1. CO-CREATING A FLOOD PROOF URBAN:LESSONS FROM HISTORY AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY AS BUILDING BLOCKS IN URBAN FLOOD PROOFING PRACTICES
- Author
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EWNETU, TSION TESHALE and EWNETU, TSION TESHALE
- Abstract
This is an investigative research that builds on the works of scholars who have examined the role of history and collective memory in fostering co-created resilience to climate risks in urban planning and governance. The primary objective of this investigation is to explore historical flood risk mitigation practices and planning approaches that preceded current path-dependent solutions towards urban flood prevention and mitigation, aiming to develop a co-creative framework wherein citizens serve as co-implementers, co- designers, and initiators in addressing contemporary climate challenges. The research draws from the argument that flood events temporarily alter, interrupt and suspend spatial relations between land use and water, infrastructural solutions that follow permanently alter, interrupt and suspend them. The research employs the concept of "Re -casting" to retrospectively analyze the evolution of spatial relations during flood events and infrastructural mitigation in multiple historical settlements along the Klarälven and Gota älv rivers. By employing the theoretical framework of Past-casting that refers to working backwards from a preferred alternative present to a range of possible divergent points in the past and consequent pathways to yield an alternative present and future, the research has identified four significant flood events in the 19th C to 20th C, through extensive desk-based and archival research, referred to as "divergent points." The divergent points identified through past-casting assist in identifying historical environmental risk mitigation practices, categorized into three main design themes: to slow, to sink, and to store, defined by various actors, initiators, techniques, and funding schemes. These identified practices are further discussed and contextualized in focus groups involving selected members of civil society, risk researchers at the University of Karlstad, local associations, and the Karlstad municipality to address
- Published
- 2024