Background

Climate change manifests itself in varies ways, one of which is extreme weather events. Over the years, Enschede has also had to deal with these events: from the tropical temperatures and droughts during the summers of 2016 and 2018, to the extreme rainfall and floods in 2010 and 2013. In light of this, the municipality of Enschede has taken various measures to deal with these issues.

Strategy

However, this is not enough. In order for Enschede to turn the tide and stop the flooding, cooperation of the private sector (businesses and households) is needed. In order to engage the private sector, it is important to educate (present and) future generations about topics such as WATER RETENTION, WATER STORAGE, WATER QUALITY, WATER INFILTRATION, WATER LEVELS, WATER RE-USE.

Limitations

The incentive to adapt to and invest in solutions that “the box” proposes seems to be highest in people with a general interest to do practical things around the house, and who have time and money to do so.

Besides, those who ‘own’ the water damage, will feel more inclined to do such investments, these are house owners and in the case of rented houses: landlords.

Intervention 1

With this in mind, the playground equipment presented in this product catalog is therefore directly linked to these topics. The playground of a Primary school is a model to encourage parents to apply the above principles within their private area, to improve flood resilience.

Intervention 2

The second proposed intervention is a mobile application that will primarily be used for information exchange and data collection. The application provides information on climate change, risks of flooding, and tools/precautionary measures for people who live in areas prone to flooding. Also, any news on flood mitigation in Enschede will be shared on the application. During the conduction of the survey, it became apparent that some residents already have rain measurement equipment in their gardens. Therefore, residents that are interested to contribute to data collection can provide data on rain events and observe water heights measured at their own location. As it was explained by the municipality the water authority has ways of forecasting the amount and intensity of rainfall. By connecting the mobile application to the system, it can be used as an early warning system. Residents will be alerted if a rainfall event is expected that could cause flooding. This will allow residents and business owners in areas prone to flooding to move valuables inside/upstairs, to limit damages.