URBAN: Urban Resilience Building and Nature: Innovating Urban Planning for Resiliency with Nature-based Solutions and Climate Risk Models in Thailand
Thailand has been identified as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. The project's goal is that urban areas and wider landscapes in which they are embedded enjoy significantly enhanced social, economic and environmental resilience to climate change impacts through the wide-scale adoption of NbS. The project will make a significant contribution to climate change adaptation in up to six local administrative organizations in two provinces in Thailand by addressing spatially-explicit identified risks. Adaptation will be enhanced through a variety of potential NbS measures, including wetland restoration, conservation and management, enhanced management of urban environment, forest and mangrove restoration, the creation of urban protected areas and green spaces, and sustainable land use plans. The aim will be to develop cost-effective, replicable models that can be scaled and applied elsewhere in Thailand.
- Countries
- Thailand
- IKI funding
- 7,000,000.00 €
- Duration
- 08/2022 till 10/2028
- Status
- open
- Implementing organisation
- International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) - Asia Regional Office (ARO) - Thailand
- Political Partner
-
- Department of Water Resources (DWR), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) - Thailand
- Implementing Partner
-
- Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) - Thailand
- Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC)
- Thailand Environment Institute Foundation (TEI)
- Urban Design and Development Center (UddC) - Thailand
State of implementation/results
- Surat Thani and Chiang Rai were selected as pilot provinces for project implementation based on a site research and analysis.
- In 2023, three capacity building events on Nature-based Solutions (NbS), Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), urban planning and other related issues on adaptation and urban resilience were organised for government partners at the national policy level in Bangkok in order to enhance understanding of relevant topics and to prepare the participants for their role in the PSC. In total, over 150 participants attended the trainings.
- At the provincial level, the project partners conducted four training events for relevant project stakeholders to strengthen understanding of effects of climate change in urban wetlands, NbS and EbA as well as the urban agenda in the 21st century. In total, 125 participants attended the trainings.
- RECOFTC conducted a preliminary landscape survey and assessment to consider potential NbS measures in the pilot provinces, resulting in four potential sub-districts in Chiang Rai, (more than 14,000 hectares), and seven potential sub-districts in Surat Thani, (more than 21,000 hectares).
- Urban Resilience Provincial Forums engaged more than 300 participants in December 2024, promoting NbS for urban resilience. Discussions emphasized integrating green and blue infrastructure, increasing awareness of climate risks, and fostering co-design efforts among government, academia, CSOs, and local communities.
- In February 2025, municipal authorities approved the NbS demonstration that had been selected trough stakeholder consultations in August 2024: In Chiang Rai Province, the restoration of 36 hectares through public park development and riparian restoration. In Surat Thani Province, the restoration of 11 hectares of floodplain integrating recreation with municipal facilities to manage stormwater, mitigate cascading impacts, and boost urban biodiversity, as well as 8 hectares ofcritical remnant freshwater wetland threatened by urbanization.
- In 2025, ADPC reviewed flood hazards, developed climate data maps, and improved climate modeling in collaboration with Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) and the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE). With the project’s support, CMIP6 Global Climate Models (GCMs) were selected for Thailand, and hydrological data was collected for flood modelling in Chiang Rai and Surat Thani.
Latest Update:
04/2025
Project relations
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