Aug. 22, 2011
U-M launches collaboration to help Great Lakes cities adapt to
a changing climate
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Faced with increasing
risks of intense storms, heat stress, clean water availability and
economic hardship, municipal leaders are seeking high-quality,
location-specific analyses to help plan for climate change
impacts.
That is the focus of a new $1.2 million
University of Michigan research project called the Great Lakes
Adaptation Assessment for Cities.
Led by U-M's Graham Environmental
Sustainability Institute and supported by The Kresge Foundation
with $600,000 in matching funds, the three-year project seeks to
strengthen the science and decision-making necessary for more
effective urban climate adaptation in the Great Lakes region, in
both Canada and the United States. Researchers, staff, students and
stakeholders from across the region will collaborate to make this
happen.
"While there is abundant research on climate
change at national and global scales, there is a gap in regionally
focused adaptation planning for effectively addressing this
pressing issue," said Arun Agrawal, professor of natural resources
and environment and co-principal investigator for the project. "The
Great Lakes project is helping to fill this gap by providing the
place-based information needed for developing and improving policy
decisions and infrastructure investments."
Don Scavia, director of the Graham Institute
and co-principal investigator on the project, concurred.
"Every day, city administrators, land-use
planners, mayors, and other key decision makers face questions
about to how to better prepare for, and deal with, the impacts of
climate change in our region," he said. "This project will generate
datasets, tools, and a network of stakeholders that will be
extremely useful for decision makers in private and government
sectors."
In addition to the information amassed by
participating researchers, a significant amount of data will be
harnessed from the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments
Center (GLISA)—a collaboration between U-M, Michigan State
University, Ohio State University, and Michigan Sea Grant, which is
supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
"The purpose of GLISA is to connect researchers
and decision makers around the issues of climate change and
variability, so our work is a perfect fit for this project," said
Michigan State professor and GLISA co-principal investigator Thomas
Dietz. "GLISA is helping to translate national research to regional
levels, and the Great Lakes Cities project is synthesizing
information down to practical, city-level applications. This work
is bringing timely climate adaptation data to people who are making
critical decisions about infrastructure and human health."
As part of the project, GLAA-C researchers will
work closely with urban leaders in five Great Lakes cities to build
a network of decision-makers and scientists invested in the
sustainability of Great Lakes cities. One of the first cities
confirmed to participate in the program is Grand Rapids, whose
mayor, George Heartwell, attended an initial project-scoping
meeting at U-M in October 2010.
"Grand Rapids is strong in climate mitigation,
but we're just beginning to understand the complexities of
vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning," he said. "I'm
looking forward to engaging in this project to expand our knowledge
base and capabilities in this critical area."
Other U-M faculty involved with the project
include: Elisabeth Gerber; School of Public Policy; Larissa Larsen,
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning; Maria Lemos,
School of Natural Resources and Environment; Marie O'Neill, School
of Public Health; and Ricky Rood, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space
Sciences. SNRE postdoctoral fellow Ahmad Safi is also working on
the project.
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