Category: News

Melting glaciers require mitigation and adaptation – Opinion article

Worse than 2003: Swiss glaciers are melting more than ever before! Italian Alps glacier collapse! Zermatt suspends summer skiing as glacier melts! Hiking routes closed due to falling rocks!

Headlines like these have been around the news all summer. They describe the crucial state of alpine glaciers, which are heavily affected by global heating. Glaciers are retreating at historically- unprecedented rates and, in 2022, only glaciers above around 3500m altitude did not lose mass in the Alps. The IPCC states that the tipping point for mountain glaciers worldwide will be most likely reached in case of global mean temperature of 2°C above preindustrial age, but for sure in- between 1.5° and 3.0° C. It would even be earlier for alpine glaciers as they are at lower altitude. A tipping point means that the ecosystem exceeds its temperature limits and will collapse, becoming lost forever. With today’s temperature rise of more than 1°C, we already see the heavy and fast impact on alpine glaciers. Mitigation measures are therefore needed to stop global heating applied jointly with adaptation measures to adjust to the new circumstances.

Why are melting glaciers bothering us? Isn’t skiing during winter nicer anyway? What can be done to reduce the impact of global heating?

Glaciers have several important and very crucial functions for us.

Glaciers store short term precipitation and set it free over a longer period. This ensures a stable drinking water supply and more stable water levels in rivers. Worldwide, an estimated 1.9 billion people rely on glaciers as their primary source of drinking water. Stable water levels of rivers ensure a good energy supply from hydropower plants and allow cargo ships to efficiently transport goods. The further glaciers melt down, the more alternative drinking water sources like energy-intense seawater desalination plants will have to be harnessed, in addition to more renewable energy sources and less efficient transport routes – despite all their downsides – and small artificial glaciers will be used as regional water source.

Additionally, the tourism sector is suffering from melting glaciers. A melting opportunity for early ski- openings in autumn and especially summer skiing will cause either the shut-down of alpine skiing resorts or necessitate high effort countermeasures to facilitate skiing. One idea is to protect snow with huge plastic sheets, another is to reassemble ski lifts into deeper frozen areas of the glaciers. Both are costly endeavours. Faster erosion and falling rocks caused by thawing alpine permafrost already led to closed hiking routes, endanger alpine huts and whole villages. Adaptation measures are set to reduce the risk of falling rocks by covering mountain faces with steel nets and installing massive steel fences.

Furthermore, glaciers and high alpine areas are the natural habitat of unique species like the snow hare, snow grouse, and alpine flora like the glacier buttercup. As the snow line retreats towards the mountain top, the natural habitat of these highly specialised animals and plants is getting narrower. From below, new species are invading their space to live and high alpine residents have nowhere to flee to and face extinction.

Sadly, the melting of the alpine glaciers itself will heat up the planet by an estimated additional 0,1°C. New solutions and adaptation measures will have to be set in place and additional mitigation measures will have to be introduced to protect the alpine habitat as we know it today. Initiative like the Alpine Space programme of Interreg Europe are addressing these challenges.

Luckily, regions and regional actors will receive support in their work on climate adaptation. REGILIENCE and its sister projects provide a broad portfolio of topics that will be addressed in information sessions and highlight upcoming funding opportunities for regions.

You can download the article here.

REGILIENCE, and its sister projects, were presented at the ‘Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change’ webinar

The ‘Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change’ webinar took place online on Monday, 24th October 2022, 10:00-12:00 (Brussels time) and was attended by about 50 participants.

Chaired by Richard Smithers, Ricardo Energy & Environment, the webinar’s objective was to introduce the Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change and to identify and foster synergies with the Green Deal Projects. In order to do so, the webinar addressed four sub-objectives:

Provide an introduction to the Mission for climate adaptation (from an EC-policy level perspective);
Explain how information flows from science to the Mission (show the links between science-policy-implementation and feedback loops);
Illustrate through the GD Climate Adaptation projects, which are preparing the ground for the Mission, how H2020 projects are building a bridge between science and implementation on climate adaptation pathways and solutions through the pilots that can then serve as a reference for the Mission signatories;
Provide the H2020 GD projects with useful information on how they can connect and interact with the Missions.

During the session, ‘H2020 Green Deal projects’ objectives and contributions to the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, Guido Schmidt, REGILIENCE technical coordinator, presented REGILIENCE and its sister projects ARSINOE, IMPETUS and TransformAr’ activities, among the climate adaptation projects.

The Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change is a fundamental element of the 2021 EU Climate Adaptation Strategy. It contributes to a European area of policymaking that has received less attention than climate change mitigation, but where the EU is prepared to take bold steps. The recently published report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Climate Change regarding Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability confirms the need to substantially accelerate our efforts to adapt to climate change.

The Mission deploys the new impact-oriented approach of European research and innovation policy in support of the European Green Deal’s objectives and will play an important role in promoting implementation of the 2021 EU Adaptation Strategy.

Investments from the EU and Member States in research and innovation for adaptation in past decades have already contributed to generating solutions. Once implemented at scale, they will contribute to increasing resilience to climate change. The H2020 Societal Challenge on climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials supported over 30 adaptation projects with more than 200 million EUR. Support was allocated through the H2020 Green Deal Call (for a total of 45 million EUR) to develop innovation packages and prioritize their application in regions with high vulnerability, limited adaptive capacity and/or high exposure to climate change impacts.

This resulted in four projects, which can be considered as the predecessors of the Mission. The four projects are REGILIENCE, ARSINOE, IMPETUS and TransformAr which are part of the Green Deal Project Support Office’s (GD-SO) Climate Change and Biodiversity Working Group.

Resilient Cities and Regions ahead of COP27; what should they expect from COP27 and what should be done to emphasize on adaptation and resilience action? – Opinion article

More than 200 local and regional governments and hundreds of their stakeholders will gather in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt next month for the UNFCCC COP27; they gather once again, like every year, but the stakes are really high this time! As of 1 October 2021, over 2000 jurisdictions in more than 35 countries all over the world have declared a climate emergency, while extreme events are becoming more and more frequent in even surprising locations across the European continent; have you read about the deadly flash floods in the southernmost island of Crete, Greece in mid-October 2022 for example? At least two citizens were found dead and two people are declared as missing after torrential rain brought major flooding to the island. And this has not been the only one; More than 4700 heat stress related deaths occurred in Spain over the summer of 2022, a number that tripled the average of the last five years! One thing is clear – COP27 comes as the continent reels from several extreme weather events, from floods to extensive droughts and increasing threats to food security.

What to expect from COP27?

Regions and cities should, and do expect an action-oriented COP, which will focus further on the practicalities of adaptation and resilience implementation, on disaster risk reduction efforts and approaches to innovative financing, not to mention that they do have high expectations on resilient recovery for Ukrainian cities and regions.

In any case, this COP27 is expected to go beyond climate mitigation and renewable energies! Not to forget, the upcoming COP27 has added focus on Africa’s climate vulnerability as well as the Global North’s non-commitment to its UNFCCC pledges so far. The narrative around an “equitable, people-oriented and just transition” seems to be finally recognised by national governments after years of bottom-up action and activist demands and community struggles. Many African countries, including the event’s host Egypt and the energy-intensive Namibia, seem to be ready to support the move towards a greener and climate-resilient economy, but will also definitely insist on putting Africa’s energy and resilience needs on top of COP27’s packed agenda.

Why is a narrative around an “equitable, people-oriented and just transition” so important now?

Green hydrogen production and development claims to provide a space for reducing climate change impacts, while aiming to be able to sustain future economy and development. The Egyptian ambassador to Namibia Wael Lotfy Batea has recently emphasised that green hydrogen production (green hydrogen is the one produced by splitting water by electrolysis) is one of the priorities for the countries of Egypt and Namibia, sharing a vision to become a regional hub for green hydrogen production among African countries.

This is a game changer definitely, and comes centrally in the COP27 agenda, just when we still need to emphasize on putting adaptation and resilience to the forefront of the discussion!

But is the platform that COP27 provides the real deal for elevated adaptation action by default? Or do cities and regions need to emphasize on their needs, challenges and ways forward they have identified?

Here are some suggestions on what regions and municipalities at COP27 can do to make sure that adaptation and resilience are back for good and in the centre of the international discourse:

Agree on a clear vision for climate resilient development for both cities and regions (participants in Egypt should join the Multilevel Action Pavilion @ COP27 which is hosted by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability this year as well), but also make clear what are the implementation challenges, roadmaps and actionable items that can take further the goals that have been set by the Paris Agreement in 2015;
Prioritize multi-level governance actions and specifically emphasize on the interplay between the local and regional level;
Raise their voices about the need to act now, build partnerships with key institutions, reach out to strategic partners that are thinking out-of-the-box and engage with bottom-up initiatives that may elevate local climate action to other levels of governance.

