Demonstration and validation of innovative methodology for regional climate change adaptation in the Mediterranean area

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

Progress in the preparation of climate change adaptation strategies varies across the Mediterranean region, with many countries still needing to carry out evaluations and validation of their proposals. Methodological gaps remain in the preparation of holistic strategies, and much of the current work on climate change adaption is focused on specific sectors (water, forests, agriculture, health) or on spatial planning (local, regional, national). Better integration is needed to ensure improved coordination of multi-discipline approaches. The Catalan Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation aims to address this challenge. It contains more than 100 different coordinated climate actions, but such measures need to be thoroughly tested to ensure their effectiveness when mainstreamed.

OBJECTIVES

The LIFE MEDACC project aimed to test some of the proposed measures in the Catalan Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation. Pilot actions would be designed, implemented and monitored at different sites in order to help quantify the impact of applying adaptation measures. These actions targeted the following sectors:

Domestic and urban water use – the project planned to investigate optimal water management processes that achieve water savings while being energy efficient and having a low negative environmental and social impact;

Agriculture – the project aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of measures for reducing water stresses linked to agricultural consumption, including different crop varieties, irrigation systems and sustainable soil management techniques; and

Forestry -- pilot actions would help to quantify the effects of forest management on the health of forests, water availability and the fire risk.

Furthermore, the project planned to assess the climate and land use change impacts and vulnerabilities of selected watersheds, diagnose and evaluate the adaptation measures that had been already applied in those watersheds, and propose a strategy for adapting those watersheds to climate change through the development of an action plan.

RESULTS

The LIFE MEDACC project carried out demonstration activities in a range of sectors – water use, agriculture and forest management – to test some of proposed measures in the Catalan Strategy to Climate Change Adaptation, to reduce the vulnerability of three watersheds (La Muga, Ter and Segre) to the impacts of climate change. The team engaged stakeholders by setting up a monitoring and management panel that assessed the climate and land use change impacts and vulnerabilities of the selected basins.

The project first analysed historical climate data to identify the territorial vulnerabilities of the three watersheds. It then developed five socioeconomic scenarios for climatic modelling (GOTILWA+, Canadian DC index, Bioclim) up to 2050. From this analysis, three action plans were drawn up comprising measures to adapt agriculture, forests and water management in the three watersheds to the effects of the climatic change.

For forests, pilot actions were carried out targeting holm oak in La Muga, Scots pine in Ter and black pine in Segre. These allowed calculations to be made of the current water needs as well as those required in the future. Pilot actions in agriculture included mulching, displacement of crops and advanced irrigation management, while in the area of water management, hydrological and climate analysis enabled the team to be able to carry out future projections under the climate scenarios and changes in land use. Taking a multidisciplinary and integrated socio-eco-hydrological approach allowed climate change impacts to be evaluated at the watershed level. From the data acquired, the project could then develop adaptation indicators for the three watersheds in terms of forest, agriculture and water management.

The project showed that it is possible to develop demonstration activities on pilot sites that quantify the effects of applying adaptation measures. Its analysis of detailed scales to assess territorial vulnerabilities to climate change is particularly innovative, applying downscaling methods to obtain local-scale climate scenarios or ad-hoc socioeconomic scenarios. The beneficiaries presented the project’s results at several technical conferences and produced four scientific papers. The project received wide press and TV coverage.

The project contributed to the objectives of EU policy on adaptation to climate change by improving watersheds’ resilience and adaptability to climate change impacts. It also helped meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive to assess alternatives to ensure ecologic stream flows in the selected watersheds. The developed indicator-based methodology is in line with the European Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.

Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).