Stormwater Poland 2023: The role of NBS in urban adaptation to climate change in Europe
The seventh edition of the prestigious conference Stormwater Poland 2023 brought together 500 climate change, economic transformation and water management professionals on 27-28 September 2023 in Katowice, Poland.
Under the slogan “Adaptation with quality” the event focused on the fact that the new adaptation measures must have a new quality. People need to think globally but act locally to secure the future of local communities in a worsening climate.
The first conference day was devoted to the comprehensive understanding of climate change adaptation of drainage systems, or more broadly the adaptation of urban hydrology to the challenges of climate change.
NICHES coordinator, Dr Ulf Stein from Ecologic Institute gave a keynote titled Urban adaptation to climate change in Europe — the role of nature-based solutions. He made an overview of the key challenges that urban water management faces, providing examples inspired by the NICHES project. In his talk, he also elaborated on sewer overflows during heavy rain. The increase of impervious surfaces and reduction of green areas result in more frequent and voluminous combined sewer overflows.
The second day of the conference continued with insightful presentations focused on the quality of rainwater and snowmelt, but also, of the water surrounding us in the cities that we are privileged to use.
“I’m impressed by the number of international speakers at StormWater Poland! It’s not just a local event, it’s getting more and more international after each year,” said Dr Ulf Stein. “There is a great atmosphere for knowledge exchange about innovative technologies of rainwater and overloaded drainage systems. A lot of speakers presented practical solutions and inspired efforts to protect the environment for the future generations,” he added.
To learn more about Stormwater Poland and its agenda visit the conference website.
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Dr Stein Ulf at Stormwater Poland 2023 conference.