Urban areas are particularly affected by extreme weather events such as flooding and heat waves. High levels of land sealing and high building density exacerbate the risk of flooding from heavy rainfall and the development of heat islands and consequences of droughts in the summer months.

Modern stormwater management concepts and elements of blue-green infrastructure are considered highly relevant components of water-sensitive urban development that can mitigate the aforementioned problems. Stormwater management concepts for climate impact adaptation shape urban space in the spirit of the "sponge city" idea, including green roofs and infiltration swales to reduce urban surface runoff.

Project objectives

The overall objective of the AMAREX project is to develop methods to enable the adaptation of stormwater management concepts to extreme events including heavy rain, heat and drought at the municipal level. In doing so, the analysis will consider the different extreme weather events in an integrative way.

Specific project aims are:

• Investigation of different types of stormwater management concepts for their effects with regard to flood, heat and drought prevention
• Development of a web platform for municipal stakeholders to serve as an information, communication, and decision-making tool. The planning tool integrally targets the different extreme events and makes impact assessments for different planning scenarios.
• Development of a method and tool for socio-economic assessment of local stormwater management concepts
• Linking the method development to selected pilot areas at the municipal level, so that a continuous development dialogue between the scientifically based elaboration and the practice-oriented application by the municipalities is ensured.

Project partners and role of Ecologic Institute

The project consists of eight project partners and is led by the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. Ecologic Institute is leading the work on socio-economic assessment and will develop a methodological assessment approach and tool for assessing stormwater management concepts and green infrastructure elements at the local level. Furthermore, it supports the co-creation of the tools and methods with stakeholders in Berlin and Cologne.