Saxony
Winners of 2nd contest "Climate Adaptation in Saxon Municipalities"
The President of the State Environmental Agency of Saxony (LfULG), Norbert Eichkorn, awarded six districts and municipalities as winners of the 2nd contest on climate adaptation in small and medium-sized municipalities at the Climate-Status-Colloquium in Dresden on 5 December 2019.
A total of 13 project ideas were submitted with the focus on heavy rainfall, erosion and flooding or high water, urban greenery and securing the water supply. Further projects are related to measures for adapted water management. Two project ideas aim at communicating climate adaptation issues. In addition, applications were submitted for a vertical green façade, greening of bus stops, revitalisation of the Elbe island and the creation of a village pond. An interdisciplinary jury had the task of selecting the six project ideas with the best chances of success, also with regard to the potential for subsequent use by other municipalities.
The six winners are:
The LEADER region Leipziger Muldenland, which aims to identify and communicate the potential of the renaturation of streams and river floodplains. The aim is to achieve positive effects against the risks and consequences of climate change such as flooding, erosion and loss of biodiversity.
The District of Saxon Switzerland/Eastern Ore Mountains, which wants to break new ground in land use. For example, it is to be investigated whether pond, dams and troughs can be used to improve water retention in the area and which measures in the vicinity of the facilities can mitigate the consequences of extreme weather conditions. The aim is to improve flood protection, protection of wetland biotopes and creation of water reserves for dry periods.
The District of Central Saxony, which intends to continue its project "Effects of climate change on the groundwater balance" from the 1st LIFE LOCAL ADAPT contest. While in 2017 the focus was on determining the availability of water in the regions of Döbeln-Ostrau and Rochlitz to supply the population with drinking water, the follow-up project is focused on the groundwater balance in emergency and crisis situations.
The city of Bad Düben, which sets its project goal under the guiding principle "Climate adaptation of the spa town 2030". It wants to win citizens and employees for climate adaptation measures and train them. The focus is on: urban green, façade and roof greening as well as "sponge city". This term means that the surfaces of the city are to be used for the temporary storage of precipitation to prevent flooding and heat.
The city of Freital wants to implement its concept for climate adaptation at the Poisenbach. While the focus in the 1st contest 2017 was on runoff calculations, recommendations for action to prevent soil erosion, the new project is primarily concerned with dialogue and communicating the results. The aim is to achieve acceptance in the implementation of the measures.
The city of Zwickau wants to improve the green infrastructure. The focus lies on planting recommendations with the highest possible spatial resolution based on geographic information systems (GIS), which contribute to a climate-resilient urban green space with health-promoting properties.
A total of 150,000 € is available for the 2nd competition, which will be distributed among the six projects.
"ReKIS kommunal" –Regional Climate Information System for Municipalities
ReKIS kommunal is an additional feature of the Regional Climate Information System ReKIS (www.rekis.org), tailored to the needs of Saxon communities. The web application ReKIS serves for the provision, documentation, evaluation as well as interpretation of climate data and information for the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. On behalf of these federal states and in close cooperation with them, the Chair of Meteorology of the TU Dresden is responsible for the development and provision of ReKIS. The data, maps, graphics and functionalities offered by ReKIS address primarily experts in the field of climate analysis, familiar with the topics of climate modeling, climate change and climate adaptation. In order to provide communities and municipal administrations with information they require, the Saxon State Agency for Environment, Geology and Agriculture (LfULG) and the TU Dresden are developing during the project time of LIFE LOCAL ADAPT the additional tool ReKIS kommunal for Saxony. In three categories, tailored information is offered for the main target group of small and medium sized communities and their administrations.
Climate Risks
With the help of an interactive map, specific thematic plots on climate change impacts (heat, heavy rainfall, erosion) can be accessed for each Saxon community and for different periods. Fact sheets summarize the information.
Adaptation
This site provides information and examples on the topic of adaptation to climate change.
Support
Advisory services and a list of funding opportunities are intended to help communities to implement their ideas and plans.
At the moment the web pages are under construction. From 2019, all functionalities should be available.
Winners of contest "Climate Adaptation in Saxon Municipalities"
On December 7th 2017, the six winners were officially announced at the Climate-Status-Colloquium at the “Sächsische Aufbaubank” (Saxon Reconstruction Bank) in Dresden. In the following municipalities climate adaptation measures are planned (detailed Information in German only). The municipalities are supported by the project.
- Coswig: Opening and activation of a section of the Löcknitz stream (flood protection)
- Freital: Erosion protection at the Poisenbach
- Lauta: Climate-adapted design of open spaces in a residential area
- Zittau: Rainwater management and erosion control
- Tharandt: Urban green resilient to climate change
- Landkreis Mittelsachsen: Securing of water supply in case of increasing drought
More information on the web page of LfULG.