Building on the request for technical assistance by the Ministry of Construction and Spatial Planning of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and bilateral technical exchanges with the aforementioned Ministry, the purpose of the proposed project is to assess key risks associated with floods and earthquakes and develop respective recommendations for integrated climate and disaster risk management for BiH, with a deep-dive for the HNC. The study will strongly build on the INFORM Subnational Risk Index methodology for the national level, complemented by an in-depth qualitative risk assessment at the local level.
More specifically, the main objectives of the proposed study are:
- To co-develop a spatial risk index and associated risk maps for flood and earthquake risks covering the entire country using the INFORM Subnational Risk Index methodology as a foundational layer.
- To make risk index results accessible to all, through establishing an open-source database, with a vision to integrate findings into the INFORM Subnational Risk Platform
- To complement national risk index results in a deep dive case study for the HNC by identifying key risks and impacts, as well as risk drivers associated with floods and earthquakes on the local level, using conceptual risk models.
- To translate risk findings into recommendations for comprehensive climate and disaster risk management, focusing on risk-informed spatial planning and nature-based solutions (NbS), for the HNC and beyond at the national level
- To disseminate findings and lessons learnt to a broad range of local to international stakeholders through various formats, including a policy report as well as a conference talk.
- To build capacities of relevant stakeholders on the national and local level, thereby providing actionable guidance for risk-informed decision-making
Across the outlined objectives, a particular thematic focus will be placed on ecosystems and ecosystem services as important assets at risk, as well as NbS as a promising means to address identified risks. Recent studies have shown that NbS offers vast benefits for BiH in light of adapting to growing risks.
