Designing with water for climate change adaptation and cultural heritage preservation

Abstract

Climate change is a global challenge and one of its major impacts is on flooding, which has become more unpredictable and destructive in both the UK and Thailand since the beginning of the 21st century. Designing with water (DWW) and natural-based solutions are emerging as some of the most important approaches for dealing with climate change and adaptation for a resilient future. Flooding is a natural phenomenon and in the UK, and Thailand, as in many other parts of the world, local communities over millennia have learnt to live and co-exist with seasonal inundation, and their tangible and intangible heritage and lifeways celebrate their relationship with water. However, in part to the increase in the frequency and severity of floods but also exacerbated by rapid urbanization and floodplain encroachment, has resulted in many nationally and internationally important heritage sites in Thailand being at increasing risk because of longer inundation periods during the rainy season. In addition, climate change has made flooding in Thailand more unpredictable and widespread. Fragmented planning and management in the cultural sector, particularly the lack of integration between regulatory organisations responsible for flood protection, is also a major problem. The study investigates several successful DWW case studies from the built environment that highlights good practice and international expertise that will help scholars and practitioners designing in flood pone regions to develop their knowledge and strategies. These cases present integrative whole system approaches, which put DWW and more natural-based solutions at the heart of their design strategies for climate adaptation front and centre of cultural heritage management and preservation. The paper presents a series of recommendations to turn flood threat into an opportunity to improve water resources and community resilience at regional and community.