Quantification of thermal resilience in buildings: Evaluation of Building Envelope Performance and Operational Parameters

Climate change and extreme heat are critical issues which have been faced all over the world. Consequently, designers strive to monitor and assess the performance of facades by developing environmental assessments at the early design stages, since design changes do not require many resources. Rapid urban expansion in many parts of the world is...

Assessing the remaining lifetime of the Haringvliet sluices: A method for a full system analysis of existing hydraulic structures to quantitatively and qualitatively determine plausible adaptive courses for their remaining lifetime

Many Dutch infrastructure assets were constructed in the first half of the 20th century and by considering an average design life time of roughly 100 years, a lot of these structures will reach the end of their designed life in the upcoming decades. This results in a large replacement and renovation challenge in the nearby future. Assessing the...

Reliability based adaptation of port infrastructure against climate change

Seaports across the globe form a critical lifeline for 90% of the international trade of goods. To ensure the safe and efficient handling of these goods and protect the hinterland from floods, seaports often construct and maintain a large array of hydraulic structures. Revetments and quay walls are a critical part of this infrastructure....

Addressing the challenges of climate change risks and adaptation in coastal areas: A review

Climate change is and will continue altering the world's coasts, which are the most densely populated and economically active areas on earth and home for highly valuable ecosystems. While there is considerable relevant research, in the authors' experience this problem remains challenging for coastal engineering. This paper reviews important...

Assessing the capacity of adaptive policy pathways to adapt on time by mapping trigger values to their outcomes

Climate change raises serious concerns for policymakers that want to ensure the success of long-term policies. To guarantee satisfactory decisions in the face of deep uncertainties, adaptive policy pathways might be used. Adaptive policy pathways are designed to take actions according to how the future will actually unfold. In adaptive...

Modeling dynamics and adaptation at operational and structural scales for the ex-ante economic evaluation of large dams in an African context

Dams can produce electricity and ensure water security, but at the same time they radically alter the hydrological regime of rivers with significant consequences for the economic and environmental welfare of the region in which they are located. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is currently the most frequently used framework for the economic...

Coupling Nile Basin 2050 scenarios with the IPCC 2100 projections for climate-induced risk reduction

Scenarios are valuable tools that could support decision making under deep uncertainty, nevertheless, their potential remains untapped. The paper explores whether participatory scenario construction in the form of stories coupled with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2100 projections may contribute to increased utility of...

WeShareIt game: Strategic foresight for climate-change induced disaster risk reduction

Nile Basin policy makers, at all levels, are constantly making quick decisions to address emergencies. The decisions are made in the context of a complex, uncertain, ever-changing and highly volatile basin. However, for these decisions to take into account future uncertainties, like climate-change induced disasters, policy makers need to...

The resilience approach to climate adaptation applied for flood risk

This dissertation presents a potential way forward for adaptation to climate change, termed the resilience approach. This approach takes a dynamic perspective on adaptive processes and the effects of these processes at/across different spatio-temporal scales. Experience is provided with four methods that can be used to apply the resilience...

Heat in the city - an inventory of knowledge and knowledge deficiencies regarding heat stress in Dutch cities and options for its mitigation.

This report gives an overview of heat stress problems in urban areas of the Netherlands and various options for mitigating this stress. Climate change is causing more occurrences of heat waves. Urban areas in particular will suffer the most, as they are warmer than the countryside. * What is known about the magnitude of heat stress in Dutch...