Europe is warming faster than any other continent, with 2023 being the hottest year on record. This rapid Climate Change (CC) increases the frequency of extreme weather events, such as floods, wildfires, and droughts, endangering people, infrastructure, ecosystems, and the economy. From 1980 to 2020, climate disasters cost the €12 billion annually, and future hazards could raise this figure to €170 billion per year. In response, the European Commission (EC) has enacted policies like the European Green Deal (EGD), the European Adaptation Strategy, and the European Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC), all aiming to boost resilience, particularly in rural areas that are disproportionately vulnerable due to their dependence on natural resources and exposure to diverse climate risks. Rural areas, especially Remote Rural Areas (RRAs), face even greater obstacles like lower institutional capacity, underinvestment, and depopulation, limiting their ability to adopt climate adaptation measures. Covering 50 % of the European Union (EU)'s rural territories, RRAs urgently need empowerment to tackle CC effectively. GRACE project focuses on addressing the needs of rural and small and medium communities localised in EU RRAs to adapt and build resilience against CC, by strengthening their capacities and empowering them to become actors of change and take transformative action. A consortium of 27 organizations from 16 countries implements the project, with 5 Demonstrator Regions (DRs) in Austria, Denmark, Italy, Portugal and Sweden co-developing innovative solutions centered on nature-based approaches. These solutions are designed to deliver multifunctional, place-based social, environmental and economic benefits. In addition, circular economy principles will be embedded within these solutions to promote sustainable resource use, regenerative practices, and closed-loop systems, further enhancing local adaptation capacity. At the same time, the project will enhance local socio-economic activities, promote circular business models, maximize the value of natural capital, and help mitigate the challenges of depopulation and aging in RRAs. 5 Replicator Regions (RRs) in Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia and Ukraine will prepare for adopting the innovations developed by the DRs. Finally, GRACE will also engage Observer Regions (ORs) to follow and potentially replicate these solutions, fostering widespread CC adaptation across Europe’s rural areas. By integrating Nature-based Solutions (NBS), digital technologies, and inclusive community participation, GRACE will catalyze transformative adaptation in EU rural territories, ensuring that RRAs can successfully navigate climate challenges ahead and secure a sustainable, climate- resilient future.

JUSTSAFE project aims to design and implement just and inclusive strategies for enhancing climate resilience and digital transitions, prioritizing the most vulnerable and marginalized social groups such as the elderly, children, women and girls in all their diversity and individuals with disabilities who disproportionately suffer from climate change impacts. The project underscores the necessity of local authorities making direct investments that impact vulnerable communities significantly. A recent workshop, "Digitalization for Climate Action: Co-Creation, Collaboration and Just Transitions," highlighted the importance of co-creative digital activities for inclusive participation, activism's role in digital and climate spheres, the engagement of political actors in prioritizing climate measures, and the support for sustainable innovations in cities to prevent the exclusion of vulnerable groups. This project aligns with the EU Mission Adaptation to Climate Change, promoting a comprehensive approach to inclusive adaptation to climate change.

Natural and human-caused disasters, including uncontrolled urbanization pose multiple short-term and long-term risks, such as building inhabitants being vulnerable to heat or cold waves, older people or other vulnerable individuals struggling to reach safe places during emergencies, and citizens not receiving timely alerts from public authorities regarding impending flash floods, or firestorms, among others. The RETIME project aims to address impactful changes at both the contextual district level and individual homes. It will introduce a data-driven tool that aggregates existing data from weather stations, sensor networks, and satellite images, automated on-site surveys to simulate the impacts of current phenomena and future projections. The innovative aspect lies in an advanced computational analysis that generates prospective scenarios based on socio-architectural and environmental studies, combined with local, territorial remote and on-site surveys. RETIME will develop a suite of 4 innovative adaptation solutions for reducing risk in urban areas: 1) A sensor-based IT automated alert system; 2) A Digital Building Twin (DBT); 3) A digital Building Renovation Passport (BRP); 4) A Resilience Knowledge Hub and Decision Support platform. These tools will be sensitive and capable of prioritizing alerts based on the architectural and societal context-specific features in three pilot areas (in Portugal, Slovakia, and Estonia). RETIME will meet citizens' real-time needs while supporting control and decision-making processes by: identifying vulnerable groups and critical hotspots, enhancing building resilience; utilizing existing datasets and forecasting computational tools; delivering adaptation plans with a focus on carbon-neutral lifecycle awareness; and increasing citizens' understanding of natural disasters and their multi-scale impacts. Overall, RETIME strives to create a more resilient, informed, and prepared urban environment for all citizens.