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"Assimacopoulos, Dionysis"
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Impacts of European drought events: insights from an international database of text-based reports
Drought is a natural hazard that can cause a wide range of impacts affecting the environment, society, and the economy. Providing an impact assessment and reducing vulnerability to these impacts for regions beyond the local scale, spanning political and sectoral boundaries, requires systematic and detailed data regarding impacts. This study presents an assessment of the diversity of drought impacts across Europe based on the European Drought Impact report Inventory (EDII), a unique research database that has collected close to 5000 impact reports from 33 European countries. The reported drought impacts were classified into major impact categories, each of which had a number of subtypes. The distribution of these categories and types was then analyzed over time, by country, across Europe and for particular drought events. The results show that impacts on agriculture and public water supply dominate the collection of drought impact reports for most countries and for all major drought events since the 1970s, while the number and relative fractions of reported impacts in other sectors can vary regionally and from event to event. The analysis also shows that reported impacts have increased over time as more media and website information has become available and environmental awareness has increased. Even though the distribution of impact categories is relatively consistent across Europe, the details of the reports show some differences. They confirm severe impacts in southern regions (particularly on agriculture and public water supply) and sector-specific impacts in central and northern regions (e.g., on forestry or energy production). The protocol developed thus enabled a new and more comprehensive view on drought impacts across Europe. Related studies have already developed statistical techniques to evaluate the link between drought indices and the categorized impacts using EDII data. The EDII is a living database and is a promising source for further research on drought impacts, vulnerabilities, and risks across Europe. A key result is the extensive variety of impacts found across Europe and its documentation. This insight can therefore inform drought policy planning at national to international levels.
Journal Article
Drought : science and policy
Comprehensive coverage of understanding, prevention, and risk management of extreme drought events, with examples of approaches followed in water-stressed regions
This book describes the progress made in our understanding of severe drought and explains how we can deal with—and even avoid—complete devastation brought on by such punishing events. It brings forward advanced knowledge on drought hazard analysis and management, particularly from EU-funded research projects, to assist in the development of the corresponding drought management plans. In addition, this book addresses issues of social vulnerability to drought and science-policy interfaces, which are important elements of drought management.
Divided into three sections, this book covers the diagnosis of physical processes, historic drought and the trends in historic drought, and perspectives of future drought. It takes an academic approach to risk evaluation, including characterization of drought episodes, development of indicators of risk in hydrological and agricultural systems, and analysis of the role of socio-economic instruments for risk mitigation. It also discusses the interactions that have resulted in the complex institutional framework, and highlights the importance of stakeholder involvement and awareness building for successful drought management. In addition, Drought: Science and Policy features a collection of case studies that include the description of effective measures taken in the past.
* Addresses the growing issue of drought preparedness planning, monitoring, and mitigation
* Teaches methodologies and lessons focused on specific, drought-prone regions so the applications have more significance
* Provides examples of approaches followed in water-stressed regions (river basin and national scale) with drought analyses at the pan-European scale
Drought: Science and Policy will be an invaluable reference for researchers and practitioners in the field as well as Masters students taking relevant courses in drought management and natural disaster management.
eBook
Stakeholder perceptions on climate change impacts and adaptation actions in Greece
The scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that human activity plays a significant role in the changes to the world's climate, and it is crucial to take adaptive actions to mitigate the impacts of these changes. Effective climate adaptation requires raising awareness among a variety of key stakeholders, such as executives and staff in the public and private sectors, while assessing the incentives and actions they undertake and allowing them to act at various levels of engagement, ranging from global to local. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of awareness, perceived values, recommendations and expectations regarding climate change among key actors in Greece, focusing on the consequences of climate change in the country and the concurrent adaptation actions taken by stakeholders. A web-based survey was designed and conducted, and responses were systematically collected, categorized and analyzed. The key stakeholders believed that planning and implementing adaptation measures are crucial in addressing and minimizing the impacts of climate change. However, it was also noted that these plans and measures alone are insufficient to counteract the long-term, devastating consequences of climate change in Greece, and more comprehensive and targeted measures must be adopted. It was also concluded that the main obstacle to addressing and adapting to climate change in terms of public policy planning in Greece is the lack of human and financial resources, particularly among public institutions.
Journal Article
Stakeholder mapping and analysis for climate change adaptation in Greece
Stakeholder mapping and analysis is essential in climate change adaptation (CCA) projects to assess and identify the importance and needs of the relevant stakeholders (SHs). The complexity and importance of the implementation of CCA actions depends on the cooperation of diverse groups of stakeholders in line with the policy implementation characteristics which apply in Greece. To map the actors involved in adaptation planning and implementation in Greece, a multicriteria analysis was performed. The SHs involved in CCA in Greece were divided into national- and regional-level stakeholders. The stakeholder analysis was based on the mapping of SHs identified through the organizational charts of relevant institutions and by other projects with a direct or indirect link to CCA. The relative importance of each stakeholder for the purposes of this analysis was assessed by evaluating their power, proximity and urgency with respect to CCA and by assigning specific weighting factors for each criterion to calculate a single priority index. Based on the priority index value, SHs were classified as low, medium or high priority for CCA at both national and regional levels. At the national level, ministerial directorates were classified as high priority, followed by academic and research centers, which were classified as medium priority. At the regional level, high index values were calculated for the Special Directorate of Environment and Spatial Planning. The General Directorate of Civil Protection and the Directorate of European Programs were classified as medium and low priority, respectively.
Journal Article
Eco-efficiency improvements in industrial water-service systems: assessing options with stakeholders
The well-known eco-efficiency concept helps to assess the economic value and resource burdens of potential improvements by comparison with the baseline situation. But eco-efficiency assessments have generally focused on a specific site, while neglecting wider effects, for example, through interactions between water users and wastewater treatment (WWT) providers. To address the methodological gap, the EcoWater project has developed a method and online tools for meso-level analysis of the entire water-service value chain. This study investigated improvement options in two large manufacturing companies which have significant potential for eco-efficiency gains. They have been considering investment in extra processes which can lower resource burdens from inputs and wastewater, as well as internalising WWT processes. In developing its methodology, the EcoWater project obtained the necessary information from many agents, involved them in the meso-level assessment and facilitated their discussion on alternative options. Prior discussions with stakeholders stimulated their attendance at a workshop to discuss a comparative eco-efficiency assessment for whole-system improvement. Stakeholders expressed interest in jointly extending the EcoWater method to more options and in discussing investment strategies. In such ways, optimal solutions will depend on stakeholders overcoming fragmentation by sharing responsibility and knowledge.
Journal Article
Conclusions and policy recommendations for the E.U. Water Framework Directive
The purpose of this final chapter is to identify the common themes of the three projects (WSM, Medis, and Aquadapt), to integrate and harmonise the results and approaches adopted by each, and to discuss conclusions and potential policy implications that can feed into the EU Water Framework Directive. The knowledge that has emerged from the three projects has been principally obtained from case study analyses. These have examined competing water use patterns, compared governance structures and how these have evolved in response to scarcity and structural and non-structural instruments to address water deficiency. The experiences and lessons learned from these studies are summarised below. First however we briefly describe the general circumstances, or pressures and driving forces, that are common to the case studies examined in the ARID cluster of projects.
Paper