That said, the upcoming COP27 may create a fresh opportunity for regions and cities to restore their trust in their national governments, provided that commitments will be respected and clear implementation objectives and targets will be put forward! It will be also critical to highlight the interrelation between fossil fuels, loss and damage and to ensure effective collaboration on market-based financial incentives for low carbon and resilient development and for tackling disasters at regional and city levels!

You can download the article here.

REGILIENCE took part in the European Research and Innovation Days 2022 with a session on “Mission Adaptation to Climate Change: success factors” & Announcement of the second batch of Mission Charter signatories

The session explored what the main challenges of adapting to climate change are and how regions and local authorities are overcoming these challenges.

Guido Schmidt, Technical Coordinator of REGILIENCE, shared that he believes that one of the main challenges is how to engage citizens, so that they are aware of what the problems and the risks they face are. “We shouldn’t develop any solutions without engaging them”, he explained.

Citizens should be engaged in co-creation. It is vital that they raise their voice, their concerns and the risks they face to the decision makers, because if they don’t demand action it’s very easy for no action to be taken at all, he said.

An emphasis should be put on how we engage and how we work with people!

Watch session recording:

Being “creative” about collaboration for climate resilience – Opinion article

You probably experienced or heard about the persistent heatwaves that affected Europe this summer, causing wildfires and droughts, impacting people’s health and the production of food, and influencing energy demand and production, to name a few. This is an example of how natural, social, and economic systems are interconnected and interdependent. And as climate change affects multiple sectors and systems, it leads to a sequence of unforeseen and unpredictable events that impact other systems (cascade effect).

Why do we need to collaborate?

Ideas and solutions to build climate resilience must consider the interconnectedness of the systems. This is only possible by thinking “outside the box” of a certain scientific field or sector, and by involving the ones who know best how climate change impacts the region or territory: its local actors. The time asks for strengthening collaboration among people with diverse knowledge and experience.

“The sheer complexity and specialisation of science today means that attitudes of openness and collaboration are not a nice complement, but rather a critical factor for success.”
Mariana Mazzucato

In her mission-oriented strategy for the European Union, Mariana Mazzucato highlights the importance of developing new forms of collaboration among actors from varied disciplines, sectors, and backgrounds. This is not an easy task, as it entails openness and cooperation among people with diverse interests and perspectives. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how such processes can become spaces that allow the integration of different forms of knowledge while exploring commonalities and complementarities. The concept of creativity may be helpful in designing such group dynamics.

What is creativity?

Recently, creativity has been linked to complex thinking, in which creativity is related to human interactions and work processes that lead to the creation of something (such as a policy, a strategy, knowledge, etc.). Authors such as Montuori (2017) and Runco (2007) argue that, rather than an isolated phenomenon, creativity is understood as a networked, collaborative, “bottom-up” process arising out of interactions of a given system.

In Nature of Creativity, Montuori describes the environments that support creativity, which are often not authoritarian, promoting the independence of judgment, problem-finding, and flatter organisational structures.

Furthermore, the processes that encourage creativity involve the following attributes:

Creative tensions: such as between specialisation and a broad outlook, autonomy and the need for respect and approval, certainty and uncertainty.
Not stressing over specialisation: allowing the freedom to tap into several disciplines and knowledge bases.

No one’s view is ignored: the actors should feel and know that their views will not be ignored and be given a serious hearing.
Isolation and interaction: the process should permit and encourage the participants to experience both moments of isolation (reflection) and interaction with others.
Matching peoples’ interests and skills with the right assignments: which is only possible when there is good knowledge about the actors involved and the nature of the assignment. Challenging tasks: such tasks elicit intrinsic motivation (see below) and creative thinking. On the other hand, too much challenge can result in high levels of anxiety, inhibiting the capacity for creative thought.
Heuristic tasks: with clear expectations and considerable autonomy. On the other hand, tasks that involve specific or pre-established steps, with one right way and one right answer, tend to constrain creativity.

From the participants’ side, it seems essential that they have both intrinsic motivation for the subject (such as fascination, enjoyment while performing the task, or feeling of accomplishment) and extrinsic motivation (such as financial incentives and social approval).

