Making Infrastructure Climate Resilient: Bridging the Transformation Gap with "Living Labs"?

Abstract

Infrastructure forms the backbone of any urban and regional economy. Energy, water, waste water, transportation and telecommunication facilities and networks shape the picture of cities and urban regions. Infrastructure makes an important contribution to the quality of life. The construction and the Operation of infrastructures are responsible for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions and for climate change. Cities and their infrastructures are, at the same time, affected by the impacts of climate change, resulting in the disruption of supply and severe economic damage. What is needed is a transformation towards low carbon, resilient structures that means the design of infrastructures is able to prevent or cope with the impacts of climate change or other attacks on the system. This paper explores, based on the concept of resilience, the question of how to initiate and to support the transformation of the infrastructure sectors. The Living Lab approach is such a transdisciplinary concept and provides the space for innovation. The paper gives an overview of the main features of this approach and points out some preliminary conclusions drawn from a regional case study.