Wellington City Council is using an innovative digital tool to engage and educate people in Pōneke | Wellington about disruptions caused by climate change and how we can work together to find solutions for the future.
Water and land are bound together in this dynamic landscape of hills, valleys, and coastline. Climate change is disrupting the natural environment we are all part of - from the streams that flow to the harbour, to the plants and creatures we share this place with. As sea levels rise and rain becomes more intense, our communities and daily lives will be challenged. More water means preparing for more floods, coastal inundation, and slips.
The coast, slopes, and low-lying land of Pōneke | Wellington are home to many people, communities, and activities. As the climate changes, there are changes we can make to create a thriving city for generations to come. Seasonal tohu (indicators), along with knowledge of local maramataka (lunar calendars), have always supported Māori to live in tune with nature and to plan for the seasons ahead. But because of modern greenhouse gas emissions, our past climate is no longer a reliable predictor of our future.
While many people in Pōneke | Wellington and around the world are working hard to slow down climate disruption, a certain amount of change has already been locked in.
Kelly Henderson, Innovation Lead at Wellington City Council shared a showcase video about the Digital Twin the team have developed, outlining how the Our Changing City project has utilised the model to show the past, present and future of Pōneke - raising awareness of the impacts of Climate Change.
The Wellington City Council team leveraged the Bloomberg Global Mayor’s Challenge funding to significantly improve the underlying Digital City Model and are excited about the capabilities of this tool. Built leveraging Unreal Gaming Engine as part of the tech stack to ensure it is flexible and scalable, it can show the past, present and future of Wellington in an evocative and engaging way.
By streamlining the ingestion of GIS data with bespoke tools, the team were able to make their pipeline of presenting different use cases much more efficient as Councils like Wellington deal with huge quantities of geospatial information. Importantly, through the use of modular development, this is now more than a climate change tool - it is a city tool that can be used for endless visualisation.
Learn more at OurChangingCity.org.nz or via Wellington City Council.
