IHE Delft

The negative impacts of floods are attributed to the extent and magnitude of a flood hazard, and the vulnerability and exposure of natural and human elements. In flood risk management (FRM) studies, it is crucial to model the interaction between human and flood subsystems across multiple spatial, temporal and organizational scales. Models should address the heterogeneity that exists within the human subsystem, and incorporate social institutions that shape the behaviour of individuals.

This seminar provides an overview of the Coupled flood-Agent-Institution Modelling framework (CLAIM) and a methodology to build holistic FRM models that are capable of simulating coupled human-flood interactions. CLAIM integrates actors, institutions, the urban environment, hydrologic and hydrodynamic processes and external factors which affect FRM activities. The framework draws on the complex system perspective and conceptualizes the interaction of floods, humans and their environment as drivers of flood hazard, vulnerability and exposure. The human and flood subsystems are modelled using agent-based models and hydrodynamic models, respectively. The two models are dynamically coupled to understand human-flood interactions and to investigate the effect of social institutions on FRM policy analysis.

About the Speaker:
Dr Yared Abayneh Abebe is a Researcher in the H2020 project RECONECT at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. He is involved in developing models for planning and evaluating nature-based solutions that reduce hydro-meteorological risk.

Previously, Yared worked on a project that focused on flood risk reduction in Small Island Developing States. The project was part of the Regional Risk Reduction Initiative which was implemented by UNDP Barbados and the OECS. His main achievements include developing nearshore bathymetry using satellite and sonar data, modelling coastal and inland flooding, assessing flood hazard, vulnerability and risk and evaluating different structural and non-structural flood risk reduction measures.

Yared earned his PhD from TU Delft and IHE Delft in December 2020 with Cum Laude (Distinction). His thesis on modelling human-flood interactions was awarded the 2021 Technical Steven Hoogendijk Prize of the Batavian Society of Experimental Philosophy) after a jury selected the thesis as the best among 40 Cum Laude theses defended at TU Delft in the past two years. Profile link https://www.un-ihe.org/yared-abayneh-abebe