Brief History: Association of Pacific Rim Universities APRU World Institute AWI

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Brief History Association of Pacific Rim
Universities (APRU) World Institute (AWI)

• AWI Workshop on Climate Change and Sustainable
  Cities
• San Diego, April 2007
• AWI Pacific Rim Cities Climate Change
  Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies Project
• approved by AWI Board, June 2007
• Lisa Shaffer and Jim Falk (U of Melbourne),
  co-directors
• First Project Meeting, Tsinghua University,
  October 2007
• Second Project Meeting, Univ. of Malaya, April
  2008
• Third Project Meeting, Danang, Vietnam, Sept. 2008

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Status

• Research projects have been defined
• Preliminary proposal for funding has been
  developed
• Need to identify specific individuals and
  organizations to work in each area to refine
  proposal and pursue funding

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City-Teams Established

• Tianjin (Tsinghua University)
• San Diego (University of California San Diego)
• Bangkok (Chulalongkorn University)
• Hanoi and Danang (Kyoto University)
• Melbourne (University of Melbourne)
• Singapore (Singapore National University)
• Kuala Lumpur (University of Malaya)

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Which Projects Does UCSD want to participate
in/lead?

• Data for integrated water governance (hydrologic
  modeling)
• GHG emissions associated with all stages of the
  integrated water system
• Best practice for integrated water governance
• Assistance to government of Vietnam, and Mekong
  River Commission in forming their new Climate
  Plan
• Integrating local cultures into climate impact
  responses

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Specific Projects
1. Data for Integrated Water Governance

• Project - Develop a hydrological model which can
  be applied in each of the case study cities
• Gather the data in each city and assist policy
  makers to utilise it

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2. Solutions which also reduce GHG emissions

• Project Develop a methodology for establishing
  emissions associated with all stages of the
  integrated water system
• Model
• Apply to each case study city
• Assist policy makers to utilise

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3. Best practices for integrated water governance

• Project Identify best governance arrangements
  for integrated water management
• Develop the integrated water region concept
• Use this to establish appropriate governance
  objectives
• In conjunction with government, business and
  civil society stakeholders establish improvements
  in governance

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4. Integrated Coordinated Expert Advice

• Project Assistance to government of Vietnam, and
  Mekong River Commission in forming their new
  Climate Plan
• Utilise the expertise of the CMAS University
  teams as requested
• Maintain close communication to shape support as
  the planning process develops

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5. Integration with local cultures for a
successful response

• Project Improve cultural responses to challenges
• Eg. using the educational action processes
  exemplified in the Danang - Hanoi project of
  Kyoto University
• Eg. learning from the insights of the Chao Praya
  Delta study

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6. Technologies for Integrated Water Strategies

• Led by Mike Saunders, National University of
  Singapore.

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Next Steps

• Revise the Partnership Proposal in the light of
  all discussion
• Circulate for response and finalise
• Identify lead researcher(s) for each exemplar
  project
• Flesh out project descriptions including budgets
  (eg. work already done on Hydrological Modelling
  Project)

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Fund Seeking

• Follow up local and collective funding
  possibilities
• UNU and Japanese Government
• Funding in support of MDC and Vietnam project -
  explore AUSAID possibilities
• APEC Business Advisory Council
• AWI Presidents - support following AWI Board

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Coordination

• Steering Committee continues
• Regular email correspondences
• Visits by CMAS Director(s)
• Teleconferences to continue
• Each Planning Meeting to include Case Study of
  challenges faced by city, along lines of Danang
  meeting
• Next Planning Meeting in about 6 months
• Melbourne (before or after AWI Senior Staff Mtg
  18-20 March 2009 )
• Copenhagen conference 10-12 March 2009
• COP-15 Copenhagen Nov-Dec 2009
• Following meeting Chulalongkorn University

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Backup Material
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Hydrological Model Proposal
In order to grapple with water resource
management a good hydrological data set must be
available or derived from some proxy data. The
parameters required in the analysis for
hydrological modeling or for extreme weather
events must be available. The data set must
also be in the form useful to the hydrologist and
support hydrological modeling.
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Required Elements

