European Regions Come Together to Prioritise Climate-Resilience Action

Today, partners of EU funded project Regions4Climate (R4C), celebrate the opening of their annual consortium meeting in Sitia, Greece, to outline action for a successful second year.

The conference is set to take place from the 23rd to 25th of April in one of the European regions participating in the 5-year long climate-resilience project.

Partners will collaborate during the week to discuss on-going activities and innovations under development such as just transition roadmaps, regional system dynamics models, monitoring and evaluation, climate risk and vulnerability assessments.

Carmen Antuña Rozado, Project Coordinator for Regions4Climate, said:

“After more than a year of hard work, we have established the necessary operational processes and laid the foundation for smooth and enthusiastic collaboration between all partners.

“Our regions are advancing their innovation actions for greater climate resilience and our scientific and technical partners are developing appropriate tools that can help them achieve their objectives.

“They are all very excited to see what this second year will bring and to contribute to greater sustainability and resilience of their communities, and perhaps other communities interested in replicating R4C solutions in the near future.”

Thanasis Sfetsos, from the National Centre for Scientific Research Demokritos, Greece, said:

“We are very excited to host our consortium partners in Sitia, Crete to celebrate our first annual conference. Recent progress demonstrated that working together and pushing for the uptake of innovative solutions with our partners we are able to build more climate-resilient communities across Europe.”

Pavlos Alexandros Kapetanakis, representing the Municipality of Sitia, said:

“It is a great privilege for the Municipality of Sitia to host the annual meeting of the Regions for Climate consortium and demonstrate the risks in a “climate hot spot” Mediterranean region and the efforts made to adapt the unique resources and our high-quality agricultural products to present challenges.”

As the frontrunner region in the More Systemic Adaptation Challenge suite, Sitia has been recognised for its local citizens, farmers and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) participating in the society-wide transition towards climate resilience.

To help with climate adaptation measures, the coastal region aims to develop P.O.D. products of local origin with zero carbon footprint. This will be done by transforming olive oils mills into climate neutral, introduce biological IPM and strengthen sustainable practices in a participatory and collaborative way, led by women entrepreneurs and cooperatives. The region is working on combining their culture and traditional knowledge with modern approaches and tools, making it a successful example for other regions and serving as inspiration for other communities sharing similar conditions.

The Municipality of Sitia and National Centre for Scientific Research Demokritos plan to promote sustainability to those visiting by using the Sitia UNESCO Geopark as an outdoor classroom. It will act as a hub for economic activities and encouraging tourism that has no negative impact on the environment.

With a focus on close collaboration with local businesses and citizens, particularly in rural areas, the socio-cultural and economic impacts of climate change can be addressed at all levels of society. Thanks to the support from Regions4Climate, there are new idea developments for businesses and funding options to help small-scale producers.

About Regions4Climate

The Regions4Climate project aims to deliver significant sociocultural, economic, and environmental impacts during the 5-year duration of the project. Inhabitants of the 12 partner regions, over 13.8 million people, are expected to directly benefit from the outcomes of the project, with potential upscaling to 746 million people living in Europe in the longer term.

Regions4Climate engages 12 European regions in developing and testing their own resilience plans and transformative adaptation pathways, enhanced by cross-border collaboration and knowledge exchange. Partner regions include the Basque country (Spain), South Aquitaine (France), the Azores (Portugal), Toscana (Italy), KøgeBay (Denmark), Burgas (Bulgaria), Helsinki-Uusimaa (Finland), Pärnumaa (Estonia), Eastern Crete (Greece), Castilla y León (Spain), the Nordic Archipelago (Finland, Åland and Sweden), and Troodos (Cyprus Republic).

About the National Centre for Scientific Research Demokritos

Founded in July 1961 as a Research Centre for Nuclear Research, Demokritos is today the largest multidisciplinary Research Centre of Greece with approximately 180 Researchers in tenured and tenure-track positions and over 500 Research Personnel working in projects funded mainly by grants from State Funds, the European Union and Private Industries.

The Centre consists of six independent Institutes focusing on different scientific fields. It is governed by the Board of Directors and is supervised by the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation, which is part of the Ministry of Development.

Media contact

Carmen Antuña Rozado
Project Coordinator
carmen.antuna@vtt.fi

Rosa Vallespinós
Communication Manager
rosa@revolve.media