Towards tailored adaptation services for sub-national actors in Europe: results from a KIC pathfinder study

Efficient access to relevant knowledge is crucial in the implementation of climate change adaptation action at sub-national level and needs to cover information on climate, vulnerabilities and adaptation, as well as specific methodological guidance and operational tools. However, with a scattered landscape of available adaptation knowledge, actors have difficulties in identifying and accessing appropriate support. This paper presents results of a survey aiming at capturing the needs from local actors for climate change adaptation, based on a framework of adaptation information categories. It was run within the Climate-KIC one-year project ATLA (Adaptation Tool box for Local Authorities). Covering 5 sub-national territories in Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Spain, the survey targeted at local authorities and public institutions working closely with local governments and using a multi-sectoral approach. The results indicate an existing imbalance between perceived information needs and available information offer, but also an imbalance between stated information gaps and information needs. Against this background we discuss open challenges in providing efficient adaptation services.