Putting climate adaptation
on everyone's agenda

Municipalities often struggle with limited capacity and resources for adaptation. Smaller municipalities may even lack dedicated adaptation or resilience departments.

Support is needed, but without sufficient information and resources, engaging citizens, stakeholders, and even municipal colleagues to get their buy-in becomes a challenge.

This poses a challenge to the local government:

How can they make climate risks tangible to mobilise different stakeholders and create a shared understanding of the need for action?
Illustration of a heatwave strategy
Logroño
Logroño is a medium size city located in the north of Spain in the region of La Rioja with more than 150 thousand inhabitants.
— Agenda Setting
Case Study 4

SolutionLogroño, Gdynia and Lillestrøm used a combination of REACHOUT climate services to find answers​

Making the risk tangible

Thermal Assessment Tool

Climate services can shed light on local climate change impacts, offering a starting point for making risk tangible.

In Logroño, the Thermal Assessment Tool provided visualisations of past, present, and future heatwaves.

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This enabled different municipal departments to understand the scale of the problem and integrate this knowledge into policies like the Urban Heat Plan of Logroño.

Figure 1:
Historical heatwaves over time for Logroño - produced by Tecnalia
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Priority

Turning data into actionable priorities

Climate Stories

To make climate risks relatable and actionable, Logroño, Gdynia and Lillestrøm developed Climate Stories tailored to each city. These stories use data and local insights to craft narratives that explain complex climate issues in simple, engaging ways.

The stories balance the needs of diverse stakeholders —from policymakers to residents— and provide clear calls to action.

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Co-creation was at the heart of the process. By integrating input from different departments, technical liaisons, and local stakeholders, the cities ensured that each Climate Story reflects the unique challenges and aspirations of the community they serve.

Figure 2:
The climate story of Gdynia informs and inspires citizens to engage in solutions and take action themselves - produced by CAS
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Action

Defining a plan of action

Leveraging the tools

The tools are scaling up, shaping policy targets, and guiding decisions across the region:

After Logroño, Gdynia, and Lillestrøm, Milan, Athens, and Cork City created their own climate stories—many now published on municipal websites to drive key messages. Tecnalia is co-designing customized visualizations with city representatives for the Thermal Assessment Tool to make heatwave data more user-friendly.
Cities are integrating this data into policy and planning documents like Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) and Climate Adaptation Plans.

Insights for other local governments

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Cities often struggle with limited staff, resources, and coordination, making adaptation planning difficult. For REACHOUT cities it was key to:
This collaboration ensured the data was not just technical but actionable, aligning with the cities' broader goals.​

Insights on the ground

Hear from city officers, tool developers, and experts driving change.
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