@article{OttoKernHauptetal.2021,
  author    = {Otto, Antje and Kern, Kristine and Haupt, Wolfgang and Eckersley, Peter and Thieken, Annegret},
  title     = {Ranking local climate policy},
  series = {Climatic change : an interdisciplinary, international journal devoted to the description, causes and implications of climatic change},
  volume    = {167},
  journal   = {Climatic change : an interdisciplinary, international journal devoted to the description, causes and implications of climatic change},
  number    = {1-2},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Dordrecht},
  issn      = {0165-0009},
  doi       = {10.1007/s10584-021-03142-9},
  pages     = {23},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Climate mitigation and climate adaptation are crucial tasks for urban areas and can involve synergies as well as trade-offs. However, few studies have examined how mitigation and adaptation efforts relate to each other in a large number of differently sized cities, and therefore we know little about whether forerunners in mitigation are also leading in adaptation or if cities tend to focus on just one policy field. This article develops an internationally applicable approach to rank cities on climate policy that incorporates multiple indicators related to (1) local commitments on mitigation and adaptation, (2) urban mitigation and adaptation plans and (3) climate adaptation and mitigation ambitions. We apply this method to rank 104 differently sized German cities and identify six clusters: climate policy leaders, climate adaptation leaders, climate mitigation leaders, climate policy followers, climate policy latecomers and climate policy laggards. The article seeks explanations for particular cities' positions and shows that coping with climate change in a balanced way on a high level depends on structural factors, in particular city size, the pathways of local climate policies since the 1990s and funding programmes for both climate mitigation and adaptation.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Budke2010,
  author    = {Budke, Alexandra},
  title     = {Und der Zukunft abgewandt},
  series = {Eckert : die Schriftenreihe ; Studien des Georg-Eckert-Instituts zur Internationalen Bildungsmedienforschung},
  journal   = {Eckert : die Schriftenreihe ; Studien des Georg-Eckert-Instituts zur Internationalen Bildungsmedienforschung},
  number    = {127},
  publisher = {V \& R Unipress},
  address   = {G{\"o}ttingen},
  isbn      = {978-3-89971-627-6},
  issn      = {2198-6320},
  pages     = {409},
  year      = {2010},
  abstract  = {Seit dem Ende der DDR, das den Zusammenbruch des Ostblocks und damit die Beendigung des »Kalten Kriegs« einleitete, wird verst{\"a}rkt versucht, das Wesen dieses Staates zu definieren und damit seine Folgen auf wirtschaftlicher, sozialer, psychologischer und bildungspolitischer Ebene zu verstehen und einzuordnen. Alexandra Budke analysiert in diesem Band das Schulfach Geographie, das neben der Staatsb{\"u}rgerkunde und der Geschichte ein zentrales Fach war und in dem die in den Lehrpl{\"a}nen definierte »staatsb{\"u}rgerliche, weltanschauliche oder ideologische Erziehung« auf der Grundlage des Marxismus-Leninismus stattfinden sollte. Sie kl{\"a}rt, inwiefern Geographieunterricht in der DDR genutzt wurde, um geopolitische Interessen des Staates zu kommunizieren und zu verbreiten. Damit l{\"a}sst sich durch die detaillierte Analyse des Fachunterrichts auch die Frage beantworten, ob Sch{\"u}lerInnen im Unterricht politisch manipuliert wurden und welche Handlungsm{\"o}glichkeiten die zentralen Akteure des Unterrichts, die LehrerInnen und die Sch{\"u}lerInnen, im Rahmen der durch die Bildungspolitik gesetzten curricularen Vorgaben wahrgenommen haben.},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Uhlemann2013,
  author    = {Uhlemann, Steffi},
  title     = {Understanding trans-basin floods in Germany : data, information and knowledge},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-68868},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Large Central European flood events of the past have demonstrated that flooding can affect several river basins at the same time leading to catastrophic economic and humanitarian losses that can stretch emergency resources beyond planned levels of service. For Germany, the spatial coherence of flooding, the contributing processes and the role of trans-basin floods for a national risk assessment is largely unknown and analysis is limited by a lack of systematic data, information and knowledge on past events. This study investigates the frequency and intensity of trans-basin flood events in Germany. It evaluates the data and information basis on which knowledge about trans-basin floods can be generated in order to improve any future flood risk assessment. In particu-lar, the study assesses whether flood documentations and related reports can provide a valuable data source for understanding trans-basin floods. An adaptive algorithm was developed that systematically captures trans-basin floods using series of mean daily discharge at a large number of sites of even time series length (1952-2002). It identifies the simultaneous occurrence of flood peaks based on the exceedance of an initial threshold of a 10 year flood at one location and consecutively pools all causally related, spatially and temporally lagged peak recordings at the other locations. A weighted cumulative index was developed that accounts for the spatial extent and the individual flood magnitudes within an event and allows quantifying the overall event severity. The parameters of the method were tested in a sensitivity analysis. An intensive study on sources and ways of information dissemination of flood-relevant publications in Germany was conducted. Based on the method of systematic reviews a strategic search approach was developed to identify relevant documentations for each of the 40 strongest trans-basin flood events. A novel framework for assessing the quality of event specific flood reports from a user's perspective was developed and validated by independent peers. The framework was designed to be generally applicable for any natural hazard type and assesses the quality of a document addressing accessibility as well as representational, contextual, and intrinsic dimensions of quality. The analysis of time-series of mean daily discharge resulted in the identification of 80 trans-basin flood events within the period 1952-2002 in Germany. The set is dominated by events that were recorded in the hydrological winter (64\%); 36\% occurred during the summer months. The occurrence of floods is characterised by a distinct clustering in time. Dividing the study period into two sub-periods, we find an increase in the percentage of winter events from 58\% in the first to 70.5\% in the second sub-period. Accordingly, we find a significant increase in the number of extreme trans-basin floods in the second sub-period. A large body of 186 flood relevant documentations was identified. For 87.5\% of the 40 strongest trans-basin floods in Germany at least one report has been found and for the most severe floods a substantial amount of documentation could be obtained. 