Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into urban planning by demonstrating public & private stormwater infrastructure (LIFE in RUNOFF)

LIFE in RUNOFF’s main objective is to support urban climate change adaptation by enabling synergies between public stormwater investment/maintenance and stimulating private stormwater blue-green infrastructure (mainly ecosystem-based) to efficiently reduce the impact of stormwater runoff on fragile urban infrastructure (e.g. the sewer system, roads and buildings).

The project seeks to put into practice, evaluate and disseminate approaches for private stormwater infrastructure tools and governance approaches stimulating them, as well as effective municipal solutions and tools complementing them. It aims to do so through the installation of blue-green infrastructure which reduces the severity of stormwater flows in 3 districts of Budapest. These pilot areas are currently in danger of flooding during torrential rains (common in the summer and becoming more intense as a result of climate change) due to their topographical (e.g. hilly) locations and relatively dated sewage systems.