Workshop 3 – Adaptation of infrastructure to climate change

The end user’s perspective

Date: Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Time: 12:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Venue: Engineers House Conference Venue, The Promenade, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 3NB

The final workshop of 2024 exploring the adaptation of the region’s infrastructure to climate change.

Communities, homeowners, passengers, patients, businesses – these are the end users who feel the direct impact if infrastructure fails to cope with climate extremes. Ensuring their needs, concerns, and access to services are prioritised is not just a matter of good design, it is essential for building resilient neighbourhoods that can thrive in a climate-challenged future.

Organisations must consider how infrastructure adaptations affect the affordability and equity of services. Inclusivity in design is also key, ensuring that the benefits of resilient infrastructure are distributed fairly. Public engagement and transparency are crucial in building trust and ensuring that communities understand the reasons behind changes or disruptions during adaptation projects. Additionally, climate-adapted infrastructure must be underpinned with behaviour change to ensure sustainability for the future.

In the third workshop in our series of workshops exploring climate adaptation pathways, SWIP in partnership with ICE South West, will bring together professionals, decision makers and stakeholders from a wide range of sectors.  

The first two workshops looked at the problem from the practitioner’s and client’s points of view, highlighting many issues that need to be addressed and pointing to practical examples. 

This final workshop will look at the adaptation problem from the end user’s perspective. It will explore a diverse range of factors, such as shaping behaviour change, involving end users in the conception, design, and delivery of solutions, and establishing value cases that end users are willing to pay for.

Key speakers

The workshop includes talks and case studies from some of the region’s leading experts and thinkers, including:

• Professor Richard Betts, head of climate impacts research at the Met Office Hadley Centre – presenting on climate science, uncertainty and communicating with end users.
• Dame Janet Trotter, advisory board member, GWR – offering reflections on end user perspectives on climate adaptation.
• Dr Christina Demski, reader in environmental psychology, University of Bath, specialising in research on public perceptions and engagement with climate and energy issues – exploring why and how to engage communities with net zero and beyond.
• Peter Von Lany, director, Jacobs and chair, Climate Change Adaptation panel, British Standards Institution – highlighting what SWIP contributors need to bring to end users.

What to expect

The format of the event will include presentations and case studies to help inform and inspire delegates, combined with breakout discussion groups to share opinions, and expertise. There will also be time for inter-sector networking, where professionals can exchange ideas with those outside their own sphere.