Based on the analyses of what climate change means for Innsbruck, there are two main strategies to deal with climate change:
- Adaptation to climate change: all measures by which negative effects of climate change are avoided and positive developments are used.
- Climate protection: all measures that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change adaptation strategy
The effects of climate change pose new challenges, especially for municipalities. They affect various areas of life such as housing, tourism, forestry and agriculture, the water balance, water management and human health. The effects are manifold: natural hazards such as avalanches, forest fires, floods, landslides, soil erosion. Extreme weather events such as heavy precipitation, dry periods, heat waves and strong winds are increasing.
In 2020, the city of Innsbruck developed a "Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change" in a large-scale participatory process. Participants included experts from numerous offices of the city administration, representatives of the city-affiliated companies IKB, IVB, IIG and ISD, as well as experts from the Province of Tyrol, TIGAS, ÖBB, Innsbruck Tourism, the University of Innsbruck, Tyrol Clinics, the Red Cross, the city police, the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce, the Alpine Club and other associations.
Risk and climate impact analysis
The core of the adaptation strategy is a comprehensive risk and climate impact analysis. Based on the 2010 risk data, Innsbruck's risk landscape was reassessed in terms of impacts and frequencies and located on maps. Natural hazards such as floods, avalanches, mudslides, waterlogging, drought, strong wind and heavy rain events were surveyed in detail, as were technical risks (fires and accidents), infrastructure and failure risks, and pandemics. Climate impacts were analyzed for 13 fields of action.
The strategy derived from this concerns virtually all aspects of urban life.
The aim is to take measures to adapt the city of Innsbruck to future climatic conditions in the best possible way in order to reduce the negative effects of climate change, but also to take advantage of the resulting opportunities.
Action plans
Based on the strategy for adaptation to climate change in Innsbruck, the Action Plan 2020-2021 was developed as an implementation tool. It contains 15 concrete measures for the adaptation of Innsbruck to climate change in different areas. The spectrum ranges from "blue" measures (water as a cooling element) to "gray" measures of a technical nature (flood protection on the Inn, Sill and side streams) to "smart" measures (awareness raising and education). The central role is played by "green" aspects, which include the climate-friendly forest, green roofs and facades, square designs, tree planting and the sponge city principle. The measures are continuously expanded, evaluated and adapted.
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Strategies against climate change
Strategies of urban planning for future challenges and possibilities for the joint design of a livable Innsbruck are clearly presented in the magazine "Perspektive Stadtraum". Contents include not only, but to a significant extent, spatial planning and urban development planning measures for climate protection and climate change adaptation.
Projects against climate change
There are climate projects throughout the city municipality. Here you can find an excerpt of them.