Looking back at the two and a halfyears since the start of theOrientGate project, we can happilysay that we have fully met, and insome cases even surpassed, ouroriginal expectations.

It was both challenging and rewarding to work with such a diverse partnership involving 13 countries and a wide range of institutions: nationalhydrometeorological services,responsible for monitoring climatevariability and risk; territorialdevelopment policy organisations,responsible for translating climatevariability and climate riskassessment information into territorialdevelopment planning instruments;and scientific research institutionsthat have provided climate data,ensuring scientific integrity andquality. The project has successfullypromoted enduring workingrelationships between partners at alllevels from local to international and

has therefore created a solidnetwork that will be ready for futurechallenges and activities related toclimate change.

OrientGate has been able toconnect climate change policyplanners and decision makers withthe communities that produceclimate knowledge. The project hasexplored climate risks faced bycoastal, rural and urban communitiesand has contributed to a betterunderstanding of the impacts ofclimate variability and change onwater regimes, forests and agro-ecosystems. Project partners haveanalysed specific adaptation needsin the hydroelectricity, agro-alimentary and health sectors. Thishas resulted in up-to-date climateknowledge for use by policy makers,such as urban planners, natureprotection authorities, regional andlocal development agencies, andterritorial and public works authorities.

The project has successfullyfostered a better understanding ofclimate risks and has identifiedconcrete adaptation measures thatwill be integrated, or that havealready been integrated, intopolicy: in Austria, partners havedeveloped information on theadaptation of forest managementstrategies under climate change tooptimise water supply; in Romania,the relationship between changes inclimate, irrigation requirements andcrop yields has been investigatedand reported; in Greece, scientificresearch carried out by projectpartners on the processing ofgeospatial data and data onclimatic parameters and wetlandfeatures has already beenintegrated into policy in the Strategyfor Wetlands in Attica Region; in

Italy, useful criteria for thesustainable development ofhydropower in the AutonomousProvince of Trento, as well as hazardand risk maps for Puglia’s coastalarea, have been made availablefor policy makers and planners; andin Hungary the most vulnerableurban systems of two municipalitieshave been identified and a numberof appropriate adaptation optionsfor small and medium-sized citieshave been suggested.

In all countries, localcommunities and stakeholders havebeen involved and informed, asscientific knowledge has beenmade more accessible through aseries of training seminars, workshopsand dissemination events. Thesemeetings have generated stronginterest among stakeholders and insome cases the techniquesproposed have been testedsuccessfully, as for example in theagricultural sector by localRomanian farmers. Furthermore, inorder for the knowledge gainedduring the project to be available inyears to come, a web-based dataplatform has been created. Tomake sure that the scientific datawill have the widest possible reach,it has been connected to the EU Clearinghouse on ClimateAdaptation.

For CMCC it has been an honourand a pleasure to lead theOrientGate partnership and to havebeen able to achieve so muchtogether. We are working hard tocapitalise on the experience gainedand to promote new synergies andfuture initiatives.

N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E O R I E N T G AT E P R O J E C T • Issue 6 • December 2014

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Celebrating success!

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2 Climategateway • Issue 6 • December 2014

Strategy for Attica’s Wetlands The 60-page Strategy for Wetlands in Attica Region is one of the outputs of OrientGate activities in Greece. The strategywas prepared drawing on scientific research carried out by OrientGate partners, including the processing of geospatialdata and data on climatic parameters and wetland features, as well as information from programmes and activitiescurrently being implemented. The strategy incorporates elements from the National Strategy and Action Programme onBiodiversity, the Master Plan of Athens/Attica 2021, the River Basin Management Plan for Attica Water District, and theoperational plans of municipalities in Attica Region. It also calls for enhanced research on climate change impacts, thedevelopment of flood forecasting and early warning systems, and the legal designation of wetlands. The network ofwetland areas is considered an important element of green infrastructure. The strategy was presented at a disseminationevent organised in Athens in November by Attica Region. The event was also an opportunity to present the results of PilotStudy 4, with a focus on the impacts of climate change on Attica's wetland ecosystems.

Eleni Mougiakou l Attica Region

Hungary, Italy and Romania hostedfive awareness-raising and learningevents towards the end of 2014.

On September 23, theAutonomous Province of Trento, Italy,organised a final seminar related toPilot Study 5. The event was aimed atproject partners and explored guide-lines, methodologies and indicatorsfor analysing the impacts of climatechange on the hydroelectric sector.The following day, an open dissemi-nation event focused on the effectsof climate change on the manage-ment of water resources for hydro-electric use.

