- The focus of the local management scheme was the deve-
bility of evacuation and maintenance of the basin, lopment of a classical protection measure initiated by the
whereas the Austrian Torrent and Avalanche Control Austrian Torrent and Avalanche Control Service. Moreover,
Service was responsible for planning and implemen- not to develop a multifunctional system in the area. The en-
ting the measure. gagement from the local authority (whereabouts the may-
2. Multi-use design: the retention basin can be used for lei- or was the central actor in the overall process) enforced a
sure activities; fountains and artwork were included partly re-design of the local risk management plan. The stu-
in the design of the retention basin and acts as archi- dy sites show a central relationship between national and
ving memories and informal flood risk communication. local level (between the local mayor and the Austrian Tor-
rent and Avalanche Control Service). However, the lead of
the risk management plan was still on the side of the Aus-
trian Torrent and Avalanche Control Service.
The interaction by Austrian Torrent and Avalanche Control
Service with the community was mainly organised infor-
mally and only in the planning phase based on different
interests between local authority and residents. In parti-
cular, the local mayor (an architect) showed high interest
in the development and realisation of the new multifunc-
tional flood alleviation scheme. He played a central role in
the planning process, especially for the realisation of the
cultural installation in the retention basin. Besides, he was
able to mobilise additional financial resources and appro-
val from national and regional authorities to implement the
multi-functional retention basin. However, there were some
delays in the planning process, because of problems in the
purchase of the necessary land for the retention basin. Ne-
vertheless, the integration of the multi-functional purpose
was not a key issue for the Austrian Torrent and Avalanche
Control Service.
Pfunds flood protection. Credits: Google EarthPfunds Challenges The outcomes of the project were accepted by the local re- An important driver in the process was the engagement of sidents. In particular, the policy entrepreneur (mayor) played 13 one person (policy entrepreneur) in the overall process. The a central role in the successful implementation. mayor stimulated the residents of the neighbourhood in Pfunds to start the engagement process. The outcome was Further reading that the local level was actively involved in the develop- • Fuchs S, Thaler T, Röthlisberger V, Zischg A, Keiler M (2017) ment of a strategy for flood management. A key challenge Natural hazard management from a co-evolutionary in the realisation of the project included the question of re- perspective: the cycle of exposure and policy respon- sponsibility (liability) if something would happen during a se in the European Alps. Annals of the American Asso- future torrent event. So far, the Austrian legal system fore- ciation of Geographers 107 (2):382-392 sees that the Austrian Torrent and Avalanche Control Ser- • Holub M, Suda J, Fuchs S (2012) Mountain hazards: redu- vice is responsible if someone in the retention area would cing vulnerability by adapted building design. Environ- be injured or would decease by an event. Consequently, the mental Earth Sciences 66 (7):1853-1870 national authority was quite critical in the beginning of the • Totschnig R, Fuchs S (2013) Mountain torrents: quantify- project. Here, in order to overcome this liability, the Aust- ing vulnerability and assessing uncertainties. Enginee- rian Torrent and Avalanche Control Service had to transfer ring Geology 155:31-44 the responsibility to local level. Besides, a key driver for the Austrian Torrent and Avalanche Control Service was the re- alisation of a multi-functional dam as a legitimate solution to the issue of future torrential floods. Recommendations The processes included besides the representatives from the national government also the local level. The Austrian Tor- rent and Avalanche Control Service recognised the realisa- tion of the multi-functional dam as a legitimate solution to the problem. In overall, all stakeholders were quite satisfied with the entire negotiation process, in terms of representa- tion and transparency. Therefore, the outcome was that the interests of the residents were adequately represented and recognised by the Austrian Torrent and Avalanche Control Fountains in the flood retention basin. Credits: S. Fuchs Service. The communication process was organised through various meetings among all different stakeholders. The ma- yor had also a strong influence on the design of the cultu- ral activities in the retention basin. The responsibility was rather clearly defined between the different stakeholders in the planning and implementati- on phase. The authorities involved used their responsibility for their primary goals, mainly to provide a flood protec- tion scheme. Local stakeholders were mainly responsibility for the tasks outside the hazard management. However, the municipality and residents were mainly involved during the planning/initiation phase of the project. In this phase, es- pecially the residents were strongly involved in the decisi- Pfunds flood retention basin. Credits: S. Fuchs on-making process. In terms of the legal responsibility, the authorities were quite sceptical at the beginning, but the so- lution was a responsibility-transfer to the local authorities. Summary The case study demonstrates a strong driver towards en- couraging local actors and stakeholders to support their community scheme. The cultural activities are well used by the residents and for- eigners; the construction plays an active role in risk commu- nication and increasing of risk awareness. The project has also received positive attentions outside of Austria and is favourable for the municipality. Pfunds after the 2005 flood event. Credits: M. Rinderer