If you’re interested in methods and tools used for stakeholder engagement and co- creation processes, REGILIENCE and the projects TransformAr, IMPETUS, and ARSINOE will use varied ways of involving stakeholders. Stay tuned to discover more about such processes through the materials that will be launched in the coming year, such as TransformAr’s playbook for participatory workshops and REGILIENCE’s stakeholder engagement strategy.

You can download the article here.

The REGILIENCE team travelled to the beautiful city of Athens for the EURESFO 2022

The REGILIENCE team travelled to the beautiful city of Athens, Greece, for the 9th edition of the European Urban Resilience Forum. The city is one of the oldest to be continually inhabited with over 7000 years of history. The Attica region, which includes the capital of Athens, is home to 3,792,469 people.

In 2022 the country has been severely hit by the effects of climate change. From wildfires, which forced hundreds to flee their homes, to short but intense thunderstorms and rain, which flooded the streets of the city, Athens is particularly susceptible to climate-incited devastation, mainly because 80% of Athens’s ground is not water permeable.

This is one of the reasons why the Athens Resilience Strategy 2030 is so important. Its goal is to prepare and protect the most vulnerable ones from future devastations.

The Strategy is framed by the following 4 pillars, including 65 actions and 53 supporting actions:

Open city;
Green city;
Proactive city;
Vibrant city.

“By 2030 Athens strives to be a responsive, embracing and inspirational city that is proud, green and citizen-led. We nurture creativity and innovation, creating prototypes of belonging, bridging history and progress. Athens is a city that listens and speaks with the world.”

During the European Urban Resilience Forum 2022, Mr. Kostas Bakoyannis Mayor of Athens summarized the situation perfectly by saying that “Athens is not bouncing back, it’s moving forward”. Mr. Vasileios Axiotis, Vice Mayor for Urban and Buildings’ Infrastructure and City Planning of the City of Athens, on the other hand, explained that there are currently ongoing regeneration plans in each neighborhood within the city.

Argyro Paraskevopoulou, head of the General Directorate of Sustainable Development and Climate Change, Region of Attica, clarified that the region has a clear plan which sets out immediate adaptation priorities, prioritizing measures and actions to be implemented. The measures are divided into short-term, medium-term and long-term depending on the necessary implementation time. The sectors with the greatest vulnerability, such as water, infrastructure and urban environment are on this priority list.

One such regeneration activity is taking place on Lycabettus Hill, which the REGILIENCE team had the opportunity to visit as part of a study tour. The program aims to breathe new life into this iconic landmark by creating an urban oasis and a spot for recreation. Some of the works being done on Lycabettus Hill include reconstruction and reopening of the iconic Lycabettus Theater, maintenance of the hill’s trails and footpaths, anti-flooding and anti-corrosion works, lighting and road upgrades with the use of sustainable materials.

The images below show one of the adaptation measures on Lycabettus Hill. This place has previously been very risky for the buildings underneath because of falling rocks. This is why wire pallets have been placed, which will then be covered with garden soil and local plants will be planted. The construction will protect the neighborhood below while also promoting the local flora and fauna.

The Omonoia Square has also been rejuvenated and its signature fountain restored. The fountain is believed to be one of the largest ones in Europe when it comes to water volume. The reconstruction efforts were a result of the local authorities wanting to ameliorate the living conditions of the locals and the tourists by creating a “greener” space, which would not only be beautiful but would also cool passers-by during the hot summer months in the city.

Another thing which made a long-lasting impression on us is that the whole city, including the locals, are striving to make their hometown into an urban oasis. The city is covered by green spaces, parks and trees. Almost every museum has an adjoining garden. Almost every balcony is a miniature greenhouse. Apart from being very picturesque, the plants keep the temperatures in the city lower and promote wildlife.

Building networks and innovation ecosystems for resilience and climate change adaptation are key to ensure Europe can withstand the effects of climate change and conflict. This event was a great opportunity for regions to share their experience and failures and learn from each other.

EURESFO2022’s main organizers were ICLEI Europe and European Environment Agency, co-organizers were the City of Athens, the Google Foundation, with the projects Regreen, Regilience and CoCliCo, supported by the European Investment Bank, Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy Europe and EU Policy Support Facility, European Committee of the Regions, Life Programme, Science for Environment Policy, with the projects Ruggedised, Excess, proGIreg and ARCH, in cooperation with Resilient Cities Network and Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative.

You can access the EURESFO 2022 official photo album here.

