CLIMINVEST is joint effort of sustainability experts and finance/investing experts to improve the bankability of climate adaptation solutions. In this direction, the project will develop, integrate and validate tools and techniques that will empower climate adaptation stakeholders to develop “bankable-by-design” (BbD) projects with a positive ROI, including projects that are continually assessed in order to proactively identify and remedy issues that can affect their bankability. Moreover, CLIMINVEST will facilitate private investors to assess them, and to include them in their portfolios and ESG strategies. Based on the project’s BbD framework, local/regional governments and operators of climate-adaptation solutions will greatly benefit from CLIMINVEST techniques and blueprints for developing and deploying bankable solutions that can be integrated with broader projects and deliver co-benefits in conjunction with other climate mitigation efforts. Furthermore, CLIMINVEST will provide investors with risk assessment and ESG reporting tools for projects with climate adaptation elements towards lowering the barriers that hinder their engagement in climatic adaptation projects. CLIMINVEST will develop and offer a marketplace of bankable climate adaptation projects and solutions, which will boost the discoverability of “best practice” solutions, while also facilitating their replication, repurposing and wider use. The project will build a vibrant ecosystem of interested stakeholders around this marketplace, including local/regional governments, sustainability experts, private investors, and policy makers. The project’s platform and associated ecosystem will serve as a basis for the exploitation, sustainability and wider use of the project’s results. In this direction, the project will devise and validate models for the monetization of services of the project’s marketplace.

Floods and droughts put increasing pressure on the European society, with estimated annual damages from river flooding of €7.6 billion and drought-induced losses over €9 billion. Fostering sponge measures as nature-based solutions to boost the natural retention function of landscapes is promising but implementation must be rapidly upscaled and innovative approaches to increase the integration, involvement and cooperation of diverse actors from local to basin wide levels are urgently needed. SpongeWorks aims to demonstrate practical, effective, economically feasible and inclusive approaches and solutions towards enhancing the sponge functioning of interconnected groundwater, soil and surface water systems at regional scale. It applies an integrative multi-actor approach to demonstrate the effectiveness of multifunctional sponge measures for improved water and soil management for enhancing water retention in three large demonstrators in the Pinios (GR), Lèze (FR) and Vecht (NL/DE) river basins. In each demonstrator, SpongeWorks evaluates existing sponge measures, draws lessons-learned and best practices, and implements new sponge measures. The effectiveness of large-scale implementation is assessed to co-create long-term sponge strategies with action plans and roadmaps at landscape scale. Broad dissemination of best-practices, promotion of exemplary demonstration areas as lighthouses, and targeted replication in eight associated regions ensures long-lasting impact of this work. SpongeWorks contributes to transformative change of landscape management to ensure regions are more adapted and resilient to climate change impacts on soils, waters, habitats and biodiversity. By combining scientific excellence and practical know-how from established communities of practice, as well as facilitating mutual learning and sharing of successful strategies, SpongeWorks will catalyse a shift in the pace of implementation of sponge measures and strategies across Europe and beyond.

REHUBS addresses the issues of climate vulnerability in rural areas and small to medium-sized communities, which are particularly susceptible to climate risks such as droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, floods, and biodiversity loss. REHUBS’ goal is to enhance climate resiliency of these areas by developing an integrated framework of adaptation solutions, advanced digital tools, and participatory approaches, tailored to the specific needs of the rural communities. The project will design, implement and validate a Climate Risk Assessment model, an Advanced Early Warning System, Flood and Drought Modelling tools, Smart Irrigation Systems, a Circular Water Recovery Treatment, a Rapid Wildfire Detection System, as well as a Risk Assessment and Adaptation Platform that will recommend a list of cost-effective nature based solutions (NBS). REHUBS will promote knowledge transfer, enhance the adaptation capacity of local authorities, and upskill local actors through an online academy, an AI support chatbot and through fostering stakeholder collaboration through the project’s established Rural Micro Hubs (RMHs). The solutions developed in REHUBS will be implemented and validated across four Demonstration Cases, with replication in three additional Replication Cases, ensuring that they, not only address immediate climate risks, but also build long-term resilience by integrating climate adaptation strategies into local governance frameworks. Additionally, the project will introduce innovative financial instruments to support the sustainable implementation of these solutions, ensuring both their cost-effectiveness and replicability across different European regions. The project's outcomes will contribute significantly to enhancing the adaptive capacity of rural communities, supporting EU climate goals, and ensuring socio-economic and environmental sustainability in regions facing critical climate challenges.