Research and development

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TransAdapt

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Making trans-border climate change risks tangible for adaptation actions (TransAdapt)

The experiences of covid-19 have increased awareness of cross-border climate risk, ie that something is happening in one country linked to climate change, and that this has ripple effects in completely different countries. This is a type of risk society must also adapt to, in addition to "traditional" climate risk.

The main goal of the project is to investigate and show how one can put cross-border climate risk on the agenda in the local and national work with climate adaptation. The project also has four sub-goals.

Four of the research partners in Noradapt participates in the project: Nordland Research Institute, Cicero, Norce and Western Norway Research Institute. In addition to the Stockholm Environment Institute.

Sub-goals

  1. Develop an indicator-based top-down method for analyzing cross-border climate risk at national level

  2. Demonstrate how one can analyze cross-border climate risk for specific sectors

  3. Demonstrate how one can analyze risk ownership along and across value chains and policy levels

  4. Analyze governance at several levels, and across sectors, for adaptation to cross-border climate risk

Starte date: 01.12.2021

end date: 31.12.2025

financed by: Noradapt

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Co-Adapt

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Communities for Climate Change Action (Co-Adapt)

The goal of the project is to develop a participation tool for climate change action. The tool will facilitate climate adaptation and emission reductions in cities in Poland.

The project looks at strategies to overcome barriers to activity and grassroots participation, and we place emphasis on finding innovative designs for applied research on climate change action.

The project will help to strengthen resilience and integrate more people into participatory processes in urban communities, which can strengthen the cities' ability to adapt. The need for adaptation to climate change is increasing, also in cities.

The tool uses methods that are called "serious gaming" and will open up to experiment with strategies and solutions to climate problems. We would like to overcome the so-called "motivation gap" in the climate change adaptation and create a broad and large commitment to work with climate change action.

START date: 01.10.2021

end date:

financed by: the research council of norway

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Nordic perspectives on transboundary impacts of climate change

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The project is an assessment on cross-border climate risk for the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The main objective of the project is to improve the understanding of the effect of transboundary impacts of climate change in the Nordic countries. It also aims at identifying priority sectors and possibilities for joint Nordic action.

The leader of the project is Kati Berninger, Tyrsky Consulting.

START date: 21.09.2021

end date: 01.05.2022

financed by: nordic council of ministers

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Sustainability analysis of climate change adaptation measures

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The project will result in a sustainability analysis for selected climate adaptation measures that are relevant to Rogaland.

In the project, we will first map the climate vulnerability of the municipalities in Rogaland. This survey will then form the basis for the selection of climate adaptation measures to be analyzed. Technical criteria for climate adaptation measures must be described and quantified.

These parties participated in the project:

Research:

  • Western Norway Research Institute

  • SINTEF community

Municipalities/county municipalities:

  • Sauda municipality

  • Sola municipality

  • Gjesdal municipality

  • Karmøy municipality

  • Hjelmeland municipality

  • Rogaland County Municipality

Business/consulting companies:

  • Asplan Viak AS

  • Faber Bygg AS

  • Sweco Norge AS

  • Skjæveland gruppen

In the sustainability analyzes, the partners must first define which sustainability goals the climate adaptation measures are to contribute to fulfilling. These goals will cover the dimensions of technical performance, economy, environmental friendliness, compliance with regulations and societal benefits. The project will then define the criteria to be used to measure goal achievement for the selected climate adaptation measures.

In the next step, indicators will be prepared which in turn will be used to quantify these criteria. Due to uncertainty related to the climate of the future, scenarios will be included in the analysis, and it is the user partners who decide on the weighting of the various dimensions in the scenario analyzes. This three-step analysis; define goals, criteria and indicators, builds on existing and ongoing studies, and is an iterative process that requires strong user partner involvement.

The parties (municipalities and other stakeholders) shall jointly find out which goals and criteria are relevant for Rogaland, and find out what information and data are available that can add value to the indicators.

The fourth step in the sustainability analysis is to rank the climate adaptation measures. This ranking will provide the municipalities with a basis for choosing the most sustainable combinations of climate adaptation measures to mitigate the local vulnerabilities.

Project leader is SINTEF, contact person: Maria Barrio Hernandez

Project owner is Stavanger municipality, contact person: Hugo Kind

START date: 01.08.2021

end date: 31.07.2024

financed by: Regionalt forskingsfond Rogaland

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Barriers to climate change adaptation at local and regional level of governance

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The three collaborating parties - CICERO (project manager), Nordland Research Institute and Western Norway Research Institute - will, on behalf of the Norwegian Environment Agency, compile existing knowledge on barriers to achieving the national goal of climate change adaptation and the current policy instrument for climate change adaptation. The compilation of knowledge shall contain a clarification of the concepts barriers and policy instruments. Furthermore, the project will create an updated status for barriers at local and regional level through a broad involvement of relevant user groups.

