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November 2005

ESPACE Conference debates how the planning system can deliver adaptation to climate change

29th November 2005, Winchester Guildhall

This year the ESPACE (European Spatial Planning: Adapting to Climate Events) project will be hosting its 2nd International Technical Conference on the 29th November in Winchester. "Blueprint for a Changing Climate: how the planning system can deliver adaptation to climate change” has been branded as a UK EU Presidency Event and will take a candid look at the planning system’s capacity to respond to climate change, identifying the key barriers and solutions to integrating adaptation into the planning system.

Planners and policy makers form all over the UK and Europe are coming together to debate these issues and generate ideas on how we should plan for climate change. Experts from two sides of the planning system have been invited to speak – those who are a part of the administration of the planning system and those who use it. This will set the scene for an interactive transnational debate to identify what needs to be done to assist the planning system to deliver climate change adaptation (and mitigation). Speakers include:

• Lester Hicks/Peter Bide - Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
• Graham Jones - Planning Officers Society
• Mark Southgate - Environment Agency
• Jane Milne - Association of British Insurers
• Liz Peace - British Property Federation
• Hugh Ellis - Friends of the Earth

The conference will also discuss a number of key issues including: Are the existing climate change policies/guidelines sufficient in light of the impacts of climate change? How well placed is the current planning system to deliver adaptation to climate change? What are the current barriers to further adaptation responses within the planning system? What areas of climate change adaptation need further guidance/policies?

ESPACE is a four-year project investigating how we should be preparing for the challenges that will arise from climate change. The ESPACE Project aims to promote awareness of the importance of adapting to climate change and recommend that it be incorporated within spatial planning at the local, regional, national and European levels. Hampshire County Council is leading this European funded project as part of its wider climate change programme, and to ensure that it is at the forefront of developing and influencing policy formulation at all levels. At the end of this conference, we are hoping to have a clearer idea of the areas of policy that need to be addressed and at what level.

For more information on the ESPACE Conference, please visit www.espace-project.org or contact Chitra Nadarajah Chitra.Nadarajah@hants.gov.uk or Jill Rankin on jill.rankin@hants.gov.uk +44 (0) 1962 846775