Climate Resilient Infrastructure Assets

 

 

Climate Resilient Infrastructure Assets

IPWEA is collaborating with a range of project partners to deliver a nationally relevant, industry best practice guideline, online course and supporting resources that will provide asset stewards, managers, engineers, planners and designers with the relevant knowledge, training and tools needed to reduce climate change risks to infrastructure and enhance asset resilience. 

Climate Resilient Infrastructure Assets

About

Climate change has already increased the frequency and severity of a range of hazards. The Second National Action Plan to implement the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework states that since 2013, 496 (92%) Local Government Areas have been impacted by disasters at an average annual cost to the economy of $38 billion.

By 2100 temperatures are projected to increase by as much as 4oC above pre-industrial levels. And a sea level rise of up to 2.3 m, as a result of ice sheet collapse, cannot be ruled out. As a result, there will be more extreme heat events and heatwaves, bushfires, rainfall events and flooding, droughts, coastal inundation and erosion, extreme winds, storms and cyclonic events. 

To reduce these impacts, and ensure the provision of essential community services, it is critical that infrastructure assets are planned, constructed and managed to be climate resilient.

Green Infrastructure

The Climate Resilient Infrastructure Guideline

Climate Resilient Infrastructure

The Climate Resilient Infrastructure Guideline provides nationally relevant, collaboratively developed, industry best practice guidance on the integration of climate risk and resilience into asset and financial management planning. 

The Guideline details a range of climate hazards including higher temperatures, heatwave, frost, hail, changes in rainfall, increased storm and cyclonic intensity flooding, coastal and riverine erosion, drought, sea level rise, ocean acidification, and bushfire weather.

Detailed climate impacts and resilience options are provided for over 200 assets in buildings, bridges, roads, footpaths, green infrastructure, water and waste water assets, storm water assets, and coastal assets. In addition, details are given for the most common infrastructure materials including concrete, steel, PVC, wood, bitumen, glass and fibre reinforced polymers (FRP).

The Guideline describes the processes of organisational change and building the business case for including climate change into strategic plans, and then takes an asset lifecycle approach to describe how to update asset and financial management plans and financial reporting. It is supported by extensive additional resources including global and Australian case studies, examples, drawings, images, templates, a risk and resilience decision tree, templates, tools, references and active links for further information.

Green Infrastructure

Climate Resilient Infrastructure Online Course

Research shows that practitioners who are upskilled on the latest technical information, provided with peer developed case studies, strategies and professional training will have the confidence to implement new and more sustainable asset management options.

The Climate Resilient Infrastructure Course is an interactive, content rich, self-paced online course designed to build practical capability in identifying and integrating climate resilience into infrastructure asset management and financial planning frameworks.

Based on the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Guideline, the course provides participants with a shared language, practical frameworks and real-world examples to support planning, funding, monitoring and adapting infrastructure assets to the increasing challenges of climate change.

Participants will undertake an Action Learning Project that builds throughout the course and results in a Business Case for the integration of climate resilient materials and assets within their organisational policies and processes. Participants who complete the course will receive the IPWEA Climate Resilient Infrastructure Digital Badge.

Course Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the likely changes in the climate in Australia to 2100 and beyond.
  • Identify climate change impacts and resilience options for buildings, bridges, roads, footpaths, green infrastructure, water and waste water assets, storm water assets, coastal assets and the most commonly used infrastructure materials.
  • Integrate climate change resilience into asset and financial management planning and reduce the risk of maladaptation.
  • Overcome barriers to change within their organisation.
  • Know where to source further information.

Green Infrastructure

IPWEA has been proud to collaborate with our project partners to deliver practical guidance, tools, templates and training to guide infrastructure asset stewards in their climate change journey. Uptake of the Guideline and supporting resources will enable the integration of climate change risk, and resilient adaptation options, into mainstream asset and financial management – and ultimately the allocation of necessary resources and funding.

David Jenkins | CEO IPWEA

Our Partners

The Climate Resilient Asset Management for Green Infrastructure project is a collaboration between the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA), SA Department of Infrastructure and Transport, SA Department of Environment and Water, South Australian Coastal Councils Alliance (SACCA), Alexandrina Council, Wattle Range Council, Yorke Peninsula Council, and the Adelaide Coastal Councils Network (ACCN). The project has received funding from the Australian Government, IPWEA and project partners.

Climate Resilient Asset Management Partners