Mapping climate disadvantage Identifying vulnerable groups of people Aleksandra Kazmierczak Cardiff University Helsinki, 11 th February 2016
About me Lecturer in Human Geography and Planning at Cardiff University Interest in: Social justice issues associated with climate impacts The role of urban green spaces in addressing climate impacts Contribution to / leadership on a number of projects investigating groups vulnerable to climate change GRaBS (Interreg Ivc) ClimateJust (www.climatejust.org.uk) - England Mapping Flood Disadvantage in Scotland 2015 Mapping social vulnerability to climate change in Wales
Overview Assessment framework for social vulnerability to climate impacts and climate disadvantage Factors that make communities vulnerable to climate impacts Assessment of vulnerability to flooding and high temperatures in Helsinki Lessons learnt from the Mapping Flood Disadvantage in Scotland 2015 project
The assessment framework the background Based on the risk triangle (Crichton, 1999) developed for property insurance industry Risk is a function of vulnerability, hazard and exposure Vulnerability Exposure Risk Hazard
The assessment framework: focus on communities Social vulnerability the varying degree to which people s health and well-being would be negatively affected by flooding if they came into contact with it Exposure the spatial extent of flooding (flood maps) Hazard flood type and probability Flood disadvantage when vulnerable neighbourhoods coincide with areas exposed to flooding Vulnerability Flood disadvantage Hazard: flood type and probability Exposure: flood extent
The detailed assessment framework (after Lindley et al., 2011)
Adjusting the framework to heatwave events High-temperature events do not have a recovery period Heat disadvantage Exposure: Urban Heat Island Hazard: high Temperatures
What makes communities more vulnerable? Flooding High temps. Sensitivity Age Adaptive capacity (ability to prepare, respond and/or recover) Enhanced exposure Health Income Information use Insurance Local knowledge Tenure Mobility Social networks Physical access Crime levels Access to health services Housing characteristics Physical environment
Assessment of social vulnerability in Helsinki Indicators Age % people 0-6; % people over 75 Income Information Tenure Overcrowding Social networks Access Housing characteristics Physical environment median household income; % unemployed; % long-term unemployed; % economically inactive % people with basic studies % rented households; % houses rented from ARA occupancy rate; % households with more than 7 people % students; % single person households; % school-age children accessibility zone; location within 1km from a railway station; % households with no car; commuting patterns % dwellings in flats % water; % green space; % trees; % low vegetation
Spatial analysis for the extent of the Grid Database
Results: social vulnerability to high temperatures Combination of all indicators relevant to social vulnerability to high temperatures
Results: social vulnerability to high temperatures Sensitivity Enhanced exposure to heat Ability to prepare Ability to respond
Results: social vulnerability to flooding Combination of all indicators relevant to social vulnerability to flooding
Sensitivity Ability to prepare Ability to respond Enhanced exposure to flooding Ability to recover
Results: pluvial flood disadvantage Social vulnerability to flooding + pluvial hazard
Recommended amendments to the method Explore the availability of health- and language-related indicators and information on the lowest house floor Using larger units of assessment to avoid missing values Weighting of indicators to reflect the local context Combining index of social vulnerability to high temperatures with urban heat island data
Lessons from Mapping Flood Disadvantage in Scotland 2015 Who should be involved in addressing flood disadvantage? Council activity areas Flood risk management Climate change Housing Planning, development control and regeneration Roads construction Parks Emergency planning Finance Community development Community resilience Elected members Education Public communications Adult social care Healthcare partnership Contingency planning Internal risk and insurance
Lessons from Mapping Flood Disadvantage in Scotland 2015 Who should be involved in addressing flood disadvantage? SEPA Scottish Flood Forum Scottish Water Scottish Canals Landlords (social and private) Developers Housing associations Commerce and industry Visitor industry External stakeholders Emergency services Transport stakeholders Voluntary organisations Community groups & flood groups Individual residents & businesses Scottish Government Education Scotland Colleges and schools Press and media National Health Service Private care providers Insurance industry
Lessons from Mapping Flood Disadvantage in Scotland 2015 Uses of vulnerability and disadvantage maps Local authority Supporting cross-departmental working Development of flood risk management actions Identifying priority areas for emergency services Identifying areas for development of community resources Communicating flood risk and vulnerability to local communities Flood-conscious development control in isolated and rural areas considering access Support action in a variety of other areas (health, social care, housing). Non-governmental organisations Basis to assist community groups in developing community resilience plans Identifying areas for green-space solutions to climate impacts
Aleksandra Kazmierczak Cardiff University KazmierczakA@Cardiff.ac.uk Acknowledgements John O Neill and Sarah Lindley, University of Manchester Reports and websites Lindley, S., O Neill, J., Kandeh, J., Lawson, N., Christian, R. and O Neill, M. (2011) Climate change, justice and vulnerability. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York. Kazmierczak, A., Cavan, G., Connelly, A. and Lindley, S. (2015) Mapping Flood Disadvantage in Scotland 2015. Scottish Government, Edinburgh. www.climatejust.org.uk