CityNet, CDIA and Banda Aceh municipality jointly organized the localized version of the Flood Risk Management training for Indonesian city officials from March 23rd-25th, building on the success of last year’s Training of Trainers hosted by Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Singapore Environment Institute.

Infrastructure in Indonesian cities is facing social, political, environmental and financial risks due to climate change. This has triggered the needs for city’s stakeholders to assess these risks and explore investment opportunities in order to build a robust infrastructure. City officials are encouraged to comment on or implement policies in their cities.

Thirty enthusiastic city officials attended the training that focused on the flood risk management. The goal of this training is to accelerate the mitigation and climate change adaptation to the local context, focusing on to reduce the susceptibility of flood risk through structural and non-structural efforts.

The training module started with the Introduction to Cities and Climate Change followed by more thorough discussions on flood management, including Managing Risks in Cities, Understanding the Causes and Risks of Flooding and Effective Emergency Preparedness. In addition, the host city that was devastated by tsunami in December 2004 shared their flood management experience with other participants.

Carrying the momentum of the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held earlier in Sendai, this localized version of the Flood Risk Management training was beneficial since the content has been adapted upon local challenges and tailored to reflect local case studies. Together with its partners, CityNet will continue to develop the adaptation of other training courses.