Sharing adaptation information across Europe

Description

The EEA report ‘Sharing adaptation information across Europe’ is a first evaluation of the Climate-ADAPT portal carried out by the EEA with support of the ETC/CCA. It provides an evaluation of the fulfilment of the Climate-ADAPT objectives and was carried out by the EEA as a process evaluation with a focus on learning. A multi-method approach was used that combined internal assessment and external feedback tools, including a user/provider survey, analysis of web statistics and collection of 'use cases', i.e., examples of the use of Climate-ADAPT.  

 According to the evaluation, Climate-ADAPT:

• succeeds in reaching its intended target audience across all governance levels in Europe;
• has successfully involved many information providers who have shared their knowledge with the adaptation community in Europe;
• has assisted the uptake of knowledge to inform decision-making;
• has supported coordination among governance levels by being a source of EU-level information and by guiding users to the right content, meaning complementary sources of information across Europe.

Other relevant outcomes of the evaluation are the setup of a monitoring, reporting and evaluation scheme for Climate-ADAPT and the improvement of the user-friendliness of the platform to assist the uptake of the information. The lessons learned from the Climate-ADAPT evaluation may also be of use for other thematic platforms maintained by the EEA, such as those on biodiversity and water, and for climate change adaptation platforms at national and transnational levels.

The outcome of the evaluation will feed into the European Commission’s evaluation of the EU’s climate adaptation strategy currently taking place. It will help the Commission and the EEA in their work to update the platform ensuring it reflects changing policies and information demands at national, European and global level.

The evaluation is complemented by three other publications:

• an ETC/CCA Technical paper providing details on the methodology and the outcomes of the evaluation,
• a brochure, which presents selected examples of the platform’s use at various governance levels and sectors,
• a concise and comprehensive description of the Climate-ADAPT platform –mandate, objectives, structure, content and functionalities, intended target audience, governance- the Climate-ADAPT profile.

Reference information