Fostering Climate-Resilient Development through Collaborative Practices: Insights from the CLIMEMPOWER Project in Sicily.

Addressing the intertwined challenges of climate change requires embedding principles of climate-resilient development — carbon neutrality, adaptation, and well-being — into sectoral and cross-sectoral transformations. However, conventional approaches often fail to deliver the systemic change required to meet these goals at regional and local levels. This paper presents findings from the CLIMEMPOWER project, a Horizon Project that applies science-driven methodologies with community priorities to support climate-resilient development in five South European regions (Andalusia, Central Greece, Sicily, Cyprus, Osijek-Baranja County).

The paper presents the process of establishing the Community of Practice in Sicily, a region particularly vulnerable to climate-induced risks such as heatwaves, pluvial flooding, and drought. The CoP (established by the Sicilian Region with the support of Plinivs) engaged policymakers, public officials at regional and metropolitan levels, and researchers in a collaborative effort to address these pressing challenges. Through the co-design process, a key priority emerged: the development of tools to assess and ensure the climate-proofing of investments to be submitted for EU funding under the 2021–2027 financial programs.

To achieve this objective, the collaborative efforts can be viewed from a dual perspective: on one hand, climate models, based on detailed analyses of hazards and expected impacts, provide science-driven insights that help institutions in making informed decisions to enhance regional resilience. On the other hand, to address the priorities of local governments and institutions in allocating resources for new infrastructure or the renovation of existing ones, the models identify vulnerabilities and offer recommendations to identify the climate benefits and social, economic co-benefits that can be achieved based on the proposed actions.This process ensures that investments align with long-term climate resilience goals and that climate risks are considered early in the development and design stages.

These initiatives aim to improve the region's ability to allocate resources efficiently, prioritizing actions that are capable of simultaneously delivering significant social, economic, and environmental co-benefits for local communities. The study emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder engagement to achieve equitable and effective climate transitions, providing actionable insights for researchers, policymakers, public officials and practitioners striving to operationalize climate resilience and enhance regional adaptive capacities.