Lecture series on climate change: What too much water will mean for Hamburg

9 April 2019, by Franziska Neigenfind

Photo: UHH/CEN/T.Wasilewski

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How is climate change affecting precipitation and storm surges in Hamburg? Is the city itself a ‘rainmaker?’ Which forms of adaptation are necessary, and which aspects need to be kept in mind in terms of environmental law and planning law? The lecture series “Water from 4 Sides” addresses these and other key questions (held in German). Open to the public, it will begin April 10 and focus on how coastal cities and their residents can effectively respond to too much water, combining the perspectives of various academic disciplines to do so.

The series will bring together participating researchers from Universität Hamburg, the Institute of Coastal Research (Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Coastal Research Geesthacht), Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW), HafenCity University Hamburg and the Climate Service Center Germany. On July 7 the series will draw to a close with a panel discussion involving representatives of Hamburg’s political community and the company Hamburg Wasser.

The lecture series was planned in the framework of the CLICCS research project C1 (Sustainable adaptation scenarios for urban areas – Water from 4 Sides), the goal of which is to develop planning scenarios for urban regions. In this context, changes to the groundwater depth, storm surges, flash floods and other flooding – and the risks they pose for urban communities – are taken into account.

Lecture series agenda: Agenda (German)
Admission is free, no prior registration necessary
Time and venue: Wednesdays, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, Geomatikum, Bundesstraße 55, Auditorium H6
First lecture: April 10
Coordinators: Prof. Jörg Knieling, Urban Planning, HafenCity University Hamburg
Prof. Jürgen Oßenbrügge, Institute of Geography and Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), Universität Hamburg
Prof. Heinke Schlünzen, Meteorological Institute and CEN, Universität Hamburg