Representatives of Projects, Initiatives and Networks that contribute with their actions to the implementation of the climate change adaptation policy in our country, met today, Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at the Serafion of the Municipality of Athens, in order to discuss their common challenges as well as the opportunities to highlight synergies presented through the LIFE-IP AdaptInGR Project.
The event took place within the framework of the LIFE-IP AdaptInGR Project and was organized by the Green Fund, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEEN) and the Natural Environment and Climate Change Organization (NECCA).
In her greeting, the representative of the MEEN, Irini Tsilibari (Deputy Head of the Directorate of Climate Change and Atmospheric Quality), mentioned that the networking of the LIFE-IP AdaptInGR Project with other Projects and Initiatives is particularly important because it serves a common goal: the exchange of knowledge and experience around the key issue of Greece's adaptation to climate change and the creation of a community of Projects and Initiatives related to it. At the same time, she highlighted the role of the National Online Information Hub for Adaptation to Climate Change and invited the attendees to participate by providing the Hub with material from their Projects' initiatives, actions and good practices.
For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Green Fund, Ioannis Androulakis, emphasized that the concept of climate adaptation is per se a field of policy that is connected to all sectors of the environment, society and the economy. After all, this is also the reason why the "integration" of adaptation - the so-called 'mainstreaming' - is the demand at the international, european and national level. However, in order for the integration in the various sectors to work, it is important that the Agencies and Projects involved in it are networked with each other and coordinate their actions so that the results of the Projects and Actions can better reach the final recipients .
The program of the event was structured in two sections:
In the first of these, the National Online Information Hub for Adaptation to Climate Change -Adaptive Greece Hub was presented to the general public for the first time. The National Hub, developed by NECCA, provides access to necessary tools, such as climate forecasts for the entire country and useful instructions for the implementation of the climate resilience audit. Its ambition is to be a central point of gathering, highlighting and sharing information about Projects, actions and good practices that contribute to adaptation to climate change.
The second module aimed to facilitate discussion among participants in key areas of adaptation, such as the natural environment, cities and urban centres, energy, tourism, cultural heritage, implementation of policies and Adaptation Plans in Regions and Networks , etc. The main conclusions of the discussion, as well as existing initiatives and networks that are ongoing and operating in the country, were commented on in a panel with the positions of prominent speakers such as Phoebe Koundouri, among others Professor of Economics at the University of Athens and the Technical University of Denmark, President of the European Scientific Association of Environmental Economists - Resource Physicists, who presented the AE4RIA Network, and Christos Giannakopoulos, Director of Research at the National Observatory of Athens, who presented the European platform Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change.
Afterwards, representatives of the Region of Attica and Crete, as well as the European Environment Agency, provided useful examples, as well as ideas from Europe and Greece for the development and connection of nodes and climate change observatories, while the Head of the Directorate of Sustainable Development and of Climate Change of the NECCA, Antigoni Voudouri, and the Coordinator of the LIFE-IP AdaptInGR Project, Ioanna Tsalakanidou (MEEN), summarized the conclusions of the meeting.
The event confirmed the need for greater communication and cooperation between Projects and Initiatives related to Adaptation to Climate Change and concluded with the commitment of the organizing bodies (MEEN and Green Fund) to take into account the proposals of all participants for undertaking further networking actions.