Webinar Series 2023

Past Webinars

Flood Awareness Week Lunch and Learn Webinars 

Virginia Flood Awareness Week, March 12-18, 2023, encourages Virginians to learn about their flood risk and protect the life they’ve built with flood insurance. Just an inch of water entering a home can result in as much as $25,000 in damages. Yet only 3% of Virginians have flood insurance. Flood Awareness Week seeks to educate the public about protecting their property by purchasing a flood insurance policy, which on average in Virginia costs between $400 and $1000 annually. 

Learn more about flooding in Northern Virginia featuring local experts from Arlington, Fairfax and Alexandria during two upcoming lunch and learn webinars: 


Comprehensive Flood Mitigation Planning: Exchange of Lessons Between Alexandria, Virginia and Hamburg (Germany)

March 21, 2023 | 12 - 1:15 PM

Like many local governments located along coasts, the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County and Prince William County must plan, design, budget and maintain long-term flood protection programs. But the urgent challenges from floods emanating from sea-level rise and more frequent and intense storm events create tension for local governments who must choose between high costs and effectively performing flood mitigation systems. 

Across the Atlantic, the City of Hamburg has pioneered the planning and application of advanced comprehensive flood mitigation planning systems at the micro- and macro levels. Hamburg’s decades of planning reflect a unique fusion of active and passive engineering, storm-surge protection, stormwater conveyance, monitoring, multiple self-deployable flood barriers. The union of these planning, design and engineering tools has parked Hamburg at the center of climate resilient planning.  

The City of Alexandria, NVRC, and George Mason University’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth and Virginia Climate Center held a webinar on March 21, 2023 to share local long- and short-term planning processes for flood protection and climate resiliency. The discussion featured Mr. Uwe A. Carstensen, a consultant for the City of Hamburg's “HafenCity” project, as well as Dr. Daniel Medina and Mr. Matthew Landes from the City of Alexandria, VA with presentations on their work with sustainable flood mitigation and opportunities for collaboration and lessons learning across the Atlantic.


Presentation Slides

Uwe A. Carstenesen: Urban Stormwater Management, Flood Protection Concept of HafenCity Hamburg

Daniel Medina and Matthew Landes: A Holistic Approach to Flood Resilience, Alexandria, Virginia

Speaker Bios:

Mr. Uwe A. Carstensen: A freelance consultant in the field of urban development, urban redevelopment and building culture.  Carstensen was born in 1968 and holds a University-Degree (Diploma) in Architecture from Technische Universität Braunschweig, where he took up his studies as a trained carpenter and cabinetmaker. After graduating in 2000, he started working for the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. In 2003 Carstensen joined the state-owned city development company HafenCity Hamburg GmbH as assistant to the executives before going freelance in 2006. As a freelancer with a focus on target group communications Carstensen accompanied the realization of the International Building Exhibition Hamburg 2013 from planning to implementation. Mr. Carstensen has worked for various city development projects regarding e.g. the University of Hamburg and regularly commissioned as an expert guide for HafenCity Hamburg.

Matthew Landes, PLA, CCM, ISA: Division Chief in the Department of Project Implementation. He is a Licensed Landscape Architect, Certified Construction Manager, and Certified Arborist.  Landes serves as the Program Manager for the City's Waterfront Implementation Program, Project Manager for the Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project, and is the Portfolio Manager for several sponsor project portfolios for the Parks and Recreation Department and the Office of Historic Alexandria. Matt started with the City in 2015 as a Principal Planner and Landscape Architect after practicing as a Professional Landscape Architect and Certified Arborist in the private sector with a special focus on Green Infrastructure, Low Impact Development strategies, and secure site design. 

Daniel Medina, PhD, PE: Stormwater Program Manager for the City of Alexandria, Virginia. He has 30 years of experience in water resource planning and program implementation. He obtained his Civil Engineering degree from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia and obtained a PhD from Cornell University. His experience encompasses a wide array of water resources areas, especially in urban water issues including flood risk management, water supply, watershed restoration, and climate resilience. He has led projects in North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He was invited to testify before the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee on the effects of uncontrolled highway runoff on receiving waters. He is a consultant for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.