Press Release, 15. July 2024

Climate adaptation and water security

TU Dresden and UFZ participate in international research project

The global advance of climate change is accompanied by considerable problems for drinking and industrial water security. The consequences for individual regions vary greatly. What is more, droughts and flood events are increasing significantly, but their exact occurrence is difficult to predict. According to current research, it is unclear what the implications of this will be for society, and in particular for local residents and the long-term security of their water supply. What is undisputed, however, is that regional solutions for water security must be developed. An international research team led by Canadian scientists from the University of Saskatchewan is now tackling this task. Researchers from TU Dresden (TUD) and the UFZ are also involved. 

It is crucial that the ideas for solutions to water security and climate adaptation in the project Climate Collaboratorium are not developed by individual scientists alone. Instead, the local population is actively involved in shaping political processes. To this end, current political processes are analysed and possibilities for their transformation are jointly developed using theatre methods such as role-playing. 

"The theater methods help people to better understand climate problems and to share their own experiences. The involvement of local stakeholders is the key to developing sustainable solutions. Together, we can create realistic and relevant approaches to water security," explains Prof Sina Leipold from the Department of Environmental Politics at the UFZ. 

Prof Leipold is leading the German team together with Prof Andreas Hartmann from the Institute of Groundwater Management at TU Dresden. Their focus is on the Sorbian community of Rietschen in the district of Görlitz. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Mayor Ralf Brehmer, the local residents, Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG (LEAG) and the lower water authority in Görlitz.

Andreas Hartmann from TUD is responsible for the water management simulations and projections using a groundwater model. His expertise in modeling groundwater resources helps to develop realistic scenarios for water availability and demand. "These simulations are crucial for assessing the impact of climate adaptation measures on groundwater availability and for providing informed recommendations to local communities," he explains.

The project is due to start in October 2024 with a planned term of three years. The data on water management scenarios collected during the project will then be analyzed and translated into various models for climate adaptation and water security, making it possible to test their feasibility. "The water management simulations help us to provide local communities with realistic scenarios for their future water supply and, together with them, to develop practicable options for action," Andreas Hartmann is convinced. 

The project "Climate Collaboratorium: Joint Development of Applied Theater Decision Labs for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Research" has a budget of around EUR two million and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the USA, the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) in Canada, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in the UK. The DFG has allocated around EUR 500,000 for the German research team.

Video: Political Scientist Prof Sina Leipold on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxPSYT6R4J8&list=PLh5SFB29ToJHX-jtRhdtdfQzFBn_geLiB&index=8

Video: Is groundwater running out? At work with … Hydroscientist Prof Andreas Hartmann -  https://youtu.be/p8MaYmYToEc

Further information

Prof Dr Sina Leipold
Head of UFZ Department of Environmental Politics
sina.leipold@ufz.de

Prof Dr Andreas Hartmann
TU Dresden, Institute of Groundwater Management
andreas.hartmann@tu-dresden.de

UFZ press office

Susanne Hufe
Phone: +49 341 6025-1630
presse@ufz.de