Risk and Resilience festival 2022 recap

The Risk and Resilience Festival 2022 served as an open space for 28 experts to educate, share their concerns and propose solutions to pressing issues in our society. The event attracted 350 visitors who attended almost 30 separate sessions covering themes of cybersecurity, governance, and environmental hazards.

At the end of the festival, the audience could vote for the most remarkable. The University of Twente ‘’Caroline award’’ went to Joost Kampen, who held a session on destructive leadership. According to Joost, leadership can be compared to parenting and each individual in the system to a child. In absence of strong leadership, people reserve to adapt to the law of the jungle in their own, often destructive ways, thus possibly bringing disadvantages to the organization and people around them.

The Resilience@UT programme had its own session “Disaster & climate resilience”, giving the floor to three speakers.

The first presentation was by Dr. Gül Özerol: “Supporting midsize cities towards climate resilience”. The water resilience challenge is often faced with limited resources and capabilities of the municipalities. The CATCH project (https://northsearegion.eu/catch/) provided a decision tool that helps midsize cities assess their current situation and create and implement solutions. Seven pilot projects were put in place in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and the UK, providing great examples of the framework's success.

Then, Dr. Sean Vink presented possible solutions to systemic risks by using Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI). By introducing UGI to individual dwellings (e.g blue roofs, green walls) and city planning (e.g ensuring green areas within walking reach for everyone) it is possible to combat climate issues as well as benefit the health of the population, social cohesion, and biodiversity. Some of the solutions are implemented and researched at the Living Innovation Lab (LILa) at the University of Twente.

The third speaker, Koen Wagelaar, shared his insights into the climate projects in Enschede from an insider point of view as Enschede Municipality employee and leader of water-related projects in the region. The city location combined with soil characteristics in the region make Enschede vulnerable to flooding, heat stress and desiccation. To tackle these challenges, the administration has been implementing innovative solutions for decades and has recently presented the new Water and Climate Adaptation Plan for 2050.

For more information about the Risk & Resilience Festival and separate sessions visit the festival’s official website.