• GIS-Data base construction
• Hydrologic Elements including, Basin and
  sub-basin boundary delineation, Stream network,
  River length, river slope ( Topo maps, satellite
  image derived DEM ( resolution 10m))
• Basin slope (DEM (10 m)
• Land use map (Satellite image (10m))
• Soil map (Soil survey map 110,000 or 125000 0r
  150,000)
• Channel geometry, channel roughness (need some
  field work)
• Rainfall distribution (rain gauges, TRMM data,
  radar, proxy NCEP OLR (5-10 km grid))
• This has to be complemented with a network of
  discharge monitors so that the model can be
  validated and fine tune.

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Danang - Entry Points

• Disaster
• Health and water quality
• Integrated water resource management
• Urban planning and governance
• Education
• Culture

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Danang - Challenges

• Data collection and monitoring
• Policy options and interdepartmental
  collaboration and adaptive governance -
  integrated water management district
• Water community

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Challenges vary

• How, under stress of climate change economic
  growth does and will each of the following affect
  each city
• Reduced water availability, water quality (
  consequences)
• Stormwater, flooding and surge
• Saltwater intrusion (impacts on biodiversity and
  agriculture)
• Sea level rise, coastal erosion

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Drivers vary across cities

• What are the key drivers for, and how are they
  projected to affect, the integrated water system
  in each city?
• Climate change (downscaled climate projections
  available?)
• Population and economic growth
• Future GHG emissions mitigation requirements
• What more do we need to know about them to make
  projections?

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So do responses needs

• Analysis for each city, within a framework of
  integrated water management
• What research or planning (both good and bad) is
  under-way to deal with these challenges? What
  new approaches (eg distributed water management)
  should be investigated?
• How are GHG emissions associated with different
  solutions taken into account? How can we assist
  and standardise that?

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Critical social factors

• In seeking an effective response
• What governance/social barriers are encountered?
  What improvements in approach (eg adaptive
  governance/cultural approaches) is
  possible/attempted?
• How do issues of environmental justice impact on
  possible solutions?

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What joint insights?

• Which identified approaches are usefully
  transferable between case study cities?
• Which would gain by comparison with other cities,
  and how?
• What research is needed which would advance
  understanding in several of the cities?

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What do we need?

• What answers do we already have?
• What do we need to answer others of these
  questions?
• What would we achieve for additional funds?
• What are the most likely sources of funds?

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Value Proposition - in its work this project will

• Create a dialog on solutions to climate
  challenges across key centres in the developing
  and developed world
• Identify solutions compatible with climate
  justice
• Make responding to climate change more credible
  by showing that solutions can be implemented
  which are carbon friendly in the context of other
  objectives in case study cities
• Hence, help produce attitudes which can
  facilitate the negotiation of an adequate
  international agreement on GHG reductions, and
• Help major communities identify solutions and
  adapt to likely impacts of climate change

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Capacities
To this task we bring

• the research capacities of leading research
  universities of the Pacific Rim which specialise
  in environmental and climate impacts, and
  innovative solutions
• a unique methodology of research developed and
  applied in collaboration with leading
  representatives of government, business and civil
  society

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Key outputs

• Technical inputs to policy
• Models of appropriate policy making processes for
  the problem area
• Collaboration with policy makers in forming
  appropriate policy
• Education needed to support required change

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Integrated Water Approach

• See the water system in interaction with
  communities as a single system
• Identify challenges in the context of population
  and economic growth
• Examine how climate change augments those
  challenges
• Identify best practice social and technical
  solutions

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Team Capabilities Foci

• Climatology, meteorology, oceanography
• GIS, Remote-sensing, hazard-assessment warning
  systems
• Geography, Hydrology, Geology, Soil geochemistry
• City planning, architecture, building systems,
  ...
• Humanities, social sciences, ...
• Water resources, planning development,
  flood-prediction management
• Water quality, reclamation, reuse engineering
• Policy (Environ, ST, Public) ...
• Public environmental health ...