Project

Adaptation to Climate Change in the City of Winterthur

The city of Winterthur wants to be ready for climate change and its impacts. In order to identify climate change opportunities and risks, EBP facilitated two cross-disciplinary workshops with city officials, which resulted in the development of possible risk-reduction measures.

Cities are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The hot and dry summers of recent years have shown this -- heat-island effects, increased forest fire hazards and rivers that are drying up are all indications of climate change and its potential trajectory.

The city of Winterthur has also been facing the effects of climate change in recent years, for example, through severe drought in the forests and persistently high temperatures in the city, which have made working conditions more difficult. For this reason, the city decided to address the issue.

EBP has worked with the city during this process. During two cross-disciplinary workshops, EBP worked together with a range of sectoral experts from the city to identify climate change opportunities and risks and to develop measures for reducing climate-related risks. As an input for the workshops, EBP prepared a short report outlining the expected climate change impacts for the city of Winterthur. For example, in the future, summer temperatures in the city are expected to rise between two and five degrees higher than in the surrounding areas, and by 2070, the number of extreme heat days will be three times more common than they are today. The results of the two workshops and the corresponding recommendations for action were summarized in the final report for the city.

Participating Departments and Special Units from the City:

  • Department of Civil Engineering, City Planning Unit
  • Department of Civil Engineering, Building Police Unit
  • Department of Civil Engineering, Public Works Unit
  • Department of Finance, Real Estate Unit
  • Department of Cultural Affairs & Services, City Development Unit
  • Department of Schools and Sport, Central Services Unit
  • Department of Safety and Environment, Protection & Intervention Unit
  • Department of Safety and Environment, Environmental & Health Protection Unit
  • Department of Social Services, Ageing & Health Unit
  • Department of Technical Enterprise, City Greening Unit
  • Department of Technical Enterprise, Municipal Utilities Unit

Contact persons