START date: 01.06.21

end date: 31.12.21

financed by: norwegian environment agency

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Indicators for climate change adaptation of buildings and infrastructure in municipalities

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This project will further develop indicators for climate adaptation in municipalities, and adapt these to Western Norway. 

The project will build on existing research, and will primarily be a continuation of the project «Indicators for measuring climate adaptation of physical areas, buildings and infrastructure in small, medium and large municipalities», which SINTEF prepares together with the Network for climate adaptation in Trøndelag.

This project is based on the MRE model, as well as indicators developed for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the ZEN research center. The activity will also run in parallel with relevant work done on climate adaptation in the research center Klima 2050.

Partners of the project:

  • Western Norway Research Institute

  • Sintef

  • Osterøy municipality

  • Sunnfjord municipality

  • Kvam Herad

  • Sogndal municipality

  • Fitjar municipality

  • Kinn municipality

  • Luster municipality

  • Trondheim municipality

  • Vestland County Council

The municipalities will have different starting points. We will therefore start with a review of the municipalities' ROS analysis, municipal plan and climate plan (municipal sub-plan for climate or thematic plan for climate). Furthermore, we look at the climate vulnerability analysis. If the municipalities have not prepared the documents mentioned above, their preparation will be useful input to the development of indicators and their relevance to Western Norway.

We will further, using available data, develop a set of simple indicators for climate adaptation of buildings and infrastructure in municipalities. We want to focus on indicators that can be graded and are comparable between municipalities and over time. The indicators must also distinguish at the actor level and how far the municipalities have come in the climate adaptation work. A user guide for the indicators must be prepared, and the indicators must be tested.

We also want to develop economic indicators for climate adaptation of buildings and infrastructure in the municipalities. This entails indicators for benefit / cost analyzes for investments where the expected effects of climate change are taken into account, and for budget allocation to climate adaptation measures. Furthermore, we want to develop indicators for climate adaptation in operation, for example in the form of maintenance costs. Relevant indicators must be quantified in the project.

start date: 01.05.2021

end date: 30.04.2024

financed by: Regionale forskningsfond Vestland

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Participatory methods for climate change adaptation

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To secure sustainable development, climate change transformation and adaptation should be integrated into regional and local planning processes. There is also a growing need to mobilize and integrate local knowledge into these processes, as well as to develop greater understanding, engagement, legitimacy and social learning for and within the municipal populations.

Previous studies have found that municipalities often face barriers when interpreting flood-data and that increased uncertainty creates new challenges in different sectors. This may imply that there is a need to develop broader data-collections and better communication methods for risk assessment in local contexts.

Trying out methods

In cooperation with Vestland County Council, the partners Western Norway Research Institute, NORCE Climate, and the Department of Geography at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology will develop and test various participatory methods such as citizen science, visualization of climate change data and participation in planning processes. The research will be conducted in Osterøy, Sunnfjord, and Kinn municipalities, which also are project participants, and they all need to strengthen their efforts towards climate change adaptation.

The project will develop:

  • Citizen science methods that contribute to greater engagement and legitimacy to the knowledge basis for local adaptation measures

  • Vizualisation and communication tools for that makes knowledge available and relevant for citizens

  • Participatory methods for increasing citizens involvement in planning processes

Residents are encouraged to record flood and flooding events in one app and share weather data from private measuring stations. Photo: Department of Geography, NTNU

People can share their own data

"Citizen science" means that ordinary people take part in research. In this project, the inhabitants will be able to contribute by using a smartphone app for registering floods and flood events. They can also share data from their private weather stations.

The idea for the project came as a result of a course for Ph.D. and Masters' students organized by the Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation (CET) and Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at The University of Bergen in collaboration with the Norwegian Centre for Sustainable Climate Change Adaptation and other partners the fall of 2019. The project-partners also participated in the course.

The project is led by Vestland County Council, by Lene Omdahl.

START date: 01.04.2021

end date: 01.04.2024

financed by: The Research Council of norway

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Roadadapt

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Testing of two tools for analysing climate change risks and cost-benifit analysis of climate change adaptation in relation to road investment and maintenance operations (RoadAdapt)

The purpose of RoadAdapt is to test two new methods for assessing how well important road sections in Norway tolerate climate change, and possibly how much can be saved by implementing preventive measures.

Several of the major roads in Norway are closed for periods due to flooding, surface water and various types of landslides. Such problems are expected to increase due to climate change. Therefore, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration will obtain a better overview of where the issues lies and how far it pays to avoid problems in advance with prevention.

the Professionals make the assessments

The one method the researchers will try out, make use of the knowledge and experience of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s own professionals in various subject areas. The researchers will put their knowledge into a system by holding a series of structured gatherings.

