ReCharged - Climate-aware Resilience for Sustainable Critical and interdependent Infrastructure Systems enhanced by emerging Digital Technologies.

Lead Research Organisation: University of Birmingham
Department Name: Civil Engineering

Abstract

ReCharged is a transformative project that has the vision to develop a new integrated framework toward a practical visualisation platform in order to optimise and streamline climate resilience and whole-life carbon emission assessments for interdependent Transport and Energy Systems, Lifelines and Assets (iTESLA). To achieve this, ReCharged harnesses the power of digital technologies and data to quantify the functionality and recovery of iTESLA after hazards. This is in response to the lack of methods of assessment and communicable visualisations of consolidated climate resilience and whole-life carbon emission metrics for iTESLA. ReCharged will account for interdependencies that lead to failure propagation in transport and energy systems, to accelerate post-hazard recovery, mitigate losses and societal ramifications due to climate change. In doing so, ReCharged underpins synergies and participatory decision-making to combat siloed thinking in infrastructure management. This project will lead to 50% faster decision-making in iTESLA management, 50% reduction of carbon emissions for the two case studies analysed, create new jobs, and make Europeans fit for the Digital Age. ReCharged is a synergy that combines the exchange of interdisciplinary knowledge and tailored training of staff, through an alliance between leading academic institutions, industrial partners, SMEs, and a research and technology center. All beneficiaries are committed to exploiting and transferring their skills and knowledge, to incentivise data-driven resilience toward climate adaptation and reduce emissions in critical infrastructure. ReCharged will augment researchers' skills and career perspectives, create a community of practitioners, improve critical infrastructure, and ultimately make people feel safer.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description UN CDRI Position paper
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
Impact UN policy is taking on board CDRI report for future strategy. See below the contribution of our report: The crux of the world's built ecosystems is to deliver and maintain infrastructure that is efficient and resilient to climate change and other natural disasters, to underpin economic activity, but also sustainable, so that it is not harmful to the environment. Infrastructure resilience and sustainability can be achieved by design and/or by intervention. The financial impacts of natural and human-induced disasters grow, and as a result national and state finances continue to deplete. Therefore, the burden for risk reduction, resilience and net-zero transition is increasingly transferring from the public to the private sector. However, there is an acknowledged lack of private finance to fill this gap, while international financing bodies prioritise infrastructure interventions over design and preparedness and general resilience-based design. This is a capability gap and as a result the private sector with larger financial resources, such as international companies and financial institutions, are unclear whether or how these resilience building activities are of commercial relevance and direct impact to them. This is simply because traditional cost-benefit analysis, to build the business case for resilience, merely based on return on investment falls short because it doesn't capture the wider environmental, societal, or economic co-benefits. Likewise, local governments fail to adopt resilience plans designed centrally by policymakers, and vice-versa, hazards pertinent only to specific areas of a country, are not always considered by policymakers. This position paper will identify the enablers of and barriers to climate resilient and sustainable infrastructure aiming to quantify the trade-offs and synergies between climate resilience and sustainability in the infrastructure development and adaptation. The paper is focuses on transport infrastructure adaptation considering climate projections and sets a benchmark case study for the bridge stock in Ukraine, including highway and railway assets.
URL https://cdri.world/upload/biennial/CDRI_Global_Infrastructure_Resilience_Report.pdf
 
Description bridgeUkraine.org 
Organisation Brunel University London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The ideas of the ReCharged project helped me to develop a new extensive partnership the bridgeUkraine initiative. BridgeUkraine has forged a dynamic community of practice which consists of 45 academics, consultants, practitioners, policymakers, institutions, and international bodies working together for Ukraine's recovery from the effects of war. Our expertise is grounded in a deep understanding of the educational gaps that exist, and that are outlined in our recent Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Restoration of Ukraine. BridgeUkraine's collective mission is to bolster capacity, educate Ukrainians, and empower infrastructure stakeholders, all with a shared commitment to accelerate the restoration of Ukraine's damaged infrastructure, in a resilient and sustainable way.
Collaborator Contribution Together with Dr Sotirios Argyroudis and Dr Marco Domaneschi, we pursued further funding and 4 fellowships for Ukrainians were funded by the British Academy CARA on the reconstrucion of Ukraine based on sustainability and resilience.
Impact Newsletter: https://www.bridgeukraine.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Newsletter1.pdf and a publication: Mitoulis SA, Argyroudis SA, Panteli M, Fuggini C, Valkaniotis S, Hynes W, Linkov I (2023). Conflict resilience framework for critical infrastructure peacebuilding. Sustainable Cities and Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2023.104405
Start Year 2023
 
Description An interview on BBC 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Interviews on BBC on climate resilience of critical infrastructure
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-stergios-aristoteles-mitoulis-19165630_bbc-climate-resilience-acti...
 
Description BBC Interviews 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact An interview by BBC on the importance of bridge closure and restoration regarding the war in Ukraine:
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-stergios-aristoteles-mitoulis-19165630_bbc-world-news-activity-698...
 
Description Interview on BBC 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact An interview on BBC on climate resilience
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-stergios-aristoteles-mitoulis-19165630_bbc-climate-resilience-acti...