Case study (Austria)
Großkirchheim flood protection strategy for the community of Großkirchheim. The local au-
14 thority proposed to develop a multi-functional flood de-
The municipality of Großkirchheim in south-western Austria fence along the Möll river. The project included a dam with
with a population of approximately 1,300 people is situa- an integrated indoor shooting range with the aim to pro-
ted on the Möll river and therefore prone to flooding. The tect residential and commercial premises from future flood
flood history during the 20th century shows various events, events. The multi-functional flood alleviation scheme was
in particular during the 1960s but also in recent decades. developed in close collaboration by the water authority
The main economic activities are dominated by agricultural and the community. It was proposed as a common project
land use, energy production (hydropower), small to medi- in terms of design, planning, implementation and mainte-
um handicraft businesses and the tourism sector – main- nance. Nevertheless, it has been a highly complex project
ly in the upper part of the catchment. Apart from flooding, with multiple different professional stakeholders from the
the catchment includes multiple hazard sources for landsli- public and private sectors. The development of this project
des and snow avalanches. Großkirchheim is protected from was innovative and resulted in many efforts put into legal
flooding by a dam along the Möll river; beyond flood pro- arrangements to settle responsibilities and liabilities bet-
tection this dam facilitates another use since it includes an ween the municipality and the Federal Water Engineering
indoor shooting range. The indoor shooting range is an inte- Administration.
gral part of the flood alleviation scheme protecting in parti-
cular the commercial and leisure centres. The Federal Water Implementation
Engineering Administration initiated the project with the An important driver to initiate and to implement this mul-
aim to reduce the physical vulnerability of the community. ti-functional project was the political will and leadership
However, the focus was on the development of the protec- at local level. In overall, key players in the Großkirchheim
tion scheme and not to develop a multi-functional system. were the Federal Water Engineering Administration of Ca-
The idea to integrate cultural activities in terms of a shoo- rinthia and the local authority. The mayor played a central
ting range was developed by the local authority of Groß- role in the planning process especially for realising the in-
kirchheim. The concept for the indoor shooting range in the door shooting range. Both organisations (Federal Water En-
dam started right after the planning process of the flood gineering Administration and community) were leading the
protection scheme. Nevertheless, it has been a highly com- discussion during the planning process of the flood risk ma-
plex project with multiple different professional stakehol- nagement strategy. The Federal State of Carinthia has been
ders from the public and private sectors. The development powerful in terms of funding sources – without the financi-
of this project was very innovative and resulted in many al support of the Federal State the project would never have
efforts put into legal arrangements to settle responsibili- been realised. The Federal Water Engineering Administra-
ties and liabilities between the municipality and the Fede- tion was the most important actor in the entire process. In
ral Water Engineering Administration. particular, this government department dominated the pl-
anning process, making them the gatekeeper for the project
Planning also according to institutional and organisational norms.
Following flood risk analysis, the Federal Water Engineering The national, regional and local government as well as in-
Administration developed a local flood risk management ternational bodies such as the European Union funded the
dam or provided subsidies. The share for the realization of
the project was 50 % for the Federal Water Engineering Ad-
ministration, 40 % for the Federal State of Carinthia and
the remaining 10 % for the local authority, amounting to a
total cost of € 1.5 million.
Challenges
The case study had shown various mechanisms and actions
encouraging a change of current natural hazards strate-
gies. The involvement of local stakeholders in the planning
process was an important step in the successful creation
of a partnership approach between the different local and
national actors and stakeholders. Analysing the case stu-
dy resulted in five general drivers which encourage the im-
plementation of such multi-functional protection schemes.
First, an important driver was the mayor. The mayor recog-
nised the window of opportunity to realise a multi-func-
tional dam as a legitimate solution to the issue of flood
hazards. Further, the direct engagement of residents was
Großkirchheim flood protection. Credits: Google Earth very limited because the mayor acted as a catalyst introdu-You can also read
