Caricamento in corso...
Climate change adaptation
01TZTNF
A.A. 2023/24
Course Language
Inglese
Degree programme(s)
Master of science-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Per L'Ambiente E Il Territorio - Torino
Borrow
02TZTTV
Course structure
| Teaching | Hours |
|---|---|
| Lezioni | 59 |
| Esercitazioni in laboratorio | 18 |
Lecturers
| Teacher | Status | SSD | h.Les | h.Ex | h.Lab | h.Tut | Years teaching |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamea Stefania | Professore Associato | CEAR-01/B | 30 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 5 |
Co-lectures
Context
| SSD | CFU | Activities | Area context | ICAR/01 ICAR/02 ING-IND/28 |
2 4 2 |
B - Caratterizzanti B - Caratterizzanti B - Caratterizzanti |
Ingegneria per l'ambiente e il territorio Ingegneria per l'ambiente e il territorio Ingegneria per l'ambiente e il territorio |
|---|
2023/24
Climate change is expected to impact a wide range of natural processes and anthropic activities. Modifications in the atmospheric and earth energy balance, as well as in the water cycle, will likely change the spatial and temporal availability of natural resources, worsen extreme events, impact the environment, challenge food production and urban areas. Most changes will perturb equilibria and exacerbate criticalities and will require societal and technological adaptation. However, evolving situations may also open new opportunities and trigger changes with positive fallouts, that adaptations are expected to consider and capture.
The course will illustrate a range of adaptation strategies for the natural and the built environment, to cope with environmental changes and plan anthropic interventions. The course will focusing on different contexts. In each context the processes and governing principles will be illustrated, the changing features will be analyzed, the environmental and socio-economic aspects will be presented and the adaptation solutions will be discussed. Feasibility, efficiency, sustainability of the solutions will also be assessed by socio-economic and environmental points of view.
The course will have a quantitative approach and will propose student activities based on data collection and analysis, use of software and modelling tools, analysis of real case studies and possibly some field trips.
Climate change is expected to impact a wide range of natural processes and anthropic activities. Modifications in the atmospheric and earth energy balance, as well as in the water cycle, will likely change the spatial and temporal availability of natural resources, worsen extreme events, impact the environment, challenge food production and urban areas. Most changes will perturb equilibria and exacerbate criticalities and will require societal and technological adaptation. However, evolving situations may also open new opportunities and trigger changes with positive fallouts, that adaptations are expected to consider and capture. The course will illustrate a range of adaptation strategies for the natural and the built environment, to cope with environmental changes and plan anthropic interventions, while discussing the feasibility, efficiency, sustainability of the proposed solutions.
The course will take a quantitative approach and will propose student activities based on data collection and analysis, use of software and modelling tools, analysis of real case studies and possibly some field trips.
The students will acquire knowledge of physical processes and technical aspects which are expected to be mostly impacted by climate change. They will also become familiar with official documents, such as those produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the relevant up-to-date scientific literature.
Students will practice data analysis, spatial analysis, statistical modelling. They will learn to master software and modelling tools for the assessment of impacts and future projections. They will become familiar with air quality indicators and pollution sources, with non-conventional uses of the underground spaces. Students will learn to quantify changes in river flows, to produce basic risk maps, to manage scarce water resources, to design engineering systems to protect the people and the environment.
The students will acquire knowledge of physical processes and technical aspects which are expected to be mostly impacted by climate change. They will become familiar with official documents, such as IPCC reports, EU directives and relevant up-to-date scientific literature. Students will learn to analyze climate change scenario and to quantify impacts through data analysis. They will learn to quantify and communicate climate change impacts through indicators (e.g. water footprint, air quality indicators) and to master modelling tools for the assessment of adaptation solutions. Students will learn to quantify changes in river flows and snow cover, to manage scarce water resources, to design engineering systems to protect the people and the environment.
The course requires the basic mathematical and statistical knowledge. Contents of the courses of hydrology and hydraulics is strongly recommended. Knowledge of GIS tools is an asset. The course attendance requires fluent spoken and written English.
The course requires a stong basic knowledge in mathematics and statistics (concept of probability, probability distribution functions, integrals and derivatives, differential equations). Knowledge acquired in the courses of Applied Hydrology and Hydraulics is recommended (water velocity and streamflow, statistical inference, return period, flow duration curve). The course attendance requires fluent spoken and written English.
