Project Duration: 2025-2029

Funding: Horizon Europe

Website: under construction

Contact Person: Paolo Campo

Partners

Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) (Italy)

INOVA+ – Innovation Services, SA (INOVA+) (Portugal)                                    

International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM-IAMM) (France)                                                                             

VU Foundation (Stichtung VU) (The Netherlands)

European Public Law Organization (EPLO) (Greece)

European Association for Innovation in Local Development (AEIDL) (Belgium)

European Science Communication Institute (ESCI) (Germany)

Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research (BAB) (Austria)

BAB Project Einrichtung mit eigener Rechtspersönlichkeit an der Bundesanstalt für Agrarwirtschaft und Bergbauernfragen (BAB Project) (Austria)

aconium GmbH (aconium) (Germany)

Institute for Rural Structural Research (IFLS) (Germany)

European Rural Development Network (ERDN) (Poland)

Comunidade Intermunicipal do Baixo Alentejo (CIMBAL) (Portugal)

Gemeinsame Region Bucklige Welt – Wechselland (KLAR) (Austria)

Comune di Cavallino Treporti (CCT) (Italy)

Perifereia Thessalias (THESSALY) (Greece)

Vidzeme Planning Region (VIDZEME) (Latvia)

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) (Sweden)

Region Västerbotten (RV) (Sweden)

Aalborg Kommune (AAK) Denmark

Technical University of Denmark (DTU) (Denmark)

Zilina self-governing region (ZSK) (Slovakia)

Zalishchyky City Council (ZCC) (Ukraine)

Mértola Biological Station (EBM) (Portugal)

Polytechnic Institute of Beja (IPB) (Portugal)

Mayo County Council (CARO ASBN) (Ireland)

Europe is warming faster than any other continent, increasing the frequency of floods, wildfires and droughts that threaten people, ecosystems and local economies. Rural areas, particularly Remote Rural Areas (RRAs), are among the most vulnerable due to their reliance on natural resources, limited investment and depopulation.

The GRACE project supports rural and small-to-medium communities in EU RRAs to adapt to climate change and build long-term resilience. Through nature-based solutions, circular economy principles and community empowerment, GRACE strengthens local capacities and enables communities to become agents of transformative change.

A consortium of 27 organisations from 15 countries implements the project through five Demonstrator Regions in Austria, Denmark, Italy, Portugal and Sweden, where innovative, place-based solutions are co-developed and tested. In parallel, five Replicator Regions in Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia and Ukraine work alongside the Demonstrators to prepare for the uptake, adaptation and scaling of these solutions in diverse rural contexts.

By combining nature-based solutions, digital tools and inclusive community participation, GRACE accelerates climate adaptation across Europe’s rural territories, fostering resilient, sustainable and vibrant communities.

CRS, together with the regional partners, will adapt and deploy the Collaborative Systems Mapping of Sustainable Pathways (CoSMoS) method to provide the space for stakeholders to collectively build a shared understanding of their respective regions (T1.2), as well as co-create visions and pathways for transformative climate-change adaptation aimed at systemic change in their respective regions (T1.3). CRS is also co-leading WP5 – Closing skills gaps through community capacitation and interregional peer-to-peer exchanges. Particularly in T5.2, CRS will mobilise wider communities in RRAs to increase citizens’ awareness of climate adaptation, fostering grassroots resilience to climate change. This will be done through targeted “learning-by-doing” actions, such as workshops, exhibitions, learning tours, handicraft exercises, craft and art-based activities, competitions, games, and simulations, among others.

 We invite you to follow the information (news) about the project.