Community adaptation to drought stress: historical examples from the Mediterranean and Central Europe

Drought is one of the leading natural hazards in the Mediterranean and Central Europe. It produces direct impacts across multiple sectors and ecosystems, but it also triggers a complex network of cascading effects. As with most climate-related extreme events, drought impacts strongly depend on the socio-economic development and vulnerability of the affected societies. This implies that some sectors were historically much more exposed to drought stress than they are today, while impacts in others have emerged or intensified in modern times. Overall, due to the lower efficiency of agriculture and the limited industrial and infrastructural capacity, droughts were among the most threatening hazards in large parts of Europe in the past.

At the same time, societies have developed a wide range of adaptation strategies to reduce or mitigate these impacts. Over the last millennium, drought has been addressed through multiple approaches, including increasing water storage, developing irrigation and distribution infrastructure, improving groundwater use, adapting crops and agricultural practices, and establishing community rules for water governance.

Across the Mediterranean and Central Europe, many historical strategies show strong similarities, suggesting technological exchange and knowledge transfer between regions through governmental, administrative, and community-based practices.

Here we provide an integrated overview of major short- and long-term historical adaptation strategies, and we illustrate practical responses through selected case studies from Hungary, Italy, and Spain. Finally, we identify key turning points in drought adaptation and discuss major successes and failures in the millennial development of drought prevention and management practices.