Transformative pathways for a more resilient, regional development in Europe and beyond

Join the REGILIENCE project and others at #EURegionsWeek for a discussion on the common goals, challenges, and focus areas for European regions and communities impacted by climate change.

From the 11 October 2022 16:30pm to the 11 October 18:00pm

On Tuesday 11th of October from 16:30 to 18:00 CEST, REGILIENCE will participate in an online session and panel discussion at the European Week of Regions and Cities 2022.

About

Climate change is a global emergency that is causing extreme weather events and natural disasters, simultaneously all over the world. In Europe, recent wildfires, droughts, and floods have severely affected regions across the continent, particularly impacting their vulnerable populations. The European Commission’s Adaptation Mission aims to support at least 150 European regions and communities towards climate resilience by 2030. This means fostering the development of innovative solutions to adapt to the unfolding realities of climate change. Because climate change affects different regions in unique ways, the mission helps communities strategise according to their particular needs and vulnerabilities.

At this interactive event, four EU projects will be discussed: REGILIENCE, ARSINOE, TransformAR, and IMPETUS. By assessing and improving the resilience of regions, these projects will help Europe to prepare for future crises and reduce their associated risks. REGILIENCE will pave the way for regional climate resilience pathways. To that end, it will develop a needs survey covering the 50 most vulnerable regions in the EU. By organising hundreds of activities and reaching out to 100 000 individuals and 8 networks, the project will share experiences and disseminate knowledge, overcoming barriers and obstacles associated with climate resilience.

The session will summarise regional innovation for climate adaptation, featuring case studies and good practices on a variety of topics (related to climate adaptation), from Nature-Based Solutions and biodiversity to flooding prevention, tackling droughts and heat waves, and fighting water scarcity. Regional government representatives will be paired with EU institutions such as the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission. The session will not only target local and regional governments, but also individuals, policy-makers, and businesses.

Agenda

5’ – Welcome and introduction to the session
10’ – Keynote address from the Committee of the Regions
10’ – Short input by all speakers
60’ – Panel discussion
5’ – Closing remarks

The panel will provide an open discussion where participants from policy and practice reflect on what they see as novel activities for accelerating resilience and what the adaptation community should be taking away with them as challenges and ideas that might lead to faster, more pervasive action for regional development towards climate resilience.

Guiding questions:

What does the implementation of the new EU Adaptation Strategy mean for regional authorities and communities? How does this link up with the Mission for Adaptation to Climate Change and Societal Transformation?
What is in the pipeline for regions to build resilience in the coming months and years and how does this link up with efforts for a green and resilient recovery from Covid-19 and beyond?
How to make resourcing and financing adaptation less complex for regions and overcome the ‘adaptation gap’ and avoid maladaptation?
How do we evolve towards resilient communities lived in and protected by engaged and empowered citizens?
Which initiatives and programmes will help with this? Which initiatives should regions connect with and collaborate and consult on?

Confirmed Speakers:

Apostolos Tzitzikostas (First Vice President, European Committee of the Regions)

Registration:

REGILIENCE team meets in Freiburg im Breisgau

The REGILIENCE team has just come back from a very fruitful trip from Freiburg im Breisgau, a city known since the 1970s for being particularly environmentally friendly with many sustainable solutions implemented and numerous projects carried out. The team was hosted by ICLEI Europe, the world’s leading network of local and regional governments committed to sustainable development and REGILIENCE partner.

Freiburg believes that the people are at the heart of the city, thus with input from residents, businesses, scientists and researchers, educational institutions, churches, cultural organizations, and many other institutions, a unique Freiburg MIX has emerged, now known in the world as “Green City Freiburg.”

The REGILIENCE team had the opportunity to visit some of the key places in the city, which are great examples of good practices of resilience and climate adaptation. One such location is the Vauban district, known as the most sustainable City District in Europe.

Vauban is a place with a radically dramatic history. A military town through WWII and into the early ’90s, when the military left, Vauban’s vacant buildings were inhabited by squatters. These vagabonds were the people who organized Forum Vauban, creating a revolutionary eco-community. Modern Vauban represents the very cutting-edge of sustainable living. Construction of this intentional community began in the mid-1990s and it opened in the 2000s. By 2001, it had 2,000 inhabitants and now it is said to be home to 5,000 inhabitants with over 600 jobs created inside the district.

The town buzzes with civic engagement, community building, and environmentally-friendly living. Low-energy construction is mandatory, passive construction, plus-energy construction and the use of solar technology are standard for most.

