This session introduces decision making analysis for urban climate resilience and water related issues with particular focus on multi criteria analysis (MCA) approach. This approach has been widely used in environmental and climate change assessment and decision making on prioritizing different policies, actions, measures against multiple criteria. Often urban climate change adaptation and water related actions (e.g. flood protection measures, water management options) generate multiple sustainability benefits (co-benefits) other than purely environmental or climate change related ones. Cities should explore how to incorporate these multiple sustainability aspects of actions in their decision making. The main elements, characteristics, steps, strengths and weakness of MCA within the urban climate resilience and water related context will be discussed during this session.

Speaker:
Stelios Grafakos, Lead Climate Change Specialist, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Holland

Stelios Grafakos is an environmental economistwith 15 years of working experience in the field of environment, sustainability and climate change.

Stelios currently is working as a scientific advisor and researcher in the field of urban sustainability and climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban areas. His research interests and experience lie towards the urban sustainability assessment and evaluation, environmental decision making and analysis, environmental economics and ecosystems valuation and urban low carbon and climate resilient developmentand planning. He has been leading several advisory, research and capacity building assignments for clients such as the European Commission, UN-HABITAT, The World Bank, Inter – American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the Dutch government. He also coordinates the Urban Climate Change education activities in the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) such as the Urban Climate Change Management (UCCM) specialization in the Urban Management and Development Master’s course and the short postgraduate course for professionals on Urban Management Tools for Climate Change (UMTCC).

Stelios has worked  in various countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, South Korea, China, Colombia, South Africa, USA, and the EU on various research, advisory and capacity building assignments.

Stelios has been appointed member of the Advisory Committee of the Cities in Climate Change Initiative (CCCI) programme of UN Habitat. In addition he is member of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) and contributor to the 2nd Assessment Report of Cities and Climate Change. Furthermore, he has been leading the development of the climate actions prioritization (CLIMACT Prio) decision support and capacity building tool for cities to conduct local climate change action plans.

Prior to IHS he worked at the Energy Research Centre of The Netherlands (ECN) on international climate change issues.

Stelios holds a Bachelor degree in Economics from the Athens University of Economics and Business, a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management and Policy from the University of Amsterdam and he is currently finalizing his PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His thesis focuses on the development of an integrated decision support and analysis framework for the sustainability evaluation of low carbon energy technologies. In addition he has published several peer reviewed articles in books, journals and international conferences.

Introduced by:
Margaretha Breil, Senior Researcher, CMCC and FEEM, Italy

Margaretha Breil, PhD in Urban Planning (RWTH Aachen, Germany, 1992) and a Master in valuation of Urban and Environmental Policies (IUAV Venice, Italy, 2003), is an urban and regional planner with a specialization in valuation of urban, regional and environmental policies.She is currently working with CMCC, FEEM and Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia on valuation models for environmental transformations, and on strategies for adaptation to climate change in coastal and urban contexts where she is dealing principally with the socio-economic challenges of adaptation to climate change.

Working language: English.
Admission free. Registration is required. For information and registration: events@iccgov.org or 041/2700443 (Giovanna Bettio).

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