To sustain an adaptation process in the long term, a clear mandate for the management of the adaptation process should be given to an organisation or a smaller group of people employed by the government. The precise responsibilities of the core team might be context-specific but can range from steering the process within the public authority to formulating policy drafts, from acting as contact point for adaptation to communicating adaptation internally and externally, etc. Members of the core team should have long standing experiences with weather/climate-related issues and should be qualified to cover a broad range of issues that might be relevant for the adaptation process.

The following aspects should be considered when establishing a core team for adaptation:

• Determine the members and obtain their consent
• Define the tasks of the group at the first meeting
• Agree upon the structure for collaboration (e.g. frequency of meetings, type of communication within the core team, rules of cooperation)
• Create a schedule and set milestones
• Identify cooperation needs with other administrative bodies and stakeholders
• Communicate, both internal (management) and external (public, etc.) and with decision makers
• Organise a transparent documentation of all steps taken in the process