Within the context of climate change, it is important that our urban environment is able to with stand extreme weather events, such as flooding.  Against this background, the European Topic Centre on Climate Change impacts, vulnerability and Adaptation (EIONET) has recently published a report which looks at what actions are being undertaken at national level in order to support urban adaptation across Europe. 

Country: The Netherlands
Type: Storm surge barrier

For the Eastern Scheldt Barrier, which was designed and built in the early eighties, the durability requirements were, for the first time, expressed in terms of time: a service life of 200 years. As this was not feasible for the concrete cover, a mean service life of around 85 years was accepted.

Earlier this month, the Mayor's Adapt initiative published a brochure outlining good practices in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures for European cities.

On 8 February 2016, the World Economic Forum (WEF) published a report entitled “Intelligent Assets: Unlocking the Circular Economy Potential”.  The aim of this report is to illustrate  opportunities for innovation and creativity across a broad spectrum of industries and sectors.  One of the areas analysed is that of how we build and transform our buildings.

According to the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, over the next 15 years, US$90 trillion needs to be invested in infrastructure.  As a result, it calls on governments and finance institutions to scale up and shift investment for sustainable infrastructure as a fundamental strategy to spur growth.

Country: UK
Type: Educational/Leisure

The Forum is a £27 million project that comprises municipal and academic libraries, a research and teaching facility, arts venue and café.