Climate Change : Adapting to The Impacts, by Communities in Northern Peripheral Regions

Aim

The overall objective of the project is to establish a sustainable advice and training service for community climate change adaptation across the whole of the Northern Periphery.

The project, and the eventual information, training, and advice service, will have a particular emphasis on identifying how climate change may bring opportunities for fostering the sustainability of communities in the Northern Periphery through local employment opportunities, social benefits, and environmental management.

Participating regions: Scotland - Cairngorms National Park and Glen Urquhart

Sweden - Lycksele and Åre

Finland - City of Rovaniemi, Kittilä and Kolari

Norway - County of Sogn og Fjordane and Flora

Greenland - Sisimiut, Ilulissat and Uummanaq



Objectives

The project will undertake a number of key activities over a three-year period, with communities and community sector stakeholders across five regions of the Northern Periphery, to build the necessary knowledge:

Investigation, collation and communication of relevant information on potential direct and indirect impacts of climate change to small peripheral rural communities;

Development of adaptation strategies by these communities to avoid or reduce the negative impacts of climate change, while taking advantage of opportunities;

Implementation of adaptation demonstration projects with a focus on trans-national activities;

Establishment of a formal mechanism to disseminate knowledge for community adaptation.

Five work packages will jointly contribute to the overall objective. Work packages 2 and 3 will develop the capacity for adaptation, work package 4 will evaluate the realities of delivering adaptation actions, and work package 5 will bring all the lessons together and create a sustainable service, providing information, training and advice relating to community climate change adaptation.

Outcomes

The knowledge gained will initially be made available to all those participating, and then to non-participating communities and stakeholders, through a variety of regional and international dissemination events throughout the project and, in the long term, through the establishment of a formal service. This will ensure a high quality in the content and delivery of information, and the capacity to remain abreast of emerging knowledge relating to climate change, likely impacts, and opportunities for adaptation.