Project outcomes and beyond

Specific outcomes Vejle

An adjusted approach for dynamic planning resulting in a dynamic measure map for Vejle
A Multi-Criteria-Assesment for Vejle - see DCA's website for FRAMES.
Action plans for Vejle - see DCA's website for FRAMES.
The final report, "Guide to dynamic planning of climate adaptation and management of the risk of flooding in municipalities; recommended process for identifying issues and taking decisions in an uncertain climate future", can be downloaded here.

Process results

The the valuable product of this project is the discussions that took place during the process towards creating the maps and the action plan: the different departments realized the similarities and dissimilarities between them, and are trying to find common ground. Furthermore the action plan made for implementing the chosen pathways are valuable for the municipality and there further process, where they are using the result in their Storm Surge Strategy.

In the video below, the lessons learnt and outcomes of this pilot are summarized:

General outcomes pilots for Denmark

An adjusted method for dynamic planning for flood risk management for Danish municipalities
A methodology report on the project
A guide on how to do the Dynamic Planning Process in the Danish municipalities

Flood risk management strategies (FRMS)

Vejle is facing many climate change uncertainties related to flood risk. In this project, the Danish Coastal Authority are facilitating a process for the Municipality of Vejle to help them identify the best measures for robust flood risk management for the city of Vejle. The focus lies both on short- and long-term planning and how this may lead to more flexible and robust solutions to the current and future challenges in the pilot (interview pilot manager, 2019).

Measures and instruments for flood risk management in relation to the MLS:

Layers of MLS	Before FRAMES	During FRAMES	After FRAMES
1 Flood protection	Hard infrastructure: flood walls, dikes, and sluice gate (interview pilot manager, 2019)	Adjust the DAPP tool to help municipalities to prioritize the protection measures (open storm surge barrier together with the sluice, recreation protection wall, protection wall where buildings can be built, raising terrain) considering climate change combine with their vision for the city. Measures are included in the DAPP map (interview pilot manager, 2019)	The aim is to give municipalities the ownership of the DAPP approach in other projects and to adjust the flood risk management plans developed as part of the EU Floods Directive.
2 Spatial adaptation	The old town is not flood proofed and is located within the flood plain. No pro-active spatial planning nor land use policies favoring keeping people away from water is present (interview pilot manager, 2018).	Adjust the DAPP tool to help municipalities to prioritize spatial planning measures (flood the first floor, raise the terrain for new buildings or use poles) considering climate change combine with their vision for the city. Measures are included in the DAPP map to make the new construction areas flood proof (interview pilot manager, 2019)	The aim is to give municipalities the ownership of the DAPP approach in other projects and to adjust the flood risk management plans developed as part of the EU Floods Directive.
3 Preparedness and response	Due to being identified as an APSFR in the EU Floods Directive , the municipality already has developed emergency response plans. This plan is continuously evaluated.They do not have an evacuation plan. They have implemented an early warning system in case of floods, high water level, extreme precipitation cloud burst and fluvial flow. Messages are sent out by text message, facebook and local radio (interview pilot manager, 2018)	Adjust the DAPP tool to help municipalities to prioritize emergency / response measures (evacuation plans, awareness raising campaigns, private local response team) considering climate change combine with their vision for the city. Measures are not included in the DAPP map, only in the action plan (interview pilot manager, 2019)	The aim is to give municipalities the ownership of the DAPP approachin other projects and to adjust their climate adaptation plans, development plans and, for some municipalities, their flood risk management plans developed as part of the EU Floods Directive
4 Resilient recovery	The municipality currently has no plan in place concerning recovery. They do however secure critical infrastructure and in some instances pump excessive water. A dialog with affected locals occur after the event (interview pilot manager, 2018)	Not the focus of this pilot.	Not the focus of this pilot.

Lessons learnt

The Dynamic Planning approach is very helpful for municipalities to define and prioritize diverse flood risk management decisions related to flood protection, flood prevention via spatial planning and preparation & response when an event happens.
When municipalities are taking decisions within different layers of MLS approach, the Dynamic Planning method could provide guidelines to prioritize these decisions.
When testing the Dynamic Planning approach, it was discovered that it is difficult to include soft measures, such as emergency planning, in the map, because the map does not show the direct impact – the water will still be there, it is not a measure that prevents water from flowing in. This is considered in the process, but not in the map, so the visualization is not representative of all possible measures and it should thus be explained in the action plan.
Different sources of flooding (river and storm surge) were also difficult to incorporate in the same dynamic measure map. Vejle experiences flooding from both the sea and the inland waters and both flood sources cannot be considered in one map. Moreover, not all the measures can reduce flood risks of both sources. The DAPP map only shows the measure having an impact on both systems in a positive way. The solution was to create two maps: one for every flood source.
The participants expressed concerns about how to communicate dynamic measure maps and results from that to the policy makers (from the municipalities) as they are difficult to read and understand. The municipality chose to present the results in a more simplified version, not showing the dynamic measure maps, but showing the overall strategies identified from the maps. A different method, that can be used is to facilitate one-day workshop with local politicians on the different solution and doing an MCA, as an MCA is a known tool for many of them.
This process of going through the steps in the dynamic planning process may be difficult for the municipalities to run by themselves. A specialist on the method with the right capacities is needed to moderate, guide and steer the process.
There were uncertainties about the method itself because it was not tested before in assessing flood risk management strategies in the Danish context.
The officials in the municipalities are often very busy, so running this process will need prioritization from management.

Dissemination and up-scaling of pilot results

The aim is to give municipalities ownership of this approach – they should engage in this process for flood risk management and climate adaptation. The DCA using some lessons learned from this method in their guideline for developing flood risk management plans for the EU Floods Directive. And the Dynamic Planning approach will be recommended via the guideline, meetings and newsletters with and to the municipalities. Up-scaling can also take place via workshops organized for other municipalities, where results are presented, explained and discussed.

Referenties

Guide to dynamic planning Assens Vejle, Danish Coastal Authority, Danish Coastal Authority, 30 mei 2020.