The project 'Climate resilient seaports' produced five reports that collectively generate technical, policy and operational recommendations for enhancing the resilience of Australian seaports to a changing climate. 

• Research synthesis: provides a synthesis of the entire research project, including policy and related recommendations for adaptation;
• Adaptation guidelines: identifies priorities for operational decision-making about climate change adaptation for seaports;
• Understanding future risks: provides a technical analysis about future climate and non-climate risks likely to affect port operations;
• Functional resilience: provides a technical analysis about logistic and related factors that may affect the resilience of seaports in a changing climate, and
• Structural resilience: provides a technical analysis about structural factors that may affect the resilience of seaports in a changing climate.

Functional resilience of port environs in a changing climate – assets and operations 

Functional resilience of port environs in a changing climate is the second work package of the Climate Resilient Seaports project. A functional response to climate change requires a better understanding of the characteristics of commodity trade and related port logistics operations. The purpose of this research was to develop a methodological framework for systematically identifying the vulnerability of port assets, infrastructure, and logistics operations to weather-related impacts and future climate change in the context of Australian ports. To this end a GIS-enabled methodology provided visual information of the vulnerability of port assets and an agent based model was developed to simulate the likely impacts of climate-related extreme events on port operations. The work package also investigated the implications for operations practice, and options to increase the adaptive capacity of the ports workforce.

Please cite as: 

Chhetri, P, Corcoran, J, Gekara, V, Corbitt, B, Wickramasinghe, N, Jayatilleke, G, Basic, F, Scott, H, Manzoni, A & Maddox, C 2013, Functional resilience of port environs in a changing climate – Assets and operations. Work Package 2 of Enhancing the resilience of seaports to a changing climate report series, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast 118 pp.

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