To adapt to the impacts of climate change, regions and communities are going to have to transform. The EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change recognises the scale of this challenge and aims to support the testing-out of innovative approaches and strategies for a more resilient Europe. That is why the central objective of Pathways2Resilience, a project supporting the Mission, is helping regions and communities to develop transformative adaptation plans.
Today, Pathways2Resilience has opened its first call for applications for regions to get involved in the development of strategies and action plans to boost their resilience to the impacts of climate change. The selected 40 regions will be directly supported by the Pathways2Resilience consortium receiving up to €210,000 each to advance their approaches to climate adaptation planning.
Opening today’s launch event in Brussels, Elina Bardram, Director for Adaptation & Resilience, Communication and Civil Society Relations at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action and Mission Manager for Adaptation to Climate Change, underscored the importance of this support for regions: “As part of the EU Mission Adaptation to Climate Change, Pathways2Resilience will help regional and local authorities to explore different adaptation scenarios and innovative solutions in a systemic way, and to find the pathway best suited for their needs. I encourage regions in every stage of their climate resilience journey to apply to the programme and benefit from its funding and services. This is your opportunity to demonstrate transformative solutions (such as flood-proof buildings, more drought resistant crops, and innovative insurance products) and engage citizens in a participatory way.”
Selected regions will take part in the Regional Resilience Journey, Pathways2Resilience’s provision of supporting funding and services.Fernando Diaz Lopez, Resilience and Regional Eco-innovation Orchestrator at EIT Climate-KIC, who coordinates the Pathways2Resilience project, notes the need for novel approaches: “Climate change has a massive impact on our social, economic and environmental systems, which is why we need to work on adapting our lives, our infrastructure, and our financing. And most of the climate adaptation action is done at the local level, directly in communities and regions.”
Pathways2Resilience is changing the way that these communities and regions look to the future of adaptation. Diaz Lopez goes on to note: “Pathways2Resilience’s aim is to embed a new, transformative approach in how regions plan climate adaptation. Innovation, however, is not always about reinventing the wheel: often the biggest impact passes by catalysing progress and catering to needs already there – using a systems innovation lens. That’s the ‘Mission’ approach at the core of the project and we call on all regions – those more vulnerable, that stand to learn more, and those more advanced, that can share their best practices and accelerate change – to get involved and create this together.”
This call signals a new future for regional and community-scale resilience – one based on collaboration and systemic change.
