Christopher Medland
Academic and research departments
Centre for Environment and Sustainability, School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering.麻豆视频
My research project
The effects of climate change on infrastructure resilience from the perspective of the household - How does infrastructural resilience across scales effect resilience at household scaleOverview
- research focuses on evaluating and forecasting infrastructure resilience at the site, community, district/county, and national level.
- Analysis considers five main infrastructure areas: utilities, public works, public transport, sanitation, and environmental infrastructure, and maps their specific relevance to each site.
- Specifically assessing 10 locations across West Sussex specifically because of the topographical variations and house building pressures.
Site-specific Infrastructure Mapping
- The site and the area around each site is mapped using relationship diagrams linking elements such as substations, sewage works, water supply, green infrastructure at weighted scales from local to national importance.
- Each infrastructure element, and vulnerability along with nodal points linked to responsible statutory bodies, and relevant government adaptation programmes.
Data Gathering on Infrastructure Performance
- For each site, gathering failure statistics, such as power outages and sewage works performance from 2021 official records (the date of the last census which some indicators utilise).
- Maintenance and upgrade plans for relevant infrastructure are assessed.
Assessment of Planned and Autonomous Adaptation
- Current government and local adaptation plans (e.g. upgrade works, desalination, new reservoirs) are documented and their projected effectiveness tracked.
- Autonomous adaptations like on-site photovoltaics or localised flood protection measures are considered based on the social-economic context of the location.
Evaluation of Design Thresholds and Standards
- For each infrastructure component, the original design standards and construction practices (e.g. Eurocodes for wind loading, building regs for structure) are assessed.
- A confidence weighting is assigned to account for gaps and potential over/under-build in legacy infrastructure.
Risk Analysis and Weighting
- Utilising the national Risk Register the study tracks 16 compounded risk factors鈥攊ncluding flooding, overheating, wind impacts, drought, and more鈥攁gainst infrastructure adaptation at all scales.
- Tables and diagrams produced for each site are being refined to illustrate cross-network dependencies and vulnerability thresholds.
Engagement & Collaboration
- Invited participants have engaged in Expert Informant Interviews and given feedback relevant to their professional contexts.
- Have published in The Conversation, New Civil Engineer, UNDRR, Proceeding of the ICE, and presented at conferences.
- Open to potential collaboration to validate data, discuss practical challenges with real sites, and compare findings across regions.
Supervisors
Overview
- research focuses on evaluating and forecasting infrastructure resilience at the site, community, district/county, and national level.
- Analysis considers five main infrastructure areas: utilities, public works, public transport, sanitation, and environmental infrastructure, and maps their specific relevance to each site.
- Specifically assessing 10 locations across West Sussex specifically because of the topographical variations and house building pressures.
Site-specific Infrastructure Mapping
- The site and the area around each site is mapped using relationship diagrams linking elements such as substations, sewage works, water supply, green infrastructure at weighted scales from local to national importance.
- Each infrastructure element, and vulnerability along with nodal points linked to responsible statutory bodies, and relevant government adaptation programmes.
Data Gathering on Infrastructure Performance
- For each site, gathering failure statistics, such as power outages and sewage works performance from 2021 official records (the date of the last census which some indicators utilise).
- Maintenance and upgrade plans for relevant infrastructure are assessed.
Assessment of Planned and Autonomous Adaptation
- Current government and local adaptation plans (e.g. upgrade works, desalination, new reservoirs) are documented and their projected effectiveness tracked.
- Autonomous adaptations like on-site photovoltaics or localised flood protection measures are considered based on the social-economic context of the location.
Evaluation of Design Thresholds and Standards
- For each infrastructure component, the original design standards and construction practices (e.g. Eurocodes for wind loading, building regs for structure) are assessed.
- A confidence weighting is assigned to account for gaps and potential over/under-build in legacy infrastructure.
Risk Analysis and Weighting
- Utilising the national Risk Register the study tracks 16 compounded risk factors鈥攊ncluding flooding, overheating, wind impacts, drought, and more鈥攁gainst infrastructure adaptation at all scales.
- Tables and diagrams produced for each site are being refined to illustrate cross-network dependencies and vulnerability thresholds.
Engagement & Collaboration
- Invited participants have engaged in Expert Informant Interviews and given feedback relevant to their professional contexts.
- Have published in The Conversation, New Civil Engineer, UNDRR, Proceeding of the ICE, and presented at conferences.
- Open to potential collaboration to validate data, discuss practical challenges with real sites, and compare findings across regions.
Affiliations and memberships
Business, industry and community links
Academic networks
News
In the media
Publications
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has called for a framework that 鈥渂etter anticipates future shocks and stresses. . ., values resilience properly, drives adaptation before it is too late鈥. This call is echoed within academic literature and by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Furthermore, the National Resilience Strategy (NRS) sets out the need for an evaluation of socio-economic resilience to inform decision-making around societal stability. A resilience assessment framework (RAF) or tool that holistically addresses the vulnerabilities of infrastructure to the hazards of climate change is called for. This scoping review builds upon existing research through comparing and tabulating 110 resilience tools. The aim is to determine if any existing framework, or elements of any framework, could be used as components of an RAF formulated to address the calls of the NIC, MOD, NRS, and wider literature. The wider objective is to contribute to literature around infrastructure resilience and the early-stage development of a practically applicable holistic framework that enables resilience forecasting to inform infrastructure design and adaptation, increasing resilience while preventing infrastructure overcapitalization, resource overconsumption, or maladaptation.