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- Adaptation to climate change in cities of Mediterranean EuropePublication . Pietrapertosa, Filomena; Olazabal, Marta; Simoes, Sofia; Salvia, Monica; Fokaides, Paris; Ioannou, Byron I.; Viguie, Vincent; Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis; Hurtado, Sonia De Gregorio; Geneletti, Davide; Heidrich, Oliver; Tardieu, Léa; Feliu, Efren; Rižnar, Klavdija; Matosović, Marko; Balzan, Mario V.; Flamos, Alexandros; Sel, Natasa Belsak; Reckien, DianaABSTRACT: Cities across Mediterranean Europe face common climatic threats. They are highly vulnerable and very likely to suffer losses and damages due to heat waves, droughts, wildfires, landslides, and extreme coastal events. To this date, however, there is no systematic understanding of how cities in Mediterranean Europe are preparing to adapt to these impacts. To address this question, we analyse local adaptation plans in 73 cities located in 51 regions across 9 European countries along the Mediterranean Sea (France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta). We also investigate upper levels of planning to understand the influence of policy environments. Across the sample, 67 % of regions have adopted a plan, but only 30 % of the cities. The most common climate-related hazards these cities prepare for are extreme temperatures and rainfall, followed by drought and water scarcity, as well as floods and landslides. Without legal obligations, neither regional nor national adaptation policy frameworks seem to influence the development of urban plans. In some cases, cities are ahead of national policy. This paper sheds light on the progress of local adaptation planning in Mediterranean Europe and paves the way for further research in this climate-threatened geographical area.
- How the quality of urban adaptation plans in Europe has evolved over time: indication of progress? Judgement by way of an assessment frameworkPublication . Reckien, Diana; Buzási, Attila; Olazabal, Marta; Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis; Eckersley, Peter; Simoes, Sofia; Salvia, Monica; Pietrapertosa, Filomena; Fokaides, ParisABSTRACT: Since the Paris Agreement, there has been an increasing focus on assessing the progress of climate change adaptation across multiple sectors and regions (Lesnikowski et al., 2017; Tompkins et al., 2018; Berrang-Ford et al., 2019). An important question is what ‘progress’ means and how it could be assessed, at the international, national, and local levels. Hitherto, there is a wealth of information on climate responses at sub-national levels (Hale et al., 2021). Cities and urban areas are increasingly recognized as important actors in climate response (Sanchez Rodriguez et al., 2018). In urban adaptation studies, most assessments focus on tracking and analysing policy outputs, such as approved adaptation plans (Castan Broto et al., 2020; Dodman et al., 2022). Analysing plans cannot tell the whole story in terms of actual progress in the collective reduction (or redistribution) of climate risks. However, it can provide information about the quality and relevance of adaptation processes and actions, and help to assess the likelihood that cities’ advance adaptation goals by reducing risks and increasing resilience equitably (Olazabal et al., 2019; Woodruff & Stults, 2016). Scholars have argued that ‘the best method to ensuring robust adaptation is to ensure rigorous adaptation planning processes’ (Preston et al., 2011).
- Quality of urban climate adaptation plans over timePublication . Reckien, Diana; Buzási, Attila; Olazabal, Marta; Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis; Eckersley, Peter; Simoes, Sofia; Salvia, Monica; Pietrapertosa, Filomena; Fokaides, Paris; Goonesekera, Sascha M.; Tardieu, Léa; Balzan, Mario V.; de Boer, Cheryl L.; Hurtado, Sonia De Gregorio; Feliu, Efren; Flamos, Alexandros; Foley, Aoife; Geneletti, Davide; Grafakos, Stelios; Heidrich, Oliver; Ioannou, Byron I.; Krook-Riekkola, Anna; Matosović, Marko; Orru, Hans; Orru, Kati; Paspaldzhiev, Ivan; Rižnar, Klavdija; Smigaj, Magdalena; Csete, Mária; Viguie, Vincent; Wejs, AnjaABSTRACT: Defining and measuring progress in adaptation are important questions for climate adaptation science, policy, and practice. Here, we assess the progress of urban adaptation planning in 327 European cities between 2005 and 2020 using three 'ADAptation plan Quality Assessment' indices, called ADAQA-1/ 2/ 3, that combine six plan quality principles. Half of the cities have an adaptation plan and its quality significantly increased over time. However, generally, plan quality is still low in many cities. Participation and monitoring and evaluation are particularly weak aspects in urban adaptation policy, together with plan 'consistency'. Consistency connects impacts and vulnerabilities with adaptation goals, planned measures, actions, monitoring and evaluation, and participation processes. Consistency is a key factor in the overall quality of plans. To help evaluate the quality of plans and policies and promote learning, we suggest incorporating our ADAptation plan Quality Assessment indices into the portfolio of adaptation progress assessments and tracking methodologies.