The tree population has been preserved as far as possible. Green spaces between rows of houses provide green space and offer play areas for children. Parallel to the private structures, there are now a school, kindergartens, youth facilities, a civic meeting place, marketplace, and recreational and play areas, with the goal to incite sharing (common pizza wood oven being one example). Green flat roofs store part of the rainwater, which is collected.

The residential area has reduced traffic. A large proportion of households are car-free, and private vehicles are parked in one of the two neighborhood garages. Since 2006, the residential area has been served by a light rail system. Many residents live happily without cars and instead use public transport and bicycles.

Facts and figures

Buildings must meet the Freiburg standard for low-energy construction (annual energy rating 65 kWh/m²). More than 277 residential units have even been built living up to passive house standards, which corresponds to the maximum energy use of 15 kWh/m²a.
The solar houses on Merzhauser Strasse are energy-positive: they produce more energy than they consume.
The heat supply for the entire neighborhood, with the exception of the passive houses, is provided by a woodchip-fired combined heat and power plant that also generates electricity, enough to cover the needs of approximately 700 households.
Vauban’s population density of 12,500 inhabitants/km² is relatively high, corresponding roughly to the population density in the inner-city districts of many major German cities.

The team was also able to visit some iconic and sustainable buildings, such as Rathaus im Stühlinger, Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg (University Library Freiburg), experiment environmentally friendly modes of transportation – mainly walking and metro – and also to drink water from tap water fountains and to have a vegan lunch in the Stadtgarten.

Heat is here: how maps across Europe may help citizens keep cool in extreme heat – Opinion article

“It’s too hot to even commute to the lake…’’ another WhatsApp message arrives. That’s one person less coming to a lake on the outskirts of Berlin to escape the trapped heat in the city. The heat is everywhere – we feel it, read about it, and complain about it because it’s real.

During extreme days of heat in cities, so-called heat islands can form due to the high density of buildings and sealed surfaces and because the temperature does not even drop much lower at night than during the daytime. According to Dr Katharina Scherber, Chair of Climatology, the heat islands also cause more people suffering from heat stress to have to come to hospitals in the city of Berlin, compared to the state of Brandenburg, the region around Berlin.

On the upside, there are various regions and cities across Europe which are mapped to guide citizens to cooler and wetter areas in periods of extreme heat. The maps are a tool for citizens, rather than a direct adaptation measure. I love maps and Berlin’s urban heat scares me these days, so I wanted to take a closer look.

A very direct response to avoid heat stress is to stay in cold spaces indoors and to stay hydrated if possible.

However, usually one needs to commute somewhere during the day – whether it’s for work, school or just to see friends. There are vast differences within each city as to when and where there is extreme heat. Both factors are accounted for in several maps of European cities, some of which the members of the REGILIENCE consortium live in.

The map in Berlin is called Refreshing map (Erfrischungskarte) and was developed by the open data information centre (ODIS) which strives to make the vast data from the public administration digital and usable. By compiling the data the map shows citizens where there is more shade, cooler areas and water stations in the city. The idea arose because the team wanted to test the shadow maps with a mapping tool by QGIS based on the 1×1 m digital terrain model of Berlin. They also wanted to create a useful tool for day-to-day life to „help everyone to adapt to urban heat and to help raise awareness’’, says Lisa Stubert, who leads ODIS.

On the question about how easy it would be to create a map of the entire region, she says there could most likely only be a few features because of a lack of data.

In other parts of Europe, it is also only urban areas, not regions, that have informative heat maps for citizens: An app, Extrema global shows where cooler zones and water stations are across some of Europe’s biggest cities. In direct collaboration with Rotterdam, there is also the Extrema Rotterdam app, which has an Emergency Notification System for Extreme Temperatures and an information management tool to inform citizens about how to get from point A to B in the coolest way possible.

For this, the map of Barcelona, which only covers the coastal districts of Barcelona, offers three modes to choose from so that users can set their own preferences. Shadows are included in the maps (Berlin), a colour spectrum to visualize the differences in temperature (Berlin, Barcelona, all Extrema maps), and there are some maps that feature spots to take a rest such as benches (Berlin) or shelters (Barcelona). The Viennese Map has different types (and icons) for refreshment: spray showers, drinking water stations and water sprinklers.

