CCG102: Infrastructure for climate resilience

Program overview

Examines the nature of current and future climate risks to infrastructure systems and services and how these can be modelled and assessed, and concludes with providing different approaches of how to make decisions for infrastructure resilience in the face of climate and socio-economic uncertainty.

What you will learn

• Methods to assess climate impacts on infrastructure systems
• Quantifying the risk and vulnerability of assets to climate events
• Making decisions for infrastructure resilience

Courses in this program

• Lecture 1: Introduction to climate hazard impacts on infrastructure systems

  This lecture block introduces the concept of infrastructure networks and hazards, and builds the theory underlining infrastructure network spatial risk analysis. We define what is meant by infrastructures, hazards, exposures and vulnerabilities in a general context.

• Lecture 2: Modelling infrastructure assets

  This lecture block gives an introduction to infrastructure flow and failure modelling frameworks. First, we look at the spatial aspects of infrastructure service provision, with a short introduction to infrastructure specific spatial data.

• Lecture 3: Assessing infrastructure asset risk and vulnerability

  This lecture explores the vulnerability of infrastructure to climate extremes. The lecture begins with an overview of the asset level vulnerability of infrastructure, and how this can be quantified. The latter two mini-lectures go on to explore the systemic vulnerability of infrastructure networks, given the nature of spatial dependency between extreme events at multiple asset locations.

• Lecture 4: Calculating damage and disruption to infrastructure systems

  This lecture provides an overview of the full range of consequences of infrastructure failure. The differences between direct and indirect damages are discussed, before exploring the impacts to dependent populations and economic activities.

• Lecture 5: Analysing future risks (Part 1)

  In this lecture block, we will take a look at how to analyse future risks to infrastructure networks. In particular, this block will focus on the use of climate scenarios, climate models and hazard models to predict how climate change will change the occurrence of hazards and the exposure and risk to infrastructure assets.

• Lecture 6: Analysing future risks (Part 2)

  In this Lecture block, we look at the change in future risk to infrastructure because of changes in the use and expansion of infrastructure networks. We look more closely into future socio-economic growth scenarios and how they can inform infrastructure expansion and risk.

• Lecture 7: Making decisions for infrastructure resilience

  In the lecture block, we look at the decision-making process for infrastructure resilience. We start by identifying which interventions can reduce asset risk and improve infrastructure network resilience. Having identified these interventions, we will discuss and evaluate different ways to decide what interventions are most suitable.