Building water sensitive urban climate resilience in Thailand, Asia and Australia

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Date: 30 November, 2022

Australia’s Ambassador to Thailand, Dr Angela McDonald, welcomed representatives from government, academia, development agencies, non-profit agencies and the private sector to a seminar on using urban water management to create more climate resilient cities

Held at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok, the seminar explored urban water management innovations that result in more reliable and fit-for-purpose water supply, safely managed sanitation, storm drainage, flood protection and mitigation, environmental protection of waterways, and a circular economy approach to water management.

Conventional practices involve these services being provided, often in a fragmented legislative and regulative framework, by multiple departments and agencies and multiple levels of government.

Monash Sustainable Development Institute’s Professor Tony Wong discussed contemporary integrated practices where agencies and governments collaborate on infrastructure planning, co-design, and co-investment.

Water Sensitive Cities Australia CEO Mr Ben Furmage then discussed the Resilient Urban Centres and Surrounds (RUCAS) initiative, which aims to identify and foster innovative and practical opportunities for nature-based solutions in Thailand and the Greater Mekong region.

This was an in-person event in Bangkok, Thailand.