These gatherings are set up so that professionals themselves make assessments of the consequences and probability of various incidents along a stretch of road. The researchers enter the assessments into a model to calculate the risk on the road section in a different climate.

The precautionary principle?

The second method to be tested in RoadAdapt is a tool for weighing costs against benefits. In other words: will it pay to prevent overwater on a flood-exposed road, or is the damage potential too small and the cost too high?

In this part of the study, the researchers calculate how much one can expect to save or lose by implementing preventive measures along the same stretch of road for which one calculates climate risk. The basis for the calculation is thus the risk assessment from the first method.

E-road 39

The road that will serve as a case in the study is a longer stretch of E39 between Agder and Sogn og Fjordane. Europaveg 39 starts in Trøndelag and runs via Trondheim, Ålesund, Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. The road was named E39 19 years ago.

Western Norway Research Institute is carrying out the project together with Menon Economics. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is the client.

The reports from the project can be found on Western Norway Research Institute's website.

start date: 25.09.2019

end date: 31.12.2019

financed by: The Norwegian Public Roads Administration

 
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Unchain

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Unpacking climate impact CHAINs. A new generation of action – and user-oriented climate change risk assessments (Unchain)

Unchain is an international research project about analyzing local climate risk together with the local inhabitants at the site. Western Norway Research Institute is leading the project, which has participants from several European countries.

The full project title of the Unchain project is Unpacking climate impact chains. A new generation of action- and user-oriented climate change risk assessments. In the years to come, climate change will continue to affect nature and society in various ways. This creates a number of undesirable climate risks, ranging from the increased risk of flooding in the cities to the fact that drinking water in the tap more often makes people ill due to increased run-off.

Risk can in most cases be reduced through various forms of adaptation measures. Traditionally, researchers and other "experts" have analyzed climate risk, but in Unchain, researchers and so-called "users" - people from outside academia - must work together to develop new methods for analyzing climate risk. The benefit is that one can pay more attention to local knowledge. The goal is that such a method in the next round will make it easier to design effective climate adaptation measures.

Other institutes in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Austria, Sweden and France also participates. The Norwegian part of the research is funded by the Research Council of Norway. The total budget for the project is NOK 20 million. The work will begin in September 2019 and will last for three years.

Read more about the project here.

START date: 01.09.2019

end date: 01.09.2022

financed by: the research council of norway

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Climate consequences Rogaland

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Assessing the consequences of climate change on nature and society in Rogaland - challenges, opportunities and priorities

In 2020, Rogaland will have its first county-wide climate adaptation plan, and Noradapt will provide an important part of the knowledge base.

The academic contribution is about describing the challenges and opportunities of climate change for the municipalities in Rogaland. The researchers from Western Norway Research Institute, CICERO and NORCE Social Sciences will propose measures and priorities for measures for Rogaland County Municipality. They will also contribute to compiling existing information on the consequences of climate change for nature and society in Rogaland.

financial consequences

Noradapt si utgreiing om klimakonsekvensar i Rogaland skal hjelpe Rogaland fylkeskommune i skrivinga av Regionalplan for klimatilpasning i Rogaland 2020-2050. Planen skal vedtakast hausten 2020.

Noradapt will map the consequences of climate change for different types of land in the county, with the main emphasis on vulnerability and robustness. In order to make the challenges concrete for the county municipality, the researchers will perform scenario assessments in selected areas. The economic consequences of climate change in various areas of society receive the greatest attention in this study.

Local profiles

The researchers aim to create climate profiles at the municipal level. Such profiles can be an important tool for systematizing local climate knowledge, as regional or county-specific climate profiles can become too general.

THREE steps

The work Noradapt performs for Rogaland County Council is divided into three sections:

  1. Analyze the overall consequences of climate change on nature and society in Rogaland

  2. Identify vulnerable and robust areas in Rogaland and discuss status, scenario and example

  3. Assess whether one can develop local climate profiles with an ecosystem approach, ie make connections between climate effects and what kind of habitat types characterize an area.

The Norwegian Meteorological Institute is a subcontractor of local climate analyzes in the project.

Read reports from the project on Western Norway Research Institutes's website.

START date: 20.08.19

end date: 31.12.19

financed by: ROGALAND FYLKESKOMMUNE

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Climate adaptation in the national park municipalities

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Climate change is affecting national parks and their surrounding areas. More and heavier precipitation makes it e.g. difficult to get to the hiking area. In some places, increasing ice melting is preventing traffic on the glacier. At the Nigard glacier in Jostedalen (pictured), the glacier guides had to cut out the guided family trip in 2019 (photo: Wikimedia Commons).

