Integration of climate change adaptation into the work of local authorities (LIFE LOCAL ADAPT)

LIFE LOCAL ADAPT aims to integrate climate change adaptation into the work of local authorities. It will establish partnerships to increase the climate change adaptation capacities of selected local authorities in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Latvia. The project aims to implement specific climate change adaptation measures in cooperation with municipalities, integrate climate change adaptation into the administrative practice of local authorities, enhance municipalities’ knowledge on climate change adaptation and improve the data and information base on climate change impacts. It will promote the active participation of at least three municipalities in EU initiatives such as the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, or the EU Climate-ADAPT Platform. It also aims to encourage municipalities to start implementing adaptation measures in key vulnerable sectors, such as disaster risk prevention and management, urban planning, infrastructure and health. Lessons from the project will provide examples of best practice for other local administrations to follow, creating added value across the EU.

The specific project goals are to:

• Improve the data on climate change risks and related vulnerabilities and provide climate indices;
• Enhance municipalities' knowledge of CCA, in terms of appropriate action and funding opportunities, mainly through workshops, interviews and information materials;
• Integrate CCA into local authorities' administrative practices. To this end it will develop an advisory concept and introduce “climate coaches" in order to improve local policies and decision-making and set appropriate climate change adaptation priorities;
• Implement pilot adaptation measures to improve resilience to specific climate change events such as heavy rain and heat stress and make participating municipalities more resilient in general through appropriate urban and landscape planning;
• Develop a pilot climate change adaptation strategy for the city of Valka in Latvia; and
• Ensure transferability and replicability through the development of modules of CCA actions that can be applied by municipalities across the EU.

A project report, Municipal adaptation to a changing climate - from urban planning to self-preparedness: Increasing heavy rain, soil erosion and heat stress resilience, explains which kind of impacts municipalities have and will continue to face in the future due to climate change. It provides tools to be used when mapping possible impacts and for planning to minimize them. The report focuses on three main areas where municipalities can adapt to changing climate: increasing resilience for heavy rain, heat stress and soil erosion. Three steps are given for precaution measures: risk assessment and mapping, risk communication and risk reduction. Each section includes practical examples to show benefits of following these steps. The report points out that it is urgently necessary for municipalities to become active on sustainable and strategic climate adaptation instead of event- and sector-specific approaches, where damaging events have already occurred. The report also underlines that effective communication in essential – the gap between experts and the public needs to be bridged. It is important for citizens to know the risks and who is affected by them, and which measures need be taken to minimize the risks. Each section has background information of stated phenomenon and tips for individual to try themselves.