GoApply - Multidimensional Governance of Climate Change Adaptation in Policy Making and Practice | Umweltbundesamt

Background and Goals

The Alpine Space is severely affected by climate change. Adaptation to already unavoidable climatic changes is needed to prevent unmanageable impacts and to safeguard climate-resilient and balanced territorial development. National climate adaptation strategies are in place in some Alpine countries, but implementation is inhibited by multiple obstacles in steering adaptation policies across sectors, levels and actors. Regional adaptation plans are just emerging, adaptation has hardly entered local agendas, and policy mainstreaming is limited on all levels. Governance has a key role in the transition from adaptation strategies to implementation in practice, but capacities for multilevel and cross-sector governance of adaptation processes are lacking in all countries. Adequate governance designs, models and formats, including effective cooperation pathways and coordination arrangements, are mostly still missing or not operational. The project thus tackled joint key challenges of adaptation governance: vertical implementation across territorial levels; horizontal mainstreaming into sector policies; and more active involvement of local, regional and non-governmental actors.

Transnational collaboration is essential to learn from shared strengths and weaknesses and from the diversity of governance approaches taken in different countries. The project builds on an existing network of the national authorities responsible for climate adaptation policy-making in 7 Alpine countries, ensuring direct application of outcomes.

Main activities include: Mapping and comparing national adaptation governance systems; identifying good practices; developing options and innovations for enhancing vertical coordination and mainstreaming; designing and testing transferable regional and local stakeholder interaction formats; developing interfaces and engaging with EUSALP.

Content time

Research area/region

Participants