CATCH it if you can!
Why focus on midsized cities? In the North Sea Region of Europe, 80% of the people live in urban areas. Most of those cities are of midsize size (between 20.000 and 200.000 inhabitants). These smaller cities experience similar problems as their larger cousins, such as flooding, water damage and water shortages. Never the less, researchers, planners and politicians often focus their attention and energy on larger cities. This leaves the issues of the midsized cities unaddressed. The CATCH project aims to provide these cities support that can accelerate their shift to becoming climate-proof.
The CATCH partners have joint forces in order to learn from each other and to develop fitting climate adaptation solutions for their regions. During the project, several measures will be tested in the pilot cities in order to determine whether or not they are suitable. (Arvika, Sweden – Herantals, Belgium – Norwich, UK – Oldenburg, Germany – Vejle, Denmark – Enschede and Zwolle, the Netherlands). Next week, the partners will come together in the Netherlands to further develop the project plan and to celebrate the fact that CATCH has been approved.
Project details:
So what is the project going to do to reach this goal? First, the partners will identify the needs of seven pilot cities: Arvika in Sweden, Herantals in Belgium, Norwich in the UK, Oldenburg in Germany, Vejle in Denmark, and Enschede and Zwolle in the Netherlands. Based in that feedback, the partners will create a tool for re-designing urban water management. The tool will be evaluated and eventually be used to generate possible solutions for the issues of the pilot cities. These solutions and measures will be implemented and tested. Additionally, the group will develop climate adaptation strategies and share their experiences with others.