Bridging science and education: The Handbook for Climate Change Adaptation Strategies

Climate change is increasingly affecting nature and people everywhere. Despite the growing scientific evidence on climate effects, a significant gap persists between the produced scientific knowledge and public understanding. High schools act as critical hubs for climate action by increasing environmental literacy and fostering green skills. In the educational frame, it has been perceived that many teachers lack the tools and resources to confidently address and teach about climate change, its impacts, and adaptation. This study introduces a novel guide designed specifically to train teachers of students aged 12 to 18 on the impacts of climate change and effective adaptation strategies. Structured in a progressive sequence, from basic concepts to adaptation actions, the ‘Handbook for Climate Change Adaptation Strategies’ was developed under the CLARKS, ERASMUS+ project, through a co-creation process. Teachers’ feedback was incorporated to identify specific knowledge gaps and align the content with teaching needs, ensuring that it is understandable for teachers with diverse disciplinary backgrounds. During discussions teachers emphasized the need for the identification of climate change effects in everyday life and the distinction between mitigation and adaptation actions. The handbook was created based on the latest IPCC findings, as well as the European Climate Risk Assessment and other international reports. It focuses on the definition of climate change and how climate-related risks arise from the interplay between climate hazards, vulnerability, exposure, and adaptive capacity.

A target area refers to a system that is affected by climate change and is interconnected with other systems. In this handbook five overarching target areas were considered: ecosystems, food and water, human health, infrastructure, and socio-economics. The handbook describes how each system has been affected by climate hazards and presents proposed lines of adaptation for each target area to address ongoing and expected climate change impacts. These lines of adaptation are based on the national adaptation plans from Finland, Spain and Portugal (ERASMUS+ project partners), as well as on the European Union’s international strategies for climate change adaptation. By integrating scientific knowledge with practical educational guidance, this work contributes to strengthening climate change adaptation literacy across generations and supports the implementation of informed adaptation measures.