Baguio, a mountain city in the northern Philippines, is known for its cool climate, pine forests, and role as a regional center for education and tourism. Beneath this image, however, lies a growing exposure to flood risks shaped by steep terrain, fast-moving catchments, and increasingly intense rainfall. As climate pressures mount, the city has been working to strengthen how it anticipates, communicates, and responds to flood hazards. 

Through the ASEAN Australia Smart Cities Trust Fund (AASCTF), the City Government of Baguio developed a Smart and Inclusive Flood Early Warning System (FEWS). The project combined flood modelling, real-time monitoring, data dissemination and outreach planning, capacity building, and a gender transformative approach to help the city better understand flood behavior, improve coordination across agencies, and strengthen preparedness for communities most at risk. 

This project data sheet is part of a collection that features 10 cities with direct interventions from AASCTF. Each data sheet provides a summary of the project, detailing challenges, solutions, and early impacts and benefits, as well how the solutions can be sustained long after project completion. The goal is to showcase how AASCTF has collaborated with the city and partners to catalyze people-centric smart solutions, which can hopefully be replicated or scaled in other Asian cities. 

AASCTF is financed by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, managed by the Asian Development Bank, and implemented by Ramboll.