In a pilot project funded by the Norwegian Environment Agency, Western Norway Research Institute is investigating how climate adaptation can be included in the set of criteria for obtaining status as a national park municipality. The project will also help to raise knowledge about how climate change affects the Norwegian national park municipalities.

All municipalities that have the status of a national park municipality or have a town with the status of a national park village, can apply to become a member of the association Norwegian National Park Municipalities (NPKL). The criteria have been prepared by the Norwegian Environment Agency. NPKL currently has 32 members, while the number of municipalities that can choose to apply for a membership is 102.

Western Norway Research Institute is carrying out the pilot project in collaboration with Norway's national park municipalities and Lesja municipality. An important goal of the project is to prepare a main project where the member municipalities are involved. The idea is that the main project will take a closer look at competence-enhancing measures that can equip the national park municipalities to meet the challenges that come with climate change.

Read more on Western Norway Research Institutes's website.

START date: 01.05.2019

end date: 01.05.2020

FINANanced by: the Norwegian Environment Agency

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Climate adaptation in risk and vulnerability analyzes (ROS) for Oslo Municipality

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The Climate Agency in Oslo Municipality experienced that the current use of risk and vulnerability analyzes (ROS) in the planning process did not capture the consequences of natural events and climate change in good enough. This was the starting point for them asking Western Norway Research Institute and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences to prepare a report with input for better practice in the area.

The report outlines opportunities, barriers and challenges in the work of integrating oversight of climate change into the ROS work. The researchers have given advice on how to avoid or work with the barriers and utilize the possibilities, especially in light of the new state planning guideline for climate adaptation.

Read the report Climate adaptation in risk and vulnerability analyzes (ROS) for Oslo Municipality.

Start date: 01.12.2018

end date: 31.01.2019

Financed by: Oslo municipality

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Environmental technology and climate change adaptation

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Forskarane bak prosjektet, Tone Rusdal og Torunn G. Hønsi, la fram resultat for deltakarar frå næringslivet under konferansen Klimaomstilling 2019.

Western Norway Research Institute will discuss the use and development of environmental technology in climate change adaptation work as a possible new focus area for business development in Sogn.

The purpose of the investigation is to

  1. Map views on - possibly proposals - for new environmental technologies to meet the challenges relating to climate change adaptation and

  2. Evaluate the potential for

    a) establishing Sogn as a national meeting arena for this theme, and

    b) new businesses establishments in Sogn in this area.

Environmental technology is understood in this project as all technologies, products and solutions that directly or indirectly improve the environment; ie in this context adapting society to the consequences of expected climate change. The project will look at both "hard" and "soft" technology. The "hard" includes technical changes in production processes and/or products (eg need for easier harvesting machines that come out on wet land), while "soft" includes changes in production processes and/or products (eg need new routines for fertilixation, soil cultivation and harvesting).

Lecture (Norwegian): Climate adaptation technology and business development

Article (Norwegian): It is urgent to protect ourselves from a changing climate

start date: 01.11.2018

end date: 01.05.2019

financed by: sogn regionråd

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Mapping of experiences from the work on climate change adaptation in small- og mediumsized municipalities

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KS conducted a web-based national survey on climate change adaptation in the municipalities in the autumn of 2017 (Wang 2018). The purpose was to get a strong knowledge base on the work on climate adaptation in the municipalities.  In the extension of the survey, KS wishes to follow up with an in-depth survey of small and medium-sized municipalities  to get a deeper impression on the work of this kind of municipalities and the need for follow-up. This will also contribute to a better foundation for KS's further work on policy development, knowledge development and implementation power for our members.

The work includes in-depth interviews with selected persons in 11 municipalities: Aurland, Gjerdrum, Harstad, Lund, Lyngen, Namsos, Nedre Eiker, Ringebu, Vestvågøy, Voss and Ørskog. The municipalities have been selected because they have fewer than 50,000 inhabitants and particularly large damage payments in the last ten years for natural damage related to floods, storm surges, wind and landslides.

Based on the study, the researchers come up with four recommendations:

  • Government funding for local security measures within climate adaptation should be significantly strengthened.

  • An earmarked subsidy for a municipal climate coordinator to ensure that the administrative capacity reaches a necessary minimum level.

  • A national analysis of vulnerability to climate change in Norwegian municipalities and how this varies with t.d. geographical size, economic basis and habitat type. The analysis will provide a necessary knowledge base for a more targeted and effective climate adaptation.

  • A significant strengthening of the work of making knowledge about climate challenges and adaptation measures more locally relevant. This applies to research, development and government guidance.

Read the report “Kartlegging av erfaringer fra arbeidet med klimatilpasning i små- og mellomstore kommuner”

START date: 01.11.2018

end date: 01.03.2019

FINANced by: SOGN REGIONRÅD