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Syllabus

Course Number 0920-4041-01
Course Name Not Noah's Ark - Urban resilience in the 21th Century
Academic Unit The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences -
International Program in Environmental Studies
Lecturer Dr. Orli Ronen RotemContact
Contact Email: ronenro@tauex.tau.ac.il
Office Hours By appointmentBuilding: Porter- Environment , Room: 211
Mode of Instruction Lecture
Credit Hours 2
Semester 2022/3
Day Mon
Hours 08:30-11:30
Building Porter- Environment
Room 101
Semester 2022/3
Day Wed
Hours 08:30-11:30
Building Porter- Environment
Room 101
Course is taught in English
Syllabus Not Found

Short Course Description

At the beginning of the third millennium, more than 50% of the population lives in urban areas. By 2020, 75% of the world's population will be urban; In 135 metropolitan areas the number of residents will exceed 4 million.
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, causing enormous damage to life and property. New Orleans was not prepared to deal with such a natural disaster, specifically, it was not prepared to deal with the disadvantaged population and many of them - never returned to the city once it was restored.

Climate change brings with a new front to the city - coping with continuous stresses and shocks that directly affect the physical and human space.

The climate crisis is becoming part of the city's urban arena, according to IPCC's 2014 reports. Global warming trend is intensifying and in part inevitable. Accordingly, the economic, social and environmental impacts of climate change are intensifying, and scientific certainty is increasing regarding the link between warming and natural disasters, such as storms, floods and drought and the centrality of cities.
Most of the world's population lives in urban localities, especially in Israel, where almost 90% live in urban areas.
The city is by far the primary producer of greenhouse gases, although the urban area accounts for only about 2% of the Earth's surface. On the other hand, the city is also the first victim of climate change damage, its residents are exposed to increasingly severe health and environmental risks.
A joint report by the World Bank and the Center for Mediterranean Integration (2011) states that the Mediterranean region is second in the world to be hit by climate change, where intense heat days are expected to rise by 200%. The report focuses on the City Vulnerability:
- Cliff collapse
- Coastal erosion
- Sea level rise
- Floods
- Lack of water
In an analysis of impacts on key cities in the southern Mediterranean basin, editors state that over the next 20 years, cities are likely to suffer more than $ 1 billion in damage from climate change.
According to the Climate Change Information Center (ICCIC, 2013) in Israel, climate change could seriously affect more than five million Israelis due to rising sea level and river-level flooding. Tel Aviv, Acre, Haifa, Bat-Yam and other coastal municipalities are in real danger of rising sea level. Flooding streams could pose a high risk to 2.8 million Israelis.

The course is designed to provide students with basic concepts and tools for understanding the issues and implications of climate change at the local level. The course presents the students with basic concepts and problems, both in the world and in Israel, and the policy and planning frameworks that were created to deal with them.
In the course we will examine the possible and necessary assessments of cities in Israel in light of the future changes, both on the physical level and at the community and personal level.
The course will be held in cooperation with the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality, one of the 100 cities chosen by the Rockefeller Foundation to develop a resilience strategy and action plan.



Full syllabus will be available to registered students only
Course Requirements

Final Exam

Students may be required to submit additional assignments
Full requirements as stated in full syllabus

The specific prerequisites of the course,
according to the study program, appears on the program page of the handbook



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