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Find opportunities to support your ideas on adaptation to climate change on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in particular under the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021-2022 12. Missions (work programmes for EU missions).

Six calls are now open and will close on 27 September 2022:

• User driven applications and tools for regional and local authorities, and other end users focusing on climate impacts, data and knowledge (HORIZON-MISS-2022-CLIMA-01-01 - indicative budget €6 million)
• Unlocking of financial resources for investments into climate resilience (HORIZON-MISS-2022-CLIMA-01-02 - indicative budget €6 million)
• Best practices on and piloting insurance solutions for climate adaptation in EU regions and communities (HORIZON-MISS-2022-CLIMA-01-03 - indicative budget €6 million)
• Transformation of regional economic systems for climate resilience and sustainability (HORIZON-MISS-2022-CLIMA-01-04 - indicative budget €6 million)
• Boost the sponge function of landscape as a way to improve climate-resilience to water management challenges (HORIZON-MISS-2022-CLIMA-01-05 - indicative budget €3 million)
• Testing and demonstrating transformative solutions on climate resilience, mainstreaming nature based solutions in the systemic transformation (HORIZON-MISS-2022-CLIMA-01-06 - indicative budget €88.32 million)

How regions and communities can participate

EU regions and cities have different climate vulnerabilities and levels of preparedness and can develop various paths towards a climate-resilient future.

Therefore, the Mission aims to get a wide range of regions and communities on board and assist them, alongside their national adaptation strategy, on their specific journey, whether they are just starting out or are already taking steps towards adaptation to climate risks. 

Research and innovation support will be provided in different ways by

• helping European regions and communities better understand, prepare for and manage climate risks and opportunities
• working with at least 150 European regions and communities to accelerate their transformation toward climate resilience
• delivering at least 75 large-scale demonstrators of systemic transformations on the ground

The Missions Work Programme 2021 amendment was adopted on Wednesday 15 December. The calls are available on the Funding and Tenders Portal. 

Regions and communities that would like to sign the Mission Charter are requested to fill in the following EU Survey. An assessment of the replies and evidence provided will gauge the commitment of the regions and communities to implement adaptation measures to climate change. Regions and communities that show past, ongoing or future initiatives or the willingness to consider adaptation initiatives will be invited to sign the Charter.

Representatives from regional and local authorities will be the sole signatories of the Mission Charter. While the charter is non-binding, signatories declare their willingness to cooperate and align intents with other signatories, to mobilise resources and develop activities in their respective region and communities to reach the adaptation goals. Other entities, such as research institutions or businesses may endorse the Charter to declare their support to the Mission.

Frequently asked questions on the Mission

More information

The Mission Adaptation to Climate Change wants to adopt a systemic approach by looking at several themes such as key community systems like critical infrastructure, land use and food systems, water management, and health and wellbeing, and enabling conditions like knowledge, governance or behavioural change. 

The large-scale demonstrators to be developed as part of the Mission will follow such as systemic approach and feature examples of breakthrough innovations implemented in real life such as floodplain restoration, vertical farming, prototyping of insurance approaches, or a ‘perfectly adapted’ city ready to stand a storm or heatwave.   

In addition, the Mission will take an inclusive approach by also involving citizens. Regions, cities and local authorities will steer the process to build climate resilience “on the ground” in an inclusive way, engaging with local stakeholders, the civil society, the business community, industry, research organisations, and citizens. To this end, the Mission will help regions organise citizen assemblies to bring citizen views into the development of the adaptation policy from the outset. 

• mission-oriented policy for Horizon Europe
• Horizon Europe
• co-design session video on climate adaptation at Research and Innovation Days

The calls are published on the Funding and Tenders portal.