User-Driven Climate Resilience Across Southern European Regions

This study presents the ClimEmpower project, a user-driven initiative aiminged at enhancing climate resilience in five climate-vulnerable European regions: Andalusia (Spain), Central Greece, the Troodos Mountains (Cyprus), Osijek-Baranja County (Croatia), and Sicily (Italy). Recognizing the critical need for localized adaptation strategies, ClimEmpower integrates community insights with scientific data through a structured Community of Practice (CoP) model, enabling stake-holders to co-develop climate resilience applications tailored to regional needs. The project ap-plies a multi-faceted methodology, including climate risk assessments, resilience evaluations, and user-centered application design to address specific regional challenges such as water scarcity, extreme heat, and flooding. Preliminary/First Ffindings reveal significant gaps in high-resolution data, cross-sectoral collaboration, and community engagement, which impede effective adapta-tion. By fostering knowledge exchange and improving data accessibility, ClimEmpower enhances regional adaptation capacities and supports broader European climate resilience goals. This study underscores the importance of community-driven approaches in climate resilience planning and proposes a scalable model for empowering vulnerable regions through tailored applications and multi-stakeholder engagement.