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Worldwide cities are at the forefront of tackling climate change; however, it is not clear to what extent they are prepared for the challenge, particularly in the context of lower income countries, where the need for action is urgent. In this context, many of cities struggle to develop evidence-based approaches to assess their current and future capacity to deal with climate impacts and inform the design of policies to respond in the short/long term. Based both on extensive field research carried out in Brazilian cities and on urban adaptation literature, we develop and test the Urban Adaptation Index (UAI) that cities can use to assess their current adaptive capacity in a realistic/achievable way. The index includes 26 indicators and focuses on a set of public policies to support interventions connected to adaptation: housing, urban mobility, sustainable agriculture, environmental management, and climate impact response. To make the UAI more usable/accessible, we use empirical data that is publicly available, and develop an approach that can be implemented with resources already available in many Brazilian cities. We illustrate the UAI usability by applying the index to the 645 municipalities of the state of São Paulo. Results show that more than half of the municipalities present low UAI ratings; however, municipalities located in metropolitan regions, where the majority of the population live, tend to have higher ratings. Practitioners agreed on the value of the UAI as a tool to monitor the current situation and changes regarding local potential capacity to adapt to climate change.
Eduardo Alves Neder; Fabiano De Araújo Moreira; Michele Dalla Fontana; Roger Rodrigues Torres; David Montenegro Lapola; Maria Da Penha Costa Vasconcellos; Ana Maria Barbieri Bedran-Martins; Arlindo Philippi Junior; Maria Carmen Lemos; Gabriela Marques Di Giulio. Urban adaptation index: assessing cities readiness to deal with climate change. Climatic Change 2021, 166, 1 -20.
AMA StyleEduardo Alves Neder, Fabiano De Araújo Moreira, Michele Dalla Fontana, Roger Rodrigues Torres, David Montenegro Lapola, Maria Da Penha Costa Vasconcellos, Ana Maria Barbieri Bedran-Martins, Arlindo Philippi Junior, Maria Carmen Lemos, Gabriela Marques Di Giulio. Urban adaptation index: assessing cities readiness to deal with climate change. Climatic Change. 2021; 166 (1-2):1-20.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEduardo Alves Neder; Fabiano De Araújo Moreira; Michele Dalla Fontana; Roger Rodrigues Torres; David Montenegro Lapola; Maria Da Penha Costa Vasconcellos; Ana Maria Barbieri Bedran-Martins; Arlindo Philippi Junior; Maria Carmen Lemos; Gabriela Marques Di Giulio. 2021. "Urban adaptation index: assessing cities readiness to deal with climate change." Climatic Change 166, no. 1-2: 1-20.
The governance of the nexus between water, energy, and food (hereafter, ‘the nexus’) is permeated by complex interactions of knowledge at a science-policy-society interface. This paper starts from a literature review to find the main narratives that allow us to understand what is at stake in this interface. By thematically synthesising 19 select articles, we reached three layers of knowledge interaction: ‘knowledge application’, ‘knowledge integration’, and ‘knowledge transformation’. To avoid misleading simplifications, we discussed the constraints on this debate and some pressures for what we consider as ‘closing down’ knowledge about the nexus. We then developed a conceptual framework based on the ‘technologies of humility’ proposed by Jasanoff (2003, 2007) to create opportunities to ‘open up’ the nexus approach. Finally, we illustrated the four pillars proposed by some studies to describe what we have termed ‘nexus of humility’: framing, vulnerability, distribution, and learning. These foci seek to enable a humbler appreciation on all sides of the persistent sources of uncertainty, divergence, and conditionality in sustainability governance. This framework also contributes towards necessary transformations of knowledge about nexus and its challenging implementation.
Alberto Matenhauer Urbinatti; Michele Dalla Fontana; Andy Stirling; Leandro Luiz Giatti. ‘Opening up’ the governance of water-energy-food nexus: Towards a science-policy-society interface based on hybridity and humility. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 744, 140945 .
AMA StyleAlberto Matenhauer Urbinatti, Michele Dalla Fontana, Andy Stirling, Leandro Luiz Giatti. ‘Opening up’ the governance of water-energy-food nexus: Towards a science-policy-society interface based on hybridity and humility. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 744 ():140945.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlberto Matenhauer Urbinatti; Michele Dalla Fontana; Andy Stirling; Leandro Luiz Giatti. 2020. "‘Opening up’ the governance of water-energy-food nexus: Towards a science-policy-society interface based on hybridity and humility." Science of The Total Environment 744, no. : 140945.
The water-energy-food nexus has gained particular momentum in the fields of sustainable development and resource security in the last years. However, some scholars critically question the nexus by arguing that research is strongly shaped by western knowledge with a bias towards natural scientific, engineering and economic perspectives; whereas there is a lack of attention on local socio-political aspects and little contribution from social sciences. This paper provides a critical analysis of studies focused on the nexus in the Brazilian context or by Brazilian institutions. The main objectives are to assess whether research on the nexus in the Brazilian context shares common features with the international research; to identify the main nexus topics in this geographic context; and to examine if socio-economic challenges are considered, specifically regarding urbanization and poverty. Through a quantitative and qualitative analysis, the results show that Brazilian institutions lead research on the nexus in the Brazilian context, however the contribution from the social sciences remains marginal. Furthermore, quantitative methods are predominantly used over qualitative and hybrid methods. The research largely focuses on connections between water and energy in the hydropower and biofuels sectors, and it is based on discourses of efficiency, optimization, modelling and technological innovation. In addition, scholars have so far failed to address other important issues for sustainable development in Brazil and the Global South.
Michele Dalla Fontana; Fabiano De Araújo Moreira; Gabriela Marques Di Giulio; Tadeu Fabrício Malheiros. The water-energy-food nexus research in the Brazilian context: What are we missing? Environmental Science & Policy 2020, 112, 172 -180.
