Building Capacity to Assess Urban Climate Hazards and Tackle Heat and Flooding in Cities: A Three-Part Capacity Building Training Webinar Series

Cities around the world are reeling from the impacts of climate change, from heat to flooding. As threats intensify, nature-based solutions (NBS) can play a role in mitigating these risks by enhancing urban resilience to climate change. For example, green roofs, urban forests, and permeable pavements help reduce heat and manage stormwater, which can alleviate flooding. Tools like the Climate Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (CHVA) framework can help to identify the most vulnerable areas in a city, prioritize interventions, and ensure that adaptation measures are targeted effectively. By utilizing NBS and leveraging tools such as the CHVA framework cities can make informed decisions on where to implement NBS and how to prioritize other strategies to reduce exposure to heat, flooding, and climate hazards, fostering more livable and resilient urban spaces. 

Co-organized by WRI India, UrbanShift, and Cities4Forests, this three-part capacity building training webinar series is designed to build capacity of city officials to conduct vulnerability assessments and implement nature-based approaches to enhance climate resilience in cities. The three webinars will focus on (1) an introduction to the Climate Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (CHVA) framework to prioritize resilience actions in cities, (2) nature-based solutions to tackle extreme heat in cities, and (3) nature-based solutions to mitigate urban flooding. City government officials from global South cities, national government officials with urban development mandates and other urban practitioners are encouraged to attend and advised to participate in all three webinars for a comprehensive learning experience. The webinars will be conducted in English and simultaneous interpretation will be offered in French and Bahasa Indonesia. 

Register for the series on Zoom

Webinar 1: An Introduction to the ‘Climate Hazard Vulnerability Assessment’ Framework to Prioritize Resilience Actions in Cities  

Date: Wednesday 5 February 2025 

Time: 9:30-10:45 am Accra / 10:30-11:45 am Bonn / 12:30-1:45 pm Nairobi / 3:00-4:15 pm India / 4:30-5:45 pm Jakarta 

Vulnerability assessments help assess the extent of climate vulnerability based on the three lenses: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. By conducting a vulnerability assessment, cities can identify areas, communities and critical infrastructure that are most vulnerable to climate change induced hazards. This helps city authorities plan adaptation and risk mitigation strategies accordingly. This webinar will also introduce participants to the concept of ‘differential vulnerability’, sharing data sources, templates, tools and approaches to help cities meet the needs of those who are socially, economically, and politically most vulnerable to climate hazards. 

Speakers

• Avni Agarwal 
• Bahnu Khanna 
• Deepti Talpade, title, WRI India 
• John-Rob Pool, Senior Manager, Nature-based Urban Development, WRI 
• Lubaina Rangwala, title, WRI India 

Webinar 2: Nature-based Solutions to Tackle Urban Heat in Cities 

Date: Wednesday 5 March 2025 

Time: 9:30-10:45 am Accra / 10:30-11:45 am Bonn / 12:30-1:45 pm Nairobi / 3:00-4:15 pm India / 4:30-5:45 pm Jakarta 

Urban heat is a growing existential challenge in cities around the world. Rapid urbanisation has led to increased impervious surfaces and loss of green cover that exacerbates urban heat and manifests in additional challenges such as increased stormwater runoff and biodiversity loss. Nature-based solutions, in the form of both blue and green infrastructure are increasingly being used by cities as innovative, adaptable and low-cost approaches with multiple additional co-benefits that can build resilience to urban heat. This webinar will highlight how nature-based solutions are most effective when designed and implemented with local communities, using evidence-based and data-driven technological approaches. It will cover methods to identify heat hotspots and challenges in cities, case studies on nature-based solutions for heat resilience across different urban forms, and long-term interventions, policies and plans that can be adopted at a city-scale. 

Speakers

• Deepti Talpade 
• Hellen Wanjohi-Opil  
• Mukta Salunkhe 

Webinar 3: Nature-based Solutions to Mitigate Flooding and Stormwater Risks in Cities 

Date: Wednesday 26 March 2025 

Time: 9:30-10:45 am Accra / 10:30-11:45 am Bonn / 12:30-1:45 pm Nairobi / 3:00-4:15 pm India / 4:30-5:45 pm Jakarta 

Urban floods are one of the biggest climate risks for growing urban centres. Impacts of flood risk include loss of life and property, increased health risks and damage to infrastructure. Rapid urbanisation has led to increased impervious surfaces and loss of green cover that result in increased stormwater runoff and flooding. On the other hand, drinking water shortages during dry months have become more frequent and severe. To make our cities more resilient, we need actions that holistically target water security in both wet and dry months. Blue-green infrastructure solutions have emerged as innovative, low-cost approaches with multiple co-benefits. These when co-created with the most vulnerable communities, using scientific, data and evidence driven approaches and technologies are most effective.  

Speakers 

• Mukta Salunkhe 
• Priya Narayanan 
• Sahana Goswami