Introduction, basic concepts,
• Mountain and cold-regions adaptation (15 h)
Mountain environment, precipitation and temperature changes, snow-related processes, snow-cover change and permafrost melting, change in hydrologic response, effects on river flows and flood statistics
• River and ecosystem adaptation (15 h)
Climate change impacts on fluvial systems, intermittent and ephemeral rivers, ecosystems dynamics and conservation, environmental management, protected areas
• Food systems adaptation (15 h)
Agriculture and food systems, changes and optimization strategies, sustainability in agriculture, water resources and irrigation requirements, water management in scarce conditions, drought statistics, heatwaves
• Urban adaptation (15 h)
Urban drainage systems, options for sustainable drainage systems, rainfall and pollutants, multi-risk analysis for rainfall events
• Air pollution and adaptation (12 h)
Principles of air pollution, monitoring, indicators, scientific evidences, adaptation strategies
• Underground opportunities for adaptation (8 h)
Introduction to climate change adaptation, definitions, types of actions, IPCC documentation (3 h)
RIVER SYSTEMS ADAPTATION
- Mountain environment, snow-cover change, ice and permafrost melting, adaptation solutions (6 h)
- Vegetation shifts, change in hydrologic response, effects on river flows and flood statistics (8 h)
- Climate change impacts on fluvial systems, European Directives on freshwater management (6 h)
- Ecosystems dynamics and conservation, intermittent and ephemeral rivers, adaptation strategies for environmental river management, protected areas (9 h)
FOOD SYSTEMS ADAPTATION
- Food security and climate change, challenges in food demand and food supply, changes and optimization strategies (6 h)
- Water resources and irrigation requirements, water management in scarce conditions, efficiency and sustainability in agriculture (6 h)
- Environmental impacts of food production, footprint indicators, water footprint assessment and virtual water trade (6 h)
URBAN SYSTEMS ADAPTATION
- Urban drainage systems, options for sustainable drainage, rainfall and pollutants, practical applications (10 h)
- Principles of air pollution, air pollution and climate change, monitoring, indicators, scientific evidences (6 h)
- Air pollution adaptation criteria, strategies and case studies (6 h)
- Underground space use and its role on achieving urban resilience, underground climate and heat transfer principles, underground opportunities for adaptation, discussion of relevant examples (8 h)
The course is organized in lectures and exercise-classes. Lectures are devoted to the presentation of the course topics, including the theoretical aspects and illustration of case studies. Lectures are held remotely by the teachers at the time/day scheduled in the. During the lectures, interaction between teachers and students is welcome and supplemented with open questions and polls. Classes are recorded and made available to the students for future reference. Exercise-classes are devoted to practical applications and are based on computer work. Students form small workgroups of 2-3 people to develop assignments with the assistance of the teachers. Assignments focus on adaptation projects to be analyzed following some common steps: (i) identify the problem and the data testifying the change, (ii) relate or model the effects of such change on the considered system, (iii) elaborate adaptive solutions and assess/quantify the benefits, (iv) collect evidences or experiences supporting the chosen solutions. Groups will be asked to prepare a written report for the assignments, summarizing the results obtained and the solutions analyzed.
During the course, some laboratory activities and field trips will be organized to foster practical and multidisciplinary knowledge. The experiences will be recorded and shared with non-attending students to give them the same information despite the physical distance.
The course is organized in lectures and exercise-classes. Lectures are devoted to the presentation of course topics, the development of theoretical aspects and the presentation of case studies. Exercise-classes are devoted to practical applications and quantitative exercises.
Students will be asked to form working groups and to develop assignments in the form of adaptation projects withing the area covered by the course topics (river, food and urban systems). The written reports will be discussed in class and handed in before the exam; they will be graded and will contribute to the final evaluation. During the course, laboratory activities and field trips will be organized to foster practical and multidisciplinary knowledge.
Course slides and reading materials will be distributed during the course.
Additional readings will be indicated throughout the course.
Course slides and reading materials will be distributed during the course.
Additional readings are:
- IPCC (2014), Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, Part A. Available online at https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg2/
- Woods Ballard et al. (2015), The SuDS Manual, CIRIA, London, ISBN: 978-0-86017-760-9. Available online at https://www.ciria.org/Memberships/The_SuDs_Manual_C753_Chapters.aspx
- D’Odorico et al. (2018), The global food-energy-water nexus. Reviews of Geophysics, 56, 456–531. Available online here https://doi.org/10.1029/2017RG000591
- European Environment Agency, report No 24/20191994: Floodplains: a natural system to preserve and restore. Available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340315715_Floodplains_a_natural_system_to_preserve_and_restore
- Intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams: what water managers need to know. Technical report – Cost ACTION CA 15113. https://zenodo.org/record/3888474/files/handbook_smires_vf.pdf?download=1
- Mark Z. Jacobson (2012), Air pollution and global warming – History, Science and Solutions. Cambridge University Press, II ed.
- Admiraal H., Cornaro A. (2018), Underground Space Unveiled: Planning and Creating the Cities of the Future. ICE Publishing.
Slides;
Lecture slides;
Modalità di esame: Prova scritta (in aula); Elaborato scritto prodotto in gruppo;
Exam: Written test; Group essay;
...
The evaluation is partly based on the written assignment reports prepared along the course (relative weight: 40% of final mark), partly on the oral presentation (relative weight: 10% of final mark) and partly on the final exam (relative weight: 50% of final mark).
The written reports focus on the course assignments and should illustrate the development and results obtained and the additional material collected about the adaptive solution proposed. Reports are due 7 days before the exam and will be evaluated considering the correctness, completeness, and relevance of information (maximum mark: 30/30). The group work is going to be presented to the classroom at the end of the course and the quality and effectiveness of presentations will be assessed (maximum mark: 30/30). The reports and presentation marks will be shared by all students in the group.
The final exam is written and will last 1.5 hours. The exam will include open questions and short exercises regarding the theoretical and the applicative part of the course program. No supporting material (books, slides, notes) is allowed for use during the exam. The written exam mark will take into account the completeness, maturity, and clarity of answers provided and the maximum mark will be 30/30 cum laudae.
Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.
Exam: Written test; Group essay;
The evaluation is partly based on the assignment reports prepared along the course (relative weight: 40% of final mark), and partly on the final exam (relative weight: 50% of final mark). The written reports should illustrate the development and results obtained and the additional material collected about the adaptive solution proposed. Reports are due 7 days before the exam and are evaluated considering the correctness, completeness, and relevance of information (maximum mark: 30/30). The report mark is shared by all students in each group.
The final exam is written and lasts a maximum of 2 hours. The exam includes open questions and short exercises regarding the theoretical and the applicative part of the course program. No supporting material (books, slides, notes) is allowed for use during the exam. The written exam mark takes into account the completeness, maturity, and clarity of answers provided and the maximum mark is 30/30 cum laudae.
In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.