Outline of this report

This report provides a Europe-wide state-of-play of adaptation activities, which is presented in three sections.

Section 1 frames the issue of adaptation to climate change within the context of policy-making, and provides an overview of the rationales for public intervention on adaptation.

Section 2 presents the main findings stemming from the self-assessment survey sent to the European countries in May 2013. The section is split up into the following eight Key Topics (sub-sections 2.1 to 2.8), which are also illustrated in Figure 1.2 below:

1. Public and policy awareness of the need for adaptation
2. Knowledge generation and use
3. Planning adaptation
4. Coordination of adaptation
5. Stakeholders involvement
6. Implementation of adaptation
7. Transnational cooperation
8. Monitoring, reporting and evaluation

Figure 1.2 Illustrative schematic overview of the eight Key Topics in connection with the policy cycle (Key Topics in black; stages of policy cycle in green)

Findings for each Key Topic are presented according to the following structure:

1. Key messages: this section summarises the findings in the form of short take-away messages.
2. What does this Key Topic include?: this section defines the scope of the Key Topic within the context of this report, and lists the questions from the self-assessment survey used to compile the Key Topic.
3. Findings from the self-assessment survey: this section reports the main findings from the self-assessment survey under a series of sub-headings reflecting the key messages.
4. Examples from individual countries: the self-assessment survey allowed countries to submit information about examples that they consider as good adaptation practices, and this section reports some of these examples relevant to the Key Topic.
5. Discussion of findings: the self-assessment survey’s findings are put in perspective and discussed within the context of other sources of information (e.g. EEA, 2013; EC, 2013a; EC, 2013b, IPCC-WG II 2014 and other scientific literature).

Key Topics can be read independently, depending on the reader's main interests. The complete set, however, provides a broad overview of the state of play of adaptation in European countries.

Section 3 provides thoughts for future adaptation action by addresses issues that are likely to shape the future of adaptation in Europe. It builds on all previous chapters and reflects also on gaps in our understanding of how adaptation proceeds and how it could be supported further.