The institutional coping capacity in Itä-Uusimaa is rather high. Local experts generally work closely together and have already established communication channels. This co-operation concerns the flood risk of today, not the future sea level rise.
In the case of Itä-Uusimaa several local and regional authorities were interviewed, e.g. spatial planners, the rescue department, local water works and environmental experts. These experts represent a wide range of local knowledge from different branches. Special attention has been paid to spatial planning authorities. The expert role of the Regional Environment Centre could be emphasised more in the future, since it is specialised also on producing information on floods and flood prone areas. As a whole, regional scale co-operation could be developed more in the future.
The guidance of planning is high in Itä-Uusimaa and in the cities of Porvoo and Loviisa. Today preparation towards sea level rise is mostly the responsibility of spatial planners. In Porvoo the intention is to heighten the safety margin of the local building code from 2 meters to 2,5 meters. Sometimes conflicts occur e.g. with local land owners or decision makers when a minimum construction elevation needs to be set as sea shore lots are desired places for living in Finland. In Itä-Uusimaa the spatial planners are motivated to take greater account of sea level rise when planning new residential areas. The planners are aware of the flood risk and that their work is visible after decades or even a century. The long time scale of sea level rise fits well with that of spatial planners. (Virkki, Kallio & Orenius 2005.)
The guidance of planning is high in Itä-Uusimaa and in the cities of Porvoo and Loviisa. Today preparation towards sea level rise is mostly the responsibility of spatial planners. In Porvoo the intention is to heighten the safety margin of the local building code from 2 meters to 2,5 meters. Sometimes conflicts occur e.g. with local land owners or decision makers when a minimum construction elevation needs to be set as sea shore lots are desired places for living in Finland. In Itä-Uusimaa the spatial planners are motivated to take greater account of sea level rise when planning new residential areas. The planners are aware of the flood risk and that their work is visible after decades or even a century. The long time scale of sea level rise fits well with that of spatial planners. (Virkki, Kallio & Orenius 2005.)