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  • BAB 083/25: GRACE - Growing Climate Resilience in Remote rural Areas through Community Empowerment

BAB 083/25: GRACE - Growing Climate Resilience in Remote rural Areas through Community Empowerment

Europe is warming faster than any other continent and the effects of climate change (CC) on the European continent, such as rising average temperatures, an increase in hot days, heavy precipitation or changes in precipitation patterns, will further increase the likelihood and intensity of climate hazards. This can lead to devastating floods, forest fires or droughts that jeopardise the population, infrastructure, natural systems and the supply of vital ecosystem services to society, as well as having negative economic effects. Therefore, the European Commission has responded with several policy instruments and objectives to tackle climate change, including the EU Green Deal, the EU Adaptation Strategy or the Horizon Europe Mission on Climate Adaptation. Other flagship strategies, such as the long-term vision for the EU's rural areas, also aim to strengthen resilience to climate change. Rural areas and their communities are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change because they cover large areas and landscapes and therefore have a greater diversity of climate risks, and local vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, are disproportionately affected. In addition, rural areas provide space for important economic activities such as agriculture, forestry and tourism, which are directly dependent on natural resources and the weather. The urban-rural divide, characterised by economic decline in rural areas, shrinking populations and ageing, is further exacerbated by a lack of basic infrastructure or lower levels of digitalisation, as public funding and resources are primarily allocated to populous urban areas. However, the well-being and prosperity of cities also depend on the resources, products and services provided by rural areas and their communities.

GRACE will focus on Remote Rural Areas (RRAs), which account for 50% of all rural areas in the EU. RRAs in particular have little capacity to implement transformative measures to strengthen their climate resilience and must therefore make the greatest efforts to effectively counter the effects of climate change.

Objective

GRACE aims to address the specific needs of rural and small/medium sized communities in remote rural areas of Europe in order to strengthen their adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change and empower them to become agents of change and take transformative action.

GRACE will develop and implement a multidimensional portfolio of innovative multifunctional climate change adaptation solutions specifically tailored to the needs of RRAs. These solutions, which will be jointly developed in five Demonstrator Regions (DRs) - including the Bucklige Welt in Austria - are based on nature-based approaches and are expected to bring broad social as well as economic benefits. In parallel, five Replicator Regions (RRs) will prepare the adoption of these innovations. The project aims to strengthen institutional adaptive capacity, address climate risks in a targeted manner, promote local social and economic activities, create new business opportunities, promote the sustainable use of natural capital and counteract depopulation and ageing in rural areas. This initiative will make rural areas and small and medium-sized communities more resilient and better prepared for the expected impacts of climate change.

Planned process, implementation

GRACE is structured in three pillars that form the framework for six work packages. Pillar A - Community-based transformative experimentation spaces for climate change adaptation: In WP1, key local communities will be mobilised, areas characterised, shared adaptation visions developed and suitable adaptation options identified. In WP2, the demonstrator regions are prepared for and supported in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of adaptation measures. Pillar B - Resources and knowledge on climate adaptation: WP3 develops new datasets, guidelines for data collection in RRAs, climate risk profiles and climate adaptation pathways for DRs (Demonstrator Re-gions) & RRs (Replicator Regions), and a digital dashboard to support RRAs. WP4 contributes to the creation of climate change governance models in DRs&RRs, assesses the socio-economic benefits of tested adaptation solutions and supports their integration into RRAs. Pillar C - Impact Booster for Climate Resilience: In WP5, the capacities of local stakeholders in the RRAs are built and climate-friendly measures for citizens are developed. In WP6, communication, dissemination and exploitation of the project are implemented. WP7 includes project management and coordination of the entire project.

The BAB is involved in all work packages and is primarily responsible for WP 2 (‘Demonstrating, evaluating and upscaling climate change adaptation solutions’) and two associated tasks (T2.2 ‘Demonstrating CCA solutions’, T2.3 ‘Monitoring, evaluation and learning’).

Work 2025

- Collaboration and comments on WP1
- Preparatory work for WP2
- Preparatory work and exchange of information with the Austrian case study (DR) ‘Bucklige Welt’

Schedule

Project start: 03/2025
Project end: 12/2029



Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Project Leader

GRUENEIS, Heidelinde

DI.in Dr.in Heidelinde GRUENEIS

Mountain Areas Research and Regional Development

Team

ERNST, Daria

MSc Daria Ernst

Mountain Areas Research and Regional Development
LAPPÖHN, Sarah

Mag.a Sarah LAPPÖHN

Agricultural, Environmental and Food Systems
LATIFI, Somaye

PhD Somaye Latifi

Rural Sociology and Library
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