Councils are responsible for a diverse portfolio of assets that play a crucial role in delivering services to the community. These assets are vulnerable to climate change risks and impacts.

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The costs and benefits of climate change adaptation options

Climate change is already having an impact on council-managed community assets such as buildings, roads, drainage, and natural assets such as parks and reserves. Understanding these impacts can be complicated due to the uncertainty of future climate variables and inadequate data on assets. This makes it difficult for councils to quantify the impacts of climate change on assets, to demonstrate the benefits of climate change adaptation options and to identify, compare and implement adaptation options.

It also makes it difficult to demonstrate value for money and to obtain funding from State and Federal Governments or private investors for adaptation.

The Costs and Benefits of Climate Change Adaptation Options for Community Assets project set out to establish a framework and a suite of data for demonstrating and determining the most the beneficial adaptation options for communities.

The project produced a cost-benefit analysis framework to help councils across Greater Melbourne to develop their own cost-benefit analysis of adaptation options for their assets, using a six-step process. The final report and framework are now available to download:

• Final Report: Costs and Benefits of Climate Change Adaptation Options for Community Assets
• Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework for Councils

You can also view a webinar that shared the final outcomes of this project in November 2021, available in two parts:

• Part 1: Overview of the findings, outcomes and cost-benefit analysis framework
• Part 2: A deep-dive into a worked example using the cost-benefit analysis framework

This project was coordinated by the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances, led by NAGA, and delivered by Natural Capital Economics. It has been part of Melbourne’s Climate Journey, a community-led project supporting Greater Melbourne communities to adapt to a changing climate, supported by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and funded through the Supporting Our Regions to Adapt program.

Building Vulnerability Assessment

In 2015 NAGA delivered a customised training program for council asset and facility managers to embed building vulnerability assessment approaches within asset management practices and capital works programs.

The program was developed and delivered in collaboration with EAGA and Arup and featured presentations from the Essential Services Commission on the rate capping and variation framework and the requirement for evidence-based approaches in proposed variations.

This was accompanied by a detailed case study presentation from the City of Whitehorse where the building vulnerability assessment methodology has been in use since 2012.

In addition to the workshops, a number of resources were developed for practitioners across the sector, including all assessment sheets, training guide and outcomes from attendee pilot trials:

• Building Vulnerability Assessment Sheets 
• Future Assets Forum Training Guide
• Future Assets Forum Workshop 1 Slides
• Future Assets Forum Workshop 2 Slides and report
• Future Assets Forum - ESC Rate Capping Variations
• BVA Detailed Case Study - Whitehorse City Council
• BVA Pilot - City of Hume
• BVA Pilot - City of Whittlesea
• BVA Pilot - Maroondah City Council