In October, Bucharest hosted thetwo-day event “Climate ChangeAdaptation Measures in Agriculture”,focusing on the results of Pilot Study 2.Participants explored how projectresults can be applied in sectors otherthan agriculture that are also vulnera-ble to the negative impacts ofclimate change, including waterresources in the Danube region. OnNovember 10, a final disseminationevent on Pilot Study 2 results wasorganised in Sfantu Gheorghe,Romania, by EPA Covasna and theNational Meteorological Administra-tion. The event attracted farmers,

representatives of agricultural authori-ties and students.

On November 11–12, Bari, Italy,hosted a stakeholder workshop andstudy day. The workshop focused onplanning for the management ofPuglia Region’s inland and coastalwaters. OrientGate produced valu-able climate change scenarios forthe region, using drought indicatorsthat can help to communicate scien-tific results. During the study sessionparticipants demonstrated to localpolicy makers and institutions varioustools and methods for analysingclimate change impacts on waterresources and coastal areas.

An international workshop washeld on November 12–13 at theRegional Environmental Center inSzentendre, Hungary. Participantsdiscussed the outputs of the project’sThematic Centre on Urban Adapta-tion and Health, including casestudies; field studies; and thepublished results of stakeholderconsultations. The first day was dedi-cated to discussions on climatechange adaptation in urban areas,while the second day explored linksbetween climate change and publichealth. The event included a trainingsession on measuring public health.Experiences from Hungary, Montene-gro and Ukraine on raising awarenessfor responsive action and communi-cation on climate change andhealth topics were also presented.

Wrapping up pilot study results

Nathan Johnson l REC

Seminar participants getset to visit a hydropowerplant in Trento, Italy Photo: Paulo Lima

December 2014 • Issue 6 • Climategateway 3

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Between 2013 and 2015, theGovernment of Romania, throughthe Ministry of Environment andClimate Change (MECC), and theWorld Bank are developing theclimate change and low-carbongreen growth programme OPERA-CLIMA. The main objective is toachieve national targets andmeet EU requirements in the fieldof climate change. The top sixpriority sectors are agriculture,water resources, forests, biodiver-sity, energy and transport, and themain goals of funding applicationsto the Climate Change Reim-bursable Advisory Service (RAS) willcover the most important climatechange impacts that have to bemanaged by each sector.Members of the working groupapproved by the MECC will set outthe most important responses,including cross-cutting measures,for each of the priority sectors. Theresults of adaptation measures inthe context of climate changeimpacts on the agricultural sector,as analysed under the OrientGateproject, provide one of the mostrelevant case studies for otherregions affected by drought andother extreme events. Also, giventhe fact that at the end of 2014 anew revision of the environmentalaction plan for Covasna Countywas initiated, the EnvironmentalProtection Agency of Covasna willhave an opportunity to incorp-orate the results of OrientGate Pilot Study 2 into actions atregional level. The municipality ofCaracal shares a similar goal. Thisapproach will help to build bridges between the scientificcommunity and stakeholderssuch as local/regional authoritiesand farmers.

Building bridges for the future

Hosted by the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change, the OrientGatefinal conference took place on December 2 and 3 in Lecce, Italy. The meetingvenue, Officine Cantelmo, an example of the adaptive reuse of an oldindustrial structure, was an inspirational background for the discussions andknowledge sharing. The event provided an opportunity to review the activities,results and achievements of the OrientGate work packages. The conferencebegan with a roundtable discussion on addressing climate change throughregional cooperation. Partners shared lessons learned, experiences andchallenges, and discussed opportunities for cooperation in the future. Severalpartners pointed out that one of the main challenges was to connect scientificinformation with the needs of practitioners and policy makers. This often meansreaching out to a wide range of stakeholders, many of whom may not befamiliar with the challenges of climate change, and framing scientificinformation in a manner that will lead to policy action. At the same time, it wasemphasised that the project served as a bridge between the scientificcommunity and practitioners from several sectors. Partners agreed that many ofthe challenges remain and expressed their willingness to continue workingtogether and build on the results. Areas of potential future cooperation werealso highlighted, and Alessandra Pala, representing the SEE Programme’s JointTechnical Secretariat, explained the possibilities in the context of the newprogrammes for the SEE geographical area. The second day was dedicated topresenting the OrientGate data platform, which can be regarded as one of themost significant project outputs. Three workshops, chaired by the three thematiccentre leaders, provided an opportunity to present and discuss the results of thesix pilot studies undertaken during project implementation.

Venelina Varbova l REC

CLIMATE CHANGE AND GREEN GROWTH PROGRAMME IN ROMANIA

Partners gather for a finalline-up in Lecce, ItalyPhoto: OrientGate Partnership

On a lighter note: