Joachim Bronder

Climate change adaptation has become a central policy priority, requiring coordinated and systematic action. Cities, as areas highly exposed to climate-related risks, increasingly assume responsibility for implementing effective adaptation measures. In this context, municipalities are required to incorporate Urban Greening and Rainwater Management Concepts into their Climate Adaptation Plans. This paper presents a structured methodology for developing these strategic concepts as components of a City Adaptation Plan, in accordance with recent legislative mandates in Poland. Through case studies conducted in two Polish cities, we demonstrate an integrated approach that combines geospatial analysis, climate projections, planning document review, and participatory stakeholder workshops to produce comprehensive Greening and Rainwater Management Concepts. The methodology enables the identification of vulnerable areas and priority interventions for climate adaptation, strengthens the integration of nature-based solutions into urban planning, and reframes rainwater as a resource within urban systems. The resulting documents provide municipal authorities with an evidence-based framework for resilience planning, supporting funding applications and guiding future green infrastructure and drainage investments. The approach contributes to enhanced urban ecosystem services, improved flood mitigation and thermal regulation, participatory planning processes, and a stronger foundation for long-term urban resilience.

The aim of this study is to present a methodology for diagnosing cities in terms of hydrological and meteorological threats, with the goal of improving water management and helping cities adapt to changing conditions. Urbanisation is expected to progress unevenly across countries and cities, influenced by factors such as climatic conditions, economic disparities, and governance structures. Consequently, urban landscapes should strive for a balanced approach that integrates safety and risk management, commercial spaces, emotional well-being, and the promotion of biodiversity. Cities play a pivotal role in addressing climate change, as they account for a significant share of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In Poland, numerous national and international projects are being implemented to help cities mitigate the impacts of climate change. Among these, the City with Climate project aimed to enhance residents’ quality of life while facilitating a pro-climate transition for cities. A holistic and multifaceted approach was adopted, incorporating the analysis of historical flood events based on archival documents and rescue service reports, detailed GIS data such as soil sealing, non-drained basins, NDVI, NDBI, and a multi-criteria analysis targeting hydrological and water management factors to develop effective solutions for urban retention challenges. The main findings indicate that: (1) combining insightful analyses using well-established methods provides a robust foundation for informed decision-making by city authorities; (2) overlaying information layers, such as local flooding interventions, non-drained areas, drainage networks, and soil sealing, helps identify areas requiring large-scale, technical, or nature-based solutions; and (3) regardless of city size, there is a concerning trend of increasing impervious surfaces replacing green areas, alongside urban sprawl altering land use in flood-prone regions, including mountainous, forested, and floodplain areas that should be protected. These findings illustrate that employing a structured project methodology alongside a comprehensive approach can significantly contribute to urban landscape planning, addressing the challenges of climate change while enhancing urban biodiversity through blue and green infrastructure.

This study adapted and tested an approach to identifying areas that are particularly vulnerable to climate-related hazards using the example of the post-industrial city of Knurów in Poland. This study applied a multi-criteria method using the analytical hierarchy process based on GIS map data. The analysis was divided into statistical regions defined for the city. Fifteen attributes were defined for each statistical region. The applied methods provided verified spatial information related to specific climate change hazards. The results showed that the most vulnerable areas were the areas with intensive development in the city center and in the southwestern part of the city. Among the 15 attributes, the most significant were T1 (number of inhabitants in zones with a higher potential thermal risk index by statistical district) with a value of 0.163, G2 (percentage of the sum of tree-shaded areas in built-up areas within the territory of a given statistical district) with 0.143 and H3 (number of buildings in areas of drainless basins and 100-year water). This method effectively identified the most vulnerable areas. The use of such a method can help in the preparation of planning documents and urban adaptation plans by determining the thermally and hydrologically vulnerable areas with the least developed green infrastructure as an exposure-mitigating factor.

Agriculture is an important sector of the European Union in social, economic and environmental terms. To ensure the sustainability of the sector, improvements are needed in key operations. Weeding is one of the most important activities affecting farm productivity, farmer safety, food safety and security, and the state of the environment. New technical and organizational solutions are needed to achieve the goals of the EU policy for sustainable agriculture. One of the advanced techniques is laser-based weed control. It is important to fully understand the impact of the introduction of these techniques on markets and agricultural practices in the context of sustainability. For this reason, a social life cycle analysis (S-LCA) was carried out. The method applied in the study was based on a participatory approach. The assessment was carried out from three perspectives: the general society, the farmers and the business perspective in relation to agriculture. Expert interviews based on questionnaires and workshops were conducted to gather opinions on the impact of new laser technology on specific aspects of its implementation. The results show generally positive effects from all perspectives, especially from the farmers’ perspective. From the farmers’ point of view, the most favored factors influencing the widespread introduction of WLAT are the economic consequences, the most important of which are the production costs associated with the introduction of the new technology. According to business experts, the perspective of business development, with particular emphasis on new prospects for businesses and development, is the most important factor. The quality of life and the environment are most valued by society.

