No. 31 (2026): Risks and built environment: From knowledge to project
Research and Experimentation

Distributed flood adaptation actions across scales: a participatory decision-making framework

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  • Francesca Vanelli,
  • Paul Minifie,
  • Monica Lavagna
Francesca Vanelli
Dipartimento di Architettura, Ingegneria delle Costruzioni e Ambiente Costruito, Politecnico di Milano, Italia
Paul Minifie
School of Design and Social Context, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
Bio
Monica Lavagna
Dipartimento di Architettura, Ingegneria delle Costruzioni e Ambiente Costruito, Politecnico di Milano, Italia
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-18569

Published 2026-07-29

Keywords

  • flood risk management,
  • Built environment,
  • Decision-making,
  • multi-criteria,
  • Adaptation

How to Cite

Vanelli, F., Minifie, P., & Lavagna, M. (2026). Distributed flood adaptation actions across scales: a participatory decision-making framework. TECHNE - Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment, (31), 172–181. https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-18569

Copyright (c) 2026 Francesca Vanelli, Paul Minifie, Monica Lavagna

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

As flooding becomes more frequent and intense, traditional Flood Risk Management often overlooks the cumulative potential of smaller, decentralized actions and limits integration between public and private efforts. Contributing to a systemic approach to flood adaptation, this paper presents a participatory decision-making Framework, supporting distributed flood actions. Developed through literature review, interviews, and focus groups in Milan and Melbourne, the Framework combines different participatory steps to assess flood actions across five multidisciplinary Dimensions, based on management and governance principles. Complementing the current Flood Risk Management practices, the Framework builds socio-technical and institutional conditions for collective action.

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