The maps also provide the necessary information about how to stay cool and hydrated. Thanks to them it will be easier for the commuters to decide whether it is actually a good idea to go to the lake!

When it comes to adaptation to climate change overall, initiatives arise from the bottom-up or in response to calls for building more resilience. Within our work for REGILIENCE we often observe that cities are in fact the pioneers in resilience efforts. We learn through these initiatives what is possible and what may work, also for the regions.

If you want to make your region more climate-resilient contact us or subscribe to our newsletter.

You can download the article here.

Adapting to climate change: the example of France fighting fires and heatwaves

France, like many other EU countries, is experiencing these days the impacts of climate change as never before. For the first time, heatwaves have reached Bretagne, a region normally joked for being mostly rainy. Over 40°C have been recorded and while fires have long happened in the South, for the first time they reached Bretagne and the Paris suburbs too. Several articles have been issued on the topics, linking them to climate change, and this is great news amidst the bad ones: for once, climate news is not put down the headlines by other news. This blogpost gathers insights from these articles (available mostly in French), sharing best practices from across Europe, which is also REGILIENCE reason-to-be. They can be a source of inspiration for all, from policymakers to citizens, insurance companies, urban planners, etc., all who bear the price of these extreme events.

In an article presenting research projects working on ways to tackle the fires, that are meant to become the norm (vs the exception) in a near future, Euractiv explains that every year, almost 500,000 hectares go up in flames across Europe. Sharing good practices between States, especially on adaptation measures, seem essential to avoid the devastating impacts the fires leave behind, on people, the nature, the cities. The article quotes Eric Maillé, engineer at Inrae, a French research institute dedicated to agricultural science. He mentions the Med-Star project and the Italian “firewise communities” (Canadian concept): In Tuscany, an adaptation measure is to invite citizens to regularly voluntarily clear brushwood, which can otherwise fuel the fires. The project is also considering resilience approaches: what happens once the fires are put out? This is a thinking that needs to happen increasingly: which species do we plant back? For instance, holm oak is a Mediterranean species particularly resilient in the face of fires… As fighting the fires and dealing with their consequences is extremely costly and challenging (in terms for example of manpower, water resources use), Europe is eager to bet on prevention and resilience.

In another article in French media Libération, another researcher from Inrae, Arnaud Sergent, insists on the need for better land use planning to limit the damage caused by fires. He explains that the forests currently burning in Gironde (West of France) are self-managed, a method dating from centuries ago, leading to poor maintenance: we come back to the idea of having people cutting what would otherwise serve as fuel for these fires and clearing the trails for firefighters to access them more easily. We need to change the way forests are integrated in our territories and consider them in land planning: how do you adapt to the fires from inside the forests, but also from the communities’ perspective, when the fires come close to them? Ensuring the forests are not too close to houses (or as mentioned, by planting hardwoods on the edge of woods, less flammable than softwoods), ensuring firefighters can access the core of the forests are some answers. This is even more important if we consider the key role of forests in fighting against global warming…

In a series of questions and answers following the French heatwave, Magali Reghezza-Zitt, geographer and member of the High Council for the Climate (HCC), and specialist in risk prevention and adaptation, shares solutions. The heatwave that most EU countries have faced or are facing puts us again in front of the need to adapt to extreme weather events, greenhouse gas emissions increasing their intensity, duration and frequency.

The REGILIENCE project team has experienced it while visiting Vienna: we need to cool our cities, and some adaptation solutions include less concrete and more vegetation, piggybacking on the existing infrastructure to adapt to extreme climate events. We need to work on buildings and the infrastructures: new material, new shapes, new techniques. Nature’s place in cities and communities is key and comprehensive development projects should answer risks while avoiding maladaptation, providing multiple benefits (when you add nature, you act on health and biodiversity, while when you act on housing, you can work on energy poverty, comfort, inequalities and more). An example of maladaptation is air conditioning: whenever possible and of course depending on the situation alternatives include building renovation and better insulation, installing effective blinders, urban greening. As highlighted by the IPCC, the right solutions should solve several problems simultaneously why not adding others.

Magali Reghezza-Zitt also mentions, when writing about the water resource, that despite having instruments and technical solutions in France, what we lack is consistency and more regular evaluations, which fully integrate the changing climate. She also participated to a podcast (in French) focusing on adaptation.

Other posts and articles are coming, sharing useful resources and examples. Stay tuned and do not forget to subscribe to our newsletter, sharing resilience news from various projects and initiatives.