Agriculture and rural regions in Europe face a number of economic, social, and environmental challenges. Rural areas are active players in the EU’s green transition. Weeding is one of the most important factors in agricultural production. New weeding techniques are being developed to enhance sustainability. Among them, laser-based weeding seems to be a promising alternative to the use of chemicals. The WeLASER technique is a novel technique for weed control. Its successful implementation depends on many factors related to the innovation itself, policy context, farming conditions, and users’ attitudes. A survey was carried out to provide insight into the attitudes towards the innovative (laser) weed control tool (autonomous robot). The CATI method was selected for the surveying of farmers’ opinions and carried out in three countries: Denmark, Spain, and Poland. Statistical methods were applied to analyze the results. This study provided knowledge on how farmers see the barriers and opportunities related to implementing the device in practice. Positive attitudes of farmers were observed but with high expectations related to the quality of the technique and the systemic conditions of its implementation.

Agriculture is an important sector of European Union in societal , economic and environmental dimensions. Sustainability of the sector require improvements in its key operations. Weeding is one of the crucial operation having impact on farms’ productivity, safety for farmers, food security and environmental state. To achieve EU policy goals of sustainable agriculture there are needed new technical and organizational solutions. One of the advanced techniques are laser based weeding technique. It is important to understand well the impacts of introduction of these tech-niques to the markets and agricultural practice in sustainability context. For that reason Social Life Cycle Assessment was performed. The method was based on participatory approach. The as-sessment was carried in three perspectives: general society, farmers, and business perspective re-lated to agriculture. Expert interviews based on questionnaires and workshops were realized to get the opinions on the impacts of a new laser technique on particular aspects of its implementation. The results show generally positive impact in all perspectives, especially in the perspective of farmers.

Agriculture and rural regions in Europe face a number of economic, social and environmental challenges. Rural areas are active players in the EU’s green transitions. Weeding is one of the most important factors of agricultural production. New weeding techniques are being developed to enhance sustainability. Among them laser based weeding seems a promising alternative for use of chemicals. WeLASER technique is a novel technique of weed control. Its successful implementation depends on many factors related to the innovation itself, policy context, farming conditions and users’ attitudes. Survey was carried out to provide the insight on the attitudes toward the innova-tive (laser) weed control tool (device - autonomous robot). The CATI method was selected for the survey of farmers opinion and carried out in three countries: Denmark, Spain and Poland. Statistical methods were applied to analyze the results. The study provided knowledge on how farmers see the barriers and opportunities of implementing the device in practice. Positive attitudes of farmers were observed but with high expectations related to quality of the technique and systemic conditions of its implementation.

The paper presents the analysis of the statistical errors of the meteorological parameters predicted by the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model. The model is used for forecasting air pollution in the Silesian Voivodeship with an accuracy of about 70-80%. Thus, the main idea of the research was assessing to what extent the error in the forecast of meteorological parameters affects the error of the air quality forecast, which can be evaluated using the system InfoSMOG – MED for the inhabitants of the Silesian Voivodeship at www.slaskiesmogstop . It was also investigated how the reduction of the mesh size of the forecast of meteorological parameters affects the error of the forecast of these parameters, which was necessary for the next project SMART. The research was carried out for 3 computational domains: Poland, Silesian Voivodeship and Upper Silesia Metropolitan Region, each with a different grid resolution. The predicted temperature and wind speed data were compared with the measured data from the Polish synoptic stations and the stations of the METAR airports meteorological shield located in the respective domains. In addition, the error of the predicted parameters was investigated in the grid where the climatological station is located in the Śląskie Planetarium in Chorzów.

A health risk assessment was carried out for the residents of Łęgnowo-Wieś settlement adjacent to a former Zachem Chemical Plant, Bydgoszcz, Poland. Due to the unique Zachem site history and contamination profile, an innovative strategy for soil sampling and contaminant selection was applied. The novelty in the developed strategy consisted of selecting substances for the health risk assessment, taking into consideration the location and boundaries of the groundwater contamination plumes in relation to contamination sources. This allowed limiting the number of the analysed contaminants. The risk assessment focused on the surface soil of a residential area, which was divided into 20 sampling sectors and 6 backyards with wells from which water was used for watering edible plants. A total of 80 inorganic and organic substances were determined, including metals, phenol, aniline, BTEX, diphenyl sulphone, chloroaniline, epichlorohydrin, hydroxybiphenyl, nitrobenzene, octylphenols, toluenediamine, toluidine, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene. For the health risk assessment, the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s deterministic method was applied. This applies conservative assumptions to obtain risk estimates protective for most of the potential receptors. Three exposure pathways were analysed: (1) incidental soil ingestion, (2) dermal contact with soil and (3) inhalation of fugitive soil particles and volatiles. In all sampling sectors and backyards, the total non-cancer risks (hazard index) were significantly lower than the acceptable level of 1. The acceptable cancer risk level for the single carcinogen of 1 × 10⁻⁵ was only insignificantly exceeded in the case of benzo(a)pyrene in three sectors and one backyard. The total cancer risks were lower than the acceptable level of 1 × 10⁻⁴ in all sampling sectors and all backyards. The findings show that the soil in the entire residential area is safe for the residents’ health and no remedial actions are required. However, since not all possible exposure pathways were analysed in this study, further research focused on assessing the health risk resulting from the consumption of locally grown food is strongly recommended.