In central Vietnam, small and medium-sized coastal towns are particularly characterised by a rapid urbanisation trend. The concomitants include extensive surface sealing, the expansion of settlements into flood-prone areas, and a decline in infiltration and retention areas, so that heavy rainfalls lead to enormous surface runoff. Additionally, the narrow and flat settlement area between the inland mountains and the coast only allows very short reaction times to heavy rainfall, which is exacerbated by degraded land and deforestation. Moreover, climate change is expected to lead to stronger and more frequent extreme weather events, such as typhoons with resulting floods in central Vietnam. Such storms cause considerable infrastructural, agricultural, health and economic damage. Due to changing settlement patterns, housing and lifestyles, local vulnerabilities and civil adaptation practices need to be rethought and integrated into planning.

FloodAdaptVN rests upon a participatory, transdisciplinary research design and an extensive stakeholder network. The network is composed of local and national stakeholders as well as (inter)national experts in order to achieve the project objectives and to ensure their integration into political and planning processes. The assessment of current and future flood risks is carried out through a modular framework, which is adapted to local conditions and also transferable to other regions. Methods and products from geodata analysis, earth observation and risk and vulnerability assessment are used. Existing and planned disaster risk reduction, risk transfer and adaptation measures are identified and assessed using a multi-criteria catalogue. The modular approach will be brought together in a flood information system (»FRAME«) and made accessible to local stakeholders.

In order to reduce current and future flood risks, the FloodAdaptVN project focuses on risk management. The project addresses existing and urgent knowledge gaps regarding the identification of flood risks and adaptation approaches in urban regions of central Vietnam. At the same time, however, those measures have a high potential of also being transferred to neighbouring provinces as well as to other similar urban and coastal areas worldwide. Innovative aspects of the approach include the assessment of multi-risks on the basis of a chain of effects that reflects local and regional complexities. In addition, future risk scenarios are developed and simulated based on locally adapted »Representative Concentration Pathways« and »Shared Socioeconomic Pathways« (2030, 2050, 2100) with and without adaptation measures. Finally, a portfolio of adaptation options is identified and assessed, including risk transfer and ecosystem-based approaches. For risk-informed planning, the modular information system »FRAME« is implemented.