Course Name
Urban Management Tools for Climate Change (UMTCC)

Date and duration
04 May - 27 May 2011, 3 weeks

Location
IHS Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Tuition fee
€ 2,500

IHS Application deadline
01 March 2011

NFP application deadline
01 December 2010

Partner organisation
UN-HABITAT

IHS is proud to announce that this course is jointly developed with UN-HABITAT. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.

Who is it for?

This course is designed for urban policy makers, urban planners, urban professionals in the field of environment protection and sustainable environment development, as well as environment consultants in the relevant field.

Course Introduction

Cities are increasingly expected to undertake concrete actions to mitigate climate change and adapt the city to rising water levels, drought and other natural disasters related to the heating of earth. What concrete activities should a city undertake and what works? This course offers management tools for urban policy makers, planners and environmentalists

Course Content

The course introduces climate change as an integral part of sustainability, its impact and main strategies for mitigation and adaptation.

• Risk and vulnerability assessment
  The impact of climate change differs for rural and urban areas, coastal cities, mountain cities and low-latitude cities. Within cities, particularly the most vulnerable households are at risk. Recent studies assessed the likely impact of climate change on cities. Participants will analyse and evaluate detailed assessment reports of various case studies based on theory and best practices.

• Mitigation strategies: energy, transport and emission trading
  Cities can play a pivotal role in the mitigation of climate change. They can reduce energy consumption, promote renewable sources of energy or they can trade emission rights under the Flexible Mechanisms of the Kyoto protocol. The latter is becoming a lucrative business for green and clean cities. A range of management tools are at the disposal of municipalities, including tax incentives, subsidised public transport, urban sprawl prevention, Feed-In-Programmes, Renewable Portfolio Standards, sustainable buildings, etc. Participants will prepare mitigation strategies for concrete cases, based on theory and the available management options.

• Adaptation strategies: water, land and housing
  Cities should adapt to both long-term trends associated with climate change and to extreme events such as flooding. After centuries of land reclamation, the Netherlands now transforms land into lakes and builds floating housing and roads, with gardens on roofs (‘blue cities’). Participants will develop adaptation strategies for concrete cases, based on theory and best practices.

• Local Climate Change Plans
  Local Climate Change Plans translate often vague strategies for mitigation and adaption into concrete actions, based on the risk and vulnerability assessment, management tools and the (financial) constraints of cities. Local actions are taken at city and neighbourhood level. Participants will develop plans for concrete cases, based on theory and best practices. These are placed within international policies and practices including the Kyoto Protocol, Bali Roadmap and Local Agenda 21.
  

Learning objectives

By the end, the participants will be able to prepare and manage local climate change plans, which address the global challenges yet focus on concrete local action. The course will offer specific tools and practices to manage urban design and environmental infrastructure, in particular energy, transport, housing and water.

Admission

For this short course, participants should have:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• At least 3 years work or academic experience
• Evidence of a sufficient oral and written command of the English language. If English is not the mother tongue, an English language test is required

Apply Now

For downloading the course brochure and application form, or to apply on-line, please follow the link below:
http://www.ihs.nl/umtcc

Contact

For further information on the course and application procedure, please contact admission@ihs.nl

IHS - Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies
Erasmus University Rotterdam
P.O. Box 1935
3000BX Rotterdam
The Netherlands

Burg. Oudlaan 50
T-Building – 14th Floor
3062PA Rotterdam
The Netherlands

P:+31 (0)10 4089825
F:+31 (0)10 4098926

www.ihs.nl