How is Braunschweig tackling climate change? Workshop process with TU Braunschweig looks for measures to adapt to more heat and precipitation
Press release of the city of Braunschweig
How can Braunschweig become resilient to the impacts of climate change? Effective measures for a climate adaptation strategy are to be found in a public participation process coordinated by the city of Braunschweig and Technische Universität Braunschweig. As part of the “Co-Adapted Braunschweig” project, a package of measures will be developed in a multi-stage workshop process between March and June together with stakeholders from urban society, administration and science as an important building block on the way to Braunschweig’s climate adaptation strategy. The recently published project report on climate impacts and risks in Braunschweig forms an important basis for this. It is available on the project website www.braunschweig.de/coabs.
The first project report of the project Co-Adapted Braunschweig – adapting to climate change together (COABS) presents the consequences and resulting risks of the climate change that has already occurred for the fields of action “Water management and soil water balance”, “People and health” and “Nature conservation and biodiversity” specifically for Braunschweig. Building on this knowledge base, the second phase of the project is now underway to develop an integrated portfolio of measures for climate adaptation in Braunschweig.
The results of the online survey on climate impacts from summer 2023 also show the urgency of effective climate adaptation. Four out of five Braunschweig residents surveyed consider climate adaptation to be extremely or fairly urgent and are already aware of the consequences of extreme weather events or other negative impacts of climate change where they live in Braunschweig. More than 3000 ideas and visions for a climate-adapted Braunschweig show how diverse adaptation measures can be. Such adaptation measures offer the opportunity to strengthen the city as a climate-resilient and liveable place of the future. The results of the online survey are also available on the project website.
Please contact Lotta Becker at klimaanpassung@braunschweig.de or by phone at 0531/470-6338 if you have any questions or are interested in further participation.
Background: A look at measured data and future projections based on different climate scenarios shows that Braunschweig has already become significantly warmer compared to the reference period (1961-90) and that rising air temperatures can be expected in the future. Already today, Braunschweig is experiencing an increase in the average number of hot days with maximum temperatures above 30°C and a decrease in the number of frost and ice days.
Climate change is accompanied by locally more frequent and more intense extreme weather events such as heat waves or droughts. Average annual precipitation is predicted to increase slightly on average for the “business as usual” climate scenario (without significant climate protection). The seasonal distribution of precipitation shifts significantly. Wet winters and less precipitation in spring and summer are expected. The meteorological records of the last decade already show a corresponding trend in the distribution of precipitation for Braunschweig.