Water: Planning for Today and Tomorrow

NEW YORK - Feb. 13, 2017 - PRLog -- Seventy-one percent of the earth's surface is covered by water. As a result of climate change and urban population growth, managing water resources has become more important than ever. The 2015 UN-Habitat's "Guiding Principles for City Climate Action Planning" established globally applicable principles to help cities develop comprehensive action plans. Cities and urban regions play a central role in reducing human vulnerability by creating resilient infrastructures and enhancing a sustainable urban metabolism. Imbalanced ecosystems, scarce water resources and rising sea levels are just a few of the challenges that cities and urban regions face. Mitigating the impacts of a changing climate through resilient spatial development has become an essential topic in urban design, environmental planning, and architecture. The increasing need for green infrastructure and efficient water management in the design of safe, attractive and sustainable urban spaces requires innovative design solutions and new analytical methods.

This panel will present two urban planning solutions – the Emscher landscape conversion project and Living Breakwaters in Staten Island, NY – that have been implemented both in the US and in the Ruhr area in Germany. Experts will introduce different approaches to ecological design and discuss the role of water at the interface of urban and rural territories.

Dr. Uli Paetzel,President and Chief Executive Officer, Emschergenossenschaft

Pippa Brashear, Director of Planning and Resilience, SCAPE/Landscape Architecture PLLC

Nicholas Johnston, Vice President, Global eDiscovery, Forensic Technology & Information Security / Cybersecurity Services, Duff & Phelps

Prof. Catherine Seavitt Nordenson (Moderator), Associate Professor, Spitzer School of Architecture, The City College of New York

The event will take place on Thursday, February 16, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the German Center for Research and Innovation (871 United Nations Plaza, First Avenue, between 48^th & 49^th Streets).

The German Center for Research and Innovation (http://www.germaninnovation.org)provides information and support for the realization of cooperative and collaborative projects between North America and Germany. With the goal of enhancing communication on the critical challenges of the 21st century, GCRI hosts a wide range of events from lectures and exhibitions to workshops and science dinners. Opened in February 2010, GCRI was created as a cornerstone of the German government's initiative to internationalize science and research and is one of five centers worldwide.

Contact:

Edwin Linderkamp |German Center for Research and Innovation
871 United Nations Plaza |New York, NY 10017
(212) 339-8606 X302
press@germaninnovation.org