Climate resilience begins with a few questions
Protecting forests, restoring coastal systems and planting trees in cities are all examples of solutions that can help us build regional resilience to climate change. The good news is that such actions are already being adopted across Europe. The bad news is that they are not coordinated and are happening in isolation. Enter the EU-funded PEERS project, referred to across the web as Pathways2Resilience. Launched in January 2023, this project aims to help align, harmonise and scale up these actions by supporting European regions and communities along their climate resilience journey. One hundred regional authorities and local communities will receive support as they form action plans and build portfolios of innovation projects and finance mechanisms to make their goals a reality. “We will support regional decision-makers to connect with possible solution providers, universities and other local entities that will contribute to those plans and portfolios. In addition, the Pathways2Resilience project will look at what is actually financeable, both in the short and long term,” states Dr Fernando Diaz Lopez of project coordinator Climate-KIC, the Netherlands, in a news item posted on the ‘EIT Climate-KIC’ website. The Pathways2Resilience programme will hold two open calls for proposals. Through these calls, communities and regions can apply to receive up to EUR 300 000 in order to develop their strategies and action plans towards achieving climate resilience. The first call for proposals will open in late 2023 or early 2024 and remain open for 2 months.
Let us answer some questions
Regions and communities wishing to express their interest in the Pathways2Resilience programme can do so through a questionnaire. This gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their motivation, willingness and capacity to take part in the programme, as well as to share their adaptation challenges, barriers and support needs. The information received through the questionnaire will help the project team map and identify regions in need of support and get insight into local governance and key stakeholder engagement for adaptation activities. It will also help the team launch matchmaking actions to promote dialogue between regions and local partners. Further information on the expression of interest process and answers to frequently asked questions can be accessed through links on the project website. The deadline for completing the questionnaire is 15 September 2023. “Pathways2Resilience is a 60-month project, so it will be a marathon, rather than a sprint,” remarks Dr Diaz Lopez in the news item. “We will be looking at increasing the preparedness of regions and territories, as well as supporting local agencies and administrations in their capacity to anticipate, absorb, adapt, transform and implement that change. We’re going to do so in very concrete ways, for example with a self-assessment tool that any region or local community can use to understand their maturity in climate resilience. We will also run climate finance and business model labs that will help regions understand how they can fund their adaptation projects.” The programme will also include workshops and webinars on how to finance interconnected interventions or portfolios of innovative actions that meet regional needs. It will also create an interactive toolbox to help regions implement transformative solutions in practice. PEERS (Co-developing pathways towards Climate resilient regions in Europe) ends in December 2027. For more information, please see: PEERS project website
Keywords
PEERS, Pathways2Resilience, climate, climate resilience, climate adaptation
