TOWARDS SCENARIOS FOR URBAN ADAPTATION PLANNING

Assessing seawater intrusion under climate and land cover changes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The second International Workshop of ACC Dar Project, organized by Sapienza University with the support of Ardhi University, will be held in Rome, Italy, from Saturday 20 April to Monday 22 April 2013.

It is a follow-up to the development of methodologies for monitoring land cover changes and exploring vulnerability scenarios to groundwater salinization in Dar es Salaam coastal plain.

Surveys conducted under the ACC Dar project show that groundwater salinization is a major concern for households living in peri-urban neighbourhoods within the coastal plain. Accordingly, the Project team has undertaken several research studies to assess changes in past recharge and pumping rates, develop a hydrogeological balance, downscale global climate change predictions to the regional level, and lastly to explore the complex interplay between urban sprawl and climate change adaptation, since land cover change might be the most important non-climatic factor that influences future groundwater availability.

The specific objectives of this workshop are:

1. to draw together a small group of academics from Italy and Tanzania engaged in the development of scenarios of groundwater availability in coastal peri-urban areas under conditions of continuous urban sprawl and climate change. They will discuss and evaluate the results from the studies conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as well as explore options for mainstreaming seawater intrusion concerns into existing local plans and programmes in the fields of urban development and environmental management.
2. to introduce the Project to a broader audience of academics and practitioners, thus raising awareness of urban issues related to local planning for climate change adaptation. The seawater intrusion phenomenon will provide insights into natural-human interplay in coastal areas, thus facilitating the understanding of land cover/use as a factor that will exacerbate climate change impacts, especially for people living in peri-urban fringes.

The workshop programme is now available