Alliance background and activities
With 520,000 inhabitants and an area of 204 km2, Hanover is the capital and largest city of the state of Lower Saxony. A major venue for international trade fairs, Hannover status is an important industrial, service and retail centre.
The state capital of Hanover and its residential development is of the surrounding rivers and flood plains influenced significantly.
The city lies at the confluence of the rivers and Ihme and Leine which have a catchment area of about 6,000 km. The two rivers have extensive flood plains and the city has had a long history of flooding since its foundation. Consequently the city council, region and state administrations, the university and several engineering firms have come together to address flood risk and water management. An initial result of this collaboration was the establishment of Hannover Water eV, a centre of expertise for sustainable water management which is internationally recognised. The regional alliance in MARE is further development of this collaboration which is contributing to the management of a total budget of € 25 million by 2012.
Flood Protection in Hannover