AMA StyleMichele Dalla Fontana, Fabiano De Araújo Moreira, Gabriela Marques Di Giulio, Tadeu Fabrício Malheiros. The water-energy-food nexus research in the Brazilian context: What are we missing? Environmental Science & Policy. 2020; 112 ():172-180.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMichele Dalla Fontana; Fabiano De Araújo Moreira; Gabriela Marques Di Giulio; Tadeu Fabrício Malheiros. 2020. "The water-energy-food nexus research in the Brazilian context: What are we missing?" Environmental Science & Policy 112, no. : 172-180.
Climate change is one of the most complex issues of the 21st century, and even though there is general consensus about the urgency of taking action at the city level, the planning and implementation of adaptation measures is advancing slowly. The lack of data and information to support the planning process is often mentioned as a factor hampering the adaptation processes in cities. In this paper, we developed and tested a methodology for heat stress vulnerability and risk assessment at the neighborhood scale to support designers, planners, and decision makers in developing and implementing adaptation strategies and measures at the local level. The methodology combines high-resolution spatial information and crowdsourcing geospatial data to develop sensitivity, adaptive capacity, vulnerability, exposure, and risk indicators. The methodology is then tested on the urban fabric of the city of Padova, Italy. Our results show that different vulnerability and risk values correspond to different typologies of urban areas. Furthermore, the possibility of combining high-resolution information provided by the indicators and land use categories is of great importance to support the adaptation planning process. We also argue that the methodology is flexible enough to be applied in different contexts.
Denis Maragno; Michele Dalla Fontana; Francesco Musco. Mapping Heat Stress Vulnerability and Risk Assessment at the Neighborhood Scale to Drive Urban Adaptation Planning. Sustainability 2020, 12, 1056 .
AMA StyleDenis Maragno, Michele Dalla Fontana, Francesco Musco. Mapping Heat Stress Vulnerability and Risk Assessment at the Neighborhood Scale to Drive Urban Adaptation Planning. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (3):1056.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDenis Maragno; Michele Dalla Fontana; Francesco Musco. 2020. "Mapping Heat Stress Vulnerability and Risk Assessment at the Neighborhood Scale to Drive Urban Adaptation Planning." Sustainability 12, no. 3: 1056.
The nexus concept, which focuses on connections and trade-offs between water, energy and food sectors, has received increasing attention in academia and policy-circles. The concept has actively been examined and approached on global, national and regional scales via multiple academic studies and policy reviews. In this paper, we respond to the call of “urbanising” and “politicising” the nexus. We do so through the exploratory case-study of Amsterdam. We adopt an urban political ecology approach rooted in discussions on the concept of urban metabolism. Urban metabolism studies cities as organisms and as such is focussed on understanding the interconnections of the resource provisioning and infrastructural networks of water, energy and food. An urban political ecology approach centres on the political and economic processes at play in shaping how these interconnections take form in the metabolism of a city. In drawing on insights from both political ecology and urban metabolism, we study who drives the connections between water, energy and food sectors in Amsterdam, who gets excluded, and how the process takes place. We show how the cooperation between the main water and energy companies makes the “water-energy” connections the most well-established in Amsterdam, whereas the role of food, particularly in the form of urban agricultural activities, remains more obscure. Moreover, as opposed to the search for the nexus leading to a more radical transformation of infrastructural networks of provisioning of water, energy and food and their connections, we argue that the nexus in Amsterdam is largely defined by efficiency discourses, technological innovation and market-based solutions that stay within the context of existing infrastructures and embedded ways of provisioning.
Michele Dalla Fontana; Ingrid Boas. The politics of the nexus in the city of Amsterdam. Cities 2019, 95, 102388 .
AMA StyleMichele Dalla Fontana, Ingrid Boas. The politics of the nexus in the city of Amsterdam. Cities. 2019; 95 ():102388.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMichele Dalla Fontana; Ingrid Boas. 2019. "The politics of the nexus in the city of Amsterdam." Cities 95, no. : 102388.
Circular economy and urban metabolism concepts have recently received great attention both in the political and academic arenas, starting a roll-over process of the “take, make, and dispose” dominant economic model that is leading to an ongoing increase of resource consumption and waste generation. However, there is a relative lack of guidelines for introducing such concepts in a decision-making process able to support the design of appropriate policies and strategies and the definition of specific actions to cope with such challenges. This paper attempts to contribute to the recent efforts at incorporating these concepts in policy and decision-making processes by providing a methodology for the development of strategic plans for waste prevention and resource management. The proposed methodology, developed within the Urban_WINS project, combines different quantitative–analytical and qualitative methods and tools, together with a participatory process. The methodology was tested in eight EU cities and allowed to formulate several measures and actions aimed at addressing the challenges posed by the current consumption patterns. Moreover, the participatory approach led to the legitimization of the strategic plans, as well as to raise awareness among stakeholders. Although it might require specific tailor-made adjustments, this methodology is suitable to be replicated in other contexts.
Davide Longato; Giulia Lucertini; Michele Dalla Fontana; Francesco Musco. Including Urban Metabolism Principles in Decision-Making: A Methodology for Planning Waste and Resource Management. Sustainability 2019, 11, 2101 .
AMA StyleDavide Longato, Giulia Lucertini, Michele Dalla Fontana, Francesco Musco. Including Urban Metabolism Principles in Decision-Making: A Methodology for Planning Waste and Resource Management. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (7):2101.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDavide Longato; Giulia Lucertini; Michele Dalla Fontana; Francesco Musco. 2019. "Including Urban Metabolism Principles in Decision-Making: A Methodology for Planning Waste and Resource Management." Sustainability 11, no. 7: 2101.