Working together to shape climate adaptation successfully: a discussion between the Green Teams

INTERREG Green Team: European Partners’ Meeting in Dortmund

10/21/2026

Group photo from the Green Team Partner Meeting. The participants are lined up in the factory hall at the Union Gewerbehof in Dortmund. — Group photo Green Team Partner Meeting

The EU Interreg-funded "Green Team" project, initiated by the Province of Antwerp and TU Dortmund University, aims to embed climate adaptation permanently within local authorities. At their project meeting in Dortmund, the partners from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, including the flagship municipalities of Papenburg, Emsland, Middelburg and Putte, as well as other experts, are drawing up concrete policy recommendations for the local to European levels.

The Social Research Centre (sfs) at TU Dortmund University organised a two-and-a-half-day project meeting as part of the Green Team project. Partners and local decision-makers met in the workshop at the Union Gewerbehof and at the sfs premises to take stock of progress and discuss the next steps to be taken together.

The first day focused on developing concrete policy recommendations at European, national, regional and local levels. Drawing on their personal experiences and those gathered during the project, the participants prioritised the recommendations. As the project progresses, these will be adapted for the respective target groups and published.

The second day was opened by Christoph Kaletka, Deputy Director of sfs, with a presentation on the history and profile of the social research centre. The local authority partners then presented specific measures, tools and plans for climate adaptation. The ‘lighthouse’ municipalities of Papenburg, Emsland, Middelburg and Putte outlined the results already achieved in their respective action plans and outlined the next steps planned.

In a concluding discussion session, moderated by TU Dortmund University, the participants addressed the question of how the principles of co-creation tested in the Green Team project can continue to have an impact on municipal climate adaptation even after the project has ended.

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