Case study – Illawarra Shoalhaven

This case study was undertaken as a strategic intervention to enhance regional planning and decision-making in New South Wales in the face of emerging disaster risks and the uncertainty about how they will interact with climate change. 

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE), CSIRO and Value Advisory Partners applied an adaptive pathways approach to disaster risk reduction in the Illawarra Shoalhaven. The approach considered how we might strategically plan housing and associated infrastructure in the context of future population growth and under the threat of climate and natural hazard events.

The project involved broad engagement across different disciplinary, First Nations and community perspectives together with regional networks of public and private sector agencies. The particular focus was on the need for housing over the next 20-40 years with consideration of the most suitable locations for future housing and the required types of housing. The project considered mitigation actions to reduce future impacts from hazards and to keep communities safe.

The project partners co-developed a methodology for multi-hazard disaster opportunity and risk assessment and a regional adaptation pathways planning approach in strategic land use planning.

This project was funded under the joint Australian Government – NSW Government National Partnership Agreement on Disaster Risk Reduction.

For more information, please see our report Strategically responding to climate hazards in the Illawarra Shoalhaven region, NSW.