80\% of the material can be considered grey literature (i.e. literature not controlled by commercial publishers). The results of the quality assessment show that the majority of flood event specific reports are of a good quality, i.e. they are well enough drafted, largely accurate and objective, and contain a substantial amount of information on the sources, pathways and receptors/consequences of the floods. The inclusion of this information in the process of knowledge building for flood risk assessment is recommended. Both the results as well as the data produced in this study are openly accessible and can be used for further research. The results of this study contribute to an improved spatial risk assessment in Germany. The identified set of trans-basin floods provides the basis for an assessment of the chance that flooding occurs simultaneously at a number of sites. The information obtained from flood event documentation can usefully supplement the analysis of the processes that govern flood risk.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Petrow2009,
  author    = {Petrow, Theresia},
  title     = {Floods in Germany : analyses of trends, seasonality and circulation patterns},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-37392},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2009},
  abstract  = {Flood hazard estimations are conducted with a variety of methods. These include flood frequency analysis (FFA), hydrologic and hydraulic modelling, probable maximum discharges as well as climate scenarios. However, most of these methods assume stationarity of the used time series, i.e., the series must not exhibit trends. Against the background of climate change and proven significant trends in atmospheric circulation patterns, it is questionable whether these changes are also reflected in the discharge data. The aim of this PhD thesis is therefore to clarify, in a spatially-explicit manner, whether the available discharge data derived from selected German catchments exhibit trends. Concerning the flood hazard, the suitability of the currently used stationary FFA approaches is evaluated for the discharge data. Moreover, dynamics in atmospheric circulation patterns are studied and the link between trends in these patterns and discharges is investigated. To tackle this research topic, a number of different analyses are conducted. The first part of the PhD thesis comprises the study and trend test of 145 discharge series from catchments, which cover most of Germany for the period 1951-2002. The seasonality and trend pattern of eight flood indicators, such as maximum series and peak-over-threshold series, are analyzed in a spatially-explicit manner. Analyses are performed on different spatial scales: at the local scale, through gauge-specific analyses, and on the catchment-wide and basin scales. Besides the analysis of discharge series, data on atmospheric circulation patterns (CP) are an important source of information, upon which conclusions about the flood hazard can be drawn. The analyses of these circulation patterns (after Hess und Brezowsky) and the study of the link to peak discharges form the second part of the thesis. For this, daily data on the dominant CP across Europe are studied; these are represented by different indicators, which are tested for trend. Moreover, analyses are performed to extract flood triggering circulation patterns and to estimate the flood potential of CPs. Correlations between discharge series and CP indicators are calculated to assess a possible link between them. For this research topic, data from 122 meso-scale catchments in the period 1951-2002 are used. In a third part, the Mulde catchment, a mesoscale sub-catchment of the Elbe basin, is studied in more detail. Fifteen discharge series of different lengths in the period 1910-2002 are available for the seasonally differentiated analysis of the flood potential of CPs and flood influencing landscape parameters. For trend tests of discharge and CP data, different methods are used. The Mann-Kendall test is applied with a significance level of 10\%, ensuring statistically sound results. Besides the test of the entire series for trend, multiple time-varying trend tests are performed with the help of a resampling approach in order to better differentiate short-term fluctuations from long-lasting trends. Calculations of the field significance complement the flood hazard assessment for the studied regions. The present thesis shows that the flood hazard is indeed significantly increasing for selected regions in Germany during the winter season. Especially affected are the middle mountain ranges in Central Germany. This increase of the flood hazard is attributed to a longer persistence of selected CPs during winter. Increasing trends in summer floods are found in the Rhine and Danube catchments, decreasing trends in the Elbe and Weser catchments. Finally, a significant trend towards a reduced diversity of CPs is found causing fewer patterns with longer persistence to dominate the weather over Europe. The detailed study of the Mulde catchment reveals a flood regime with frequent low winter floods and fewer summer floods, which bear, however, the potential of becoming extreme. Based on the results, the use of instationary approaches for flood hazard estimation is recommended in order to account for the detected trends in many of the series. Through this methodology it is possible to directly consider temporal changes in flood series, which in turn reduces the possibility of large under- or overestimations of the extreme discharges, respectively.},
  language  = {en}
}