Evolving Regions

07/01/2019 - 07/31/2023

Integrated adaptation to climate change is to be broadly strengthened in NRW with the Evolving Regions (formerly LIRCA) project funded under the EU LIFE programme. The aim is to test an open concept in practice, which will be applied in seven NRW regions and one region in the Netherlands, so that it can then be established as a standard for regional and integrated climate adaptation in NRW and Europe.

Project Funding:

The project is funded by the EU environmental program LIFE and co-financed by the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture, Nature and Consumer Protection NRW.

Project Description:

The central building block of the project is the regional climate adaptation processes. Evolving Regions supports seven regions in NRW and one region in the Netherlands in a process lasting 19 months each, starting with a region-specific climate impact analysis via a scenario-based, task-oriented multi-actor process and ending with advice on possible financing options for the measures developed. The project follows the method of integrated roadmapping, which identifies the relevant actors in the respective region on the basis of a specific sequence of process steps and enables these actors to develop strategies and goals as well as measures for climate adaptation for the region. At the end of the process, the respective roadmap is a coherent planning document that takes into account all previously developed contents.

The activities in the regions are supplemented by a community building process, which enables a constant exchange between the regions. In addition, a training for consultants will be developed at the same time, which will enable consultants to support the regional processes and to apply the procedure beyond the project.

The results of the project will be offered in a learning workshop series that will communicate the method and procedure to other interested regions and municipalities. In addition, expert workshops will be held to further develop the thematic focal points in the various fields of action. To communicate the project results and raise awareness among other stakeholders, the project uses the storytelling method, in which complex interrelationships are made tangible in stories.

The approach is framed by a multi-level monitoring concept that both evaluates the activities of the regional processes with regard to criteria previously defined in a region-specific goal-setting workshop and evaluates the entire project based on the previously defined indicators.

Cooperation partner:

TU Dortmund / Social Research Center
TU Dortmund / Institute for Spatial Planning
German Institute of Urban Affairs
Prognos AG
BEW - The training center for the supply and disposal industry gGmbH
ZDF Digital
University of Twente
Wesel district
Steinfurt district
Siegen-Wittgenstein district
Soest district
Minden-Lübbecke district
County Coesfeld
District Lippe
Municipality of Zwartewaterland (NL)

Project goals:

Improving the resilience of participating regions to the impacts of climate change.
The integration of the cross-sectoral issue of climate adaptation into municipal planning processes.
To support competence and capacity building in the regions through a networking process and the development of a consultant market for climate adaptation.