Periodic Reporting for period 2 - DISTENDER (DevelopIng STratEgies by integrating mitigatioN, aDaptation and participation to climate changE Risks)
Période du rapport: 2023-06-01 au 2024-11-30
Actions related with climate change (CC) emphasize the urgent need to develop policies that prioritize both climate mitigation and adaptation efforts to effectively address the negative impacts of CC. The DISTENDER project has focused on developing comprehensive adaptation and mitigation strategies to address projected future risks and vulnerabilities, with an emphasis on transformative measures needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce future adverse climate impacts. Through a participatory approach, DISTENDER has created a methodological framework that generates socio-economic climate scenarios and strategies tailored to specific case studies. These scenarios integrate bottom-up local knowledge with top-down data from global and regional models, ensuring that they take into account unique regional characteristics. This allows supporting holistic and context-specific strategies that address the diverse needs of different regions. DISTENDER has also implemented a set of cross-sectoral and multi-scale modelling tools for climate impact assessment from a physical and economic point of view, based on local climate projections obtained by applying dynamical downscaling techniques. The project has tested its methodological framework and tools in five diverse case studies - from urban to transnational scales - and is supported by five other follow-up cases to improve the applicability and replicability of the methods. This multilevel approach generates information that is tailored to the different socioeconomic and environmental contexts of each region, enabling the promotion of robust and tailor-made climate solutions. The knowledge generated will be shared through a Decision Support System (DSS), which will include the experiences and results of the case studies and will help future users to find climate resilient strategies. The DSS includes a tool for policy makers to rank strategies according to a set of climate-related indicators, in line with their specific priorities and concerns.
Social sciences and humanities play an important role in the DISTENDER project, as they are involved in defining methodologies, outcomes and their impact. The project’s emphasis on co-creation and participatory approaches is deeply rooted in the principles of social sciences and humanities, ensuring that the perspectives of different stakeholders are integrated in the design of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Social sciences and humanities play an important role in the DISTENDER project, as they are involved in defining methodologies, outcomes and their impact. The project’s emphasis on co-creation and participatory approaches is deeply rooted in the principles of social sciences and humanities, ensuring that the perspectives of different stakeholders are integrated in the design of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.
The main achievements during the first 18 months of the project are:
• The socio-economic scenarios for the five Case Study Sites (CCS) were co-produced through a collaborative and participatory process involving local stakeholders and external experts during the second round of workshops, replicable methodology.
• High spatial resolution climate projections, generated through dynamic downscaling techniques, complement earlier statistically derived projections, providing detailed local data that support sectoral impact models and inform risk and vulnerability assessments.
• Sectoral impact models were applied in the five CCS to assess the isolated impacts of climate changeand the combined effects of climate and socio-economic scenarios, providing critical insights for risk assessments and the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies.
• The sectoral impacts identified were translated into economic impacts and analized with macroeconomic assessments conducted at national, Austrian, and EURAF levels, providing valuable insights for risk assessments and the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies.
• The project co-designed integrated climate adaptation and mitigation strategies for the five CCS through stakeholder workshops that developed transformative pathways based on climate projections and collaborative efforts.
• The project finalized the design of the Decision Support System (DSS) during this period, with functionalities to explore localized climate impacts and rank adaptation and mitigation strategies using a multi-criteria decision analysis framework.
• Communication, dissemination, and networking efforts were significantly expanded during this period, fostering collaboration with sister projects and broader networks The monitoring methodology was applied to monitored the project.
• The socio-economic scenarios for the five Case Study Sites (CCS) were co-produced through a collaborative and participatory process involving local stakeholders and external experts during the second round of workshops, replicable methodology.
• High spatial resolution climate projections, generated through dynamic downscaling techniques, complement earlier statistically derived projections, providing detailed local data that support sectoral impact models and inform risk and vulnerability assessments.
• Sectoral impact models were applied in the five CCS to assess the isolated impacts of climate changeand the combined effects of climate and socio-economic scenarios, providing critical insights for risk assessments and the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies.
• The sectoral impacts identified were translated into economic impacts and analized with macroeconomic assessments conducted at national, Austrian, and EURAF levels, providing valuable insights for risk assessments and the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies.
• The project co-designed integrated climate adaptation and mitigation strategies for the five CCS through stakeholder workshops that developed transformative pathways based on climate projections and collaborative efforts.
• The project finalized the design of the Decision Support System (DSS) during this period, with functionalities to explore localized climate impacts and rank adaptation and mitigation strategies using a multi-criteria decision analysis framework.
• Communication, dissemination, and networking efforts were significantly expanded during this period, fostering collaboration with sister projects and broader networks The monitoring methodology was applied to monitored the project.
1. Increased stakeholder participation
The level of stakeholder participation exceeded expectations, with significant contributions from local actors and external experts in the co-creation of socio-economic scenarios, climate strategies and transformation pathways
2. Advanced integration of climate projections
The combination of dynamic downscaling techniques with previously developed statistical projections has provided localised climate data that could be used in sectoral impact analyses.
3. Localised socio-economic scenarios and land use data
The project successfully produced localised socio-economic scenarios and associated land use change data using the ICLUE model, providing detailed insight into regional dynamics. These results have been keys in understanding sectoral impacts and informing the development of tailored adaptation and mitigation strategies.
4. Production of detailed impact and vulnerability maps
DISTENDER has produced high-resolution maps and GeoTIFF files detailing climate impacts, risks and vulnerabilities year by year until 2049. These results provide critical visual tools for understanding temporal and spatial changes, contributing to an improvement in the information available for decision making.
5. Decision Support System (DSS)
The design of the DSS has progressed significantly, incorporating advanced functionalities such as GIS-based spatial analysis and multi-criteria decision making tools that will allow policy makers to prioritise strategies based on their ideas
The level of stakeholder participation exceeded expectations, with significant contributions from local actors and external experts in the co-creation of socio-economic scenarios, climate strategies and transformation pathways
2. Advanced integration of climate projections
The combination of dynamic downscaling techniques with previously developed statistical projections has provided localised climate data that could be used in sectoral impact analyses.
3. Localised socio-economic scenarios and land use data
The project successfully produced localised socio-economic scenarios and associated land use change data using the ICLUE model, providing detailed insight into regional dynamics. These results have been keys in understanding sectoral impacts and informing the development of tailored adaptation and mitigation strategies.
4. Production of detailed impact and vulnerability maps
DISTENDER has produced high-resolution maps and GeoTIFF files detailing climate impacts, risks and vulnerabilities year by year until 2049. These results provide critical visual tools for understanding temporal and spatial changes, contributing to an improvement in the information available for decision making.
5. Decision Support System (DSS)
The design of the DSS has progressed significantly, incorporating advanced functionalities such as GIS-based spatial analysis and multi-criteria decision making tools that will allow policy makers to prioritise strategies based on their ideas