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Spain is a country highly vulnerable to climate change and, as a result of this high vulnerability, the assessment of impacts and the adoption of measures to adapt to climate change is a priority objective. Our country has been one of the first European countries to develop an adaptation policy, materialized in 2006 with the approval of the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PNACC). The development of the PNACC through its Work Programmes has been closely aligned with the main instruments and elements adopted in the European context.

Since the approval of the PNACC and its First Work Programme in 2006, adaptation to climate change has been acquiring greater global relevance and it has become clear that it is a necessary and complementary commitment to mitigation actions, as shown by the successive Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  Portugal, for its part, has just adopted in July 2015 its National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change, which provides for the establishment of an Iberian cooperation system that supports the integrated articulation of the adaptation frameworks of Spain and Portugal, especially in resources and systems shared by both countries. This LIFE SHARA project is a key contribution to the achievement of this goal.

Adaptation to climate change is a very complex area of work, in which the public and private dimensions converge, where there are competencies, responsibilities and the need for coordination at all administrative levels – local, regional, national and European – and where a multitude of sectors and agents interact. In this context, good governance is essential in the development of the Third Work Programme, in order to move towards the ultimate objective of the PNACC: the integration of adaptation in all those sectors, systems, resources and territories vulnerable to climate change.

On the other hand, from the experience of the Spanish Office for Climate Change, there has been a lack of knowledge about what adaptation to climate change consists of, even among professionals from highly vulnerable sectors. This has highlighted the need to make an effort for training, dissemination and awareness-raising at all levels on this issue.

In this context, the LIFE-SHARA project is proposed, whose general objective is to strengthen governance in the field of adaptation to climate change in Spain, considered in the Third Work Programme of the PNACC as a central element that should include a set of actions and initiatives in order to increase collective capacities.

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the governance of climate change adaptation and increase resilience to climate change in Spain and Portugal, in line with the Europe Adaptation Strategy.

This objective is broken down into three specific objectives:

• Strengthen the capacities of the AdapteCCa platform, to improve the quality and quantity of information and facilitate its use as a tool for governance.
• Strengthen technical capacities for adaptation and awareness-raising, through the organization of training courses and awareness-raising activities.
• Strengthen coordination and cooperation between key agents (with the private sector, Spanish administrations and Portugal).

Preparatory actions 

• Establishing the AdapteCCa Baseline: Analyzing Content and User Profiles
• Preparation of a diagnosis of the knowledge generated in Spain in the field of impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, using bibliometric techniques.

Implementation actions 

• Incorporation of new functionalities in the AdapteCCa platform (technological development).
• Improvement of the contents of AdapteCCa.
• Dissemination and dissemination of the information of the AdapteCCa platform with a regional approach.
• Actions to promote improved treatment of climate change adaptation by the media.
• Elaboration and dissemination of narratives based on real cases of impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change (Adaptation Pioneers).
• Preparation of a traveling exhibition on adaptation to climate change with special mention of the PNACC and its main results.
• Organization of an Iberian Conference to promote interaction between actors and communicate the state of the art in climate change adaptation in Spain and Portugal.
• Development of training courses for local entities, university trainers and professionals in the scientific-technical branch.
• Strengthening the coordination of the national platform AdapteCCa with the European platform for adaptation, Climate-ADAPT and other platforms.
• Establishment of a framework for cooperation between the Climate Change Adaptation Units of Spain and Portugal to identify risks, vulnerabilities, priorities and common actions.
• Development of public-private collaboration agreements to carry out actions in the field of adaptation to climate change.
• Development of sectoral seminars of the PNACC with the participation of the different administrations and other agents involved, including the Spain-Portugal cross-border component.
• Evaluation of the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change in Spain.

Within the framework of the project, the following results are intended to be achieved:

• Strengthening the capacities of the AdapteCCa platform.

The project will significantly increase the quantity, quality and flow of information on the platform and the number of users who use it. A 10% annual increase over the baseline in the number of new users signing up for AdapteCCa, a 10% annual increase over the baseline of working groups using AdapteCCa for the development of their initiatives and projects, and a 10% annual increase in the platform’s information contents, are expected. over the baseline and throughout the project period.

• Strengthening technical capacities for adaptation to climate change and raising awareness.

The face-to-face capacity-building activities of LIFE SHARA – 6 courses for more than 200 local government technicians, professionals and university trainers – will be multiplied through their online dissemination through the AdapteCCa platform. Communication actions will lead to an increase in levels of awareness of impacts and adaptation and the Iberian Conference on Adaptation will result in a global qualitative leap in the relevance of adaptation in Spain and Portugal

• Strengthening coordination and cooperation between key actors.

LIFE SHARA will be a key boost in coordination between administrations and with the main sectoral agents, including the private sector. As a result of the project, six agreements with representatives of business organisations and four sectoral seminars are expected to bring together more than 200 experts, which will result in greater integration of adaptation in the relevant sectors.

Two very concrete results are expected in the field of cooperation: one between Spain and Portugal, project partners, to strengthen the exchange of information on shared vulnerabilities and identify common priorities and actions; and another with the European Environment Agency, to strengthen synergies between AdapteCCa and Climate-ADAPT.

Finally, the action to evaluate the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change in Spain will result in the first assessment of the impact of adaptation in Spain throughout the term of the PNACC.