How to empower rural communities towards climate resilience

Europe is warming faster than any other continent, with 2023 being the hottest year on record. This increases the chances of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and wildfires. These can be a significant risk to people, infrastructure, and ecosystems. Such climate disasters also have economic impacts, with the associated costs increasing each year.

Rural areas, especially remote rural areas (RRAs) are disproportionately vulnerable due to underinvestment, depopulation, dependence on natural resources, and lower institutional capacity. These factors limit their ability to adopt climate adaptation measures. Policies like the European Green Deal, the European Adaptation Strategy, and the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) are intended to boost resilience against climate change impacts, particularly for rural areas.

However, more work is needed to sufficiently address the challenges RRAs face in relation to climate-related risks. RRAs urgently need empowerment to confront these challenges and tackle climate change effectively. This requires diverse, innovative solutions tailored to the individual needs of different regions.

Growing climate resilience in remote rural areas through community empowerment (GRACE)

GRACE is an EU-funded project involving 27 organisations from 16 countries. It focuses on addressing the needs of RRA communities to build their resilience against the effects of climate change. To achieve this, the project integrates nature-based solutions, digital technologies, and inclusive community participation, assessed in stages.

Strategies are trialled in five demonstrator regions in Austria, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. These regions were selected to include RRAs and signatories of the MACC charter and to represent biogeographical diversity and varied climate risk profiles, ensuring practical transferability. Elisa Furlan of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, explains, “Each demonstrator region was paired with a replicator region from a similar biogeographical and climatic context and facing similar climate risks, creating shared learning and mutual adaptation opportunities.” So, methods showing promise will be tested in replicator regions in Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Finally, observer regions will follow and potentially replicate solutions, promoting widespread climate change adaptation across European rural areas. 

By strengthening adaptation capacities and resilience to climate change and empowering RRAs to take transformative action, the project will address the specific needs of these communities. The project demonstrates a portfolio of innovative climate adaptation solutions specifically tailored to RRAs to increase institutional adaptation, address climate risks, and contribute to policy objectives.

How it works

GRACE adopts place-based, community-centred strategies for climate adaptation, designed in collaboration with local authorities and residents. It customises solutions to the environmental, socioeconomic, and governance characteristics of each rural area, building their capacity to adapt to climate-related risks. According to Furlan “this approach ensures inclusivity, involving vulnerable and aging populations, and integrates both traditional and local knowledge combined with digital innovation to produce context-specific adaptation pathways.”

Nature-based solutions include developing landslide barriers from natural materials like wooden blocks and stones in Bucklige Welt–Wechselland, Austria, protecting vulnerable communities. Drones provide real-time data on the effectiveness of these barriers. In Limfjorden, Denmark, wetland restoration and buffer zones in coastal and lowland areas are being used to absorb excess water and strengthen flood protection. In addition, GRACE incorporates augmented and virtual reality to encourage climate-smart behaviours and promote community learning.

Inclusive community participation represents a means to support collaboration between local stakeholders while strengthening communication and learning within project activities. In Cavallino-Treporti, Italy, GRACE is developing an eco-museum, utilising cutting-edge technologies and displaying the impacts climate change has on local ecosystems. In addition to educating about challenges that climate change poses, the museum will demonstrate effective adaptation strategies. According to Gaetano Di Gregorio, a representative of Cavallino-Treporti “the eco-museum will have an educational as well as monitoring value, showcasing the interconnectedness of coastal protection and agricultural sustainability.”

The project’s findings will fill a knowledge gap regarding the lack of available climate risk assessments in RRAs. Using new data generation and mapping techniques, GRACE will develop detailed climate risk analysis to reflect complex interactions between different hazards and their impacts across various rural landscapes, improving responses to climate challenges. This is accelerated through peer-to-peer learning and community mobilisation through local and EU-wide communication. According to Di Gregorio, “The project aims to examine and potentially export best practices to other regions.” He continues, “Specifically, in Cavallino-Treporti, the project intends to monitor the resistance of sea defenses built using nature-based solutions and the cultivation of halophytic plants to cultivate land affected by salt intrusion. Data relating to these aspects will be monitored and transformed into data accessible to the public and visitors.”

Benefitting rural communities

The GRACE project embeds circular economy principles within the solutions developed to promote sustainable resource use, regenerative practices, and closed-loop systems, which enhances adaptation capacity while improving value chains. For example, Di Gregorio explains, “Monitoring cultivation in soils compromised by excessive salinity can have a real impact on the agricultural economy and its future, as it can offer new opportunities for cultivation and the maintenance of agricultural production. Storm surge protection also plays a significant role in maintaining existing agricultural and tourism activities.” This, in combination with developing digital connectivity and skills to empower communities, as Furlan states, “will help counter depopulation, attract young workers, and generate sustainable livelihoods aligned with Europe’s climate transition goals.”

To ensure the continued well-being of rural communities facing climate challenges, supporting them in minimising climate-related risks and developing sustainable activities that help them prosper is vital. As Di Gregorio states, “Remote rural communities are highly exposed to the effects of climate change and perhaps more vulnerable, as agriculture is often the dominant sector and the one most affected by climate change.” Furlan expands, highlighting the wider impact of the project in empowering RRAs, “Strengthening their resilience is essential to secure Europe’s environmental stability, food security, and social cohesion. GRACE directly contributes to the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change goal of preparing 150 regions and communities for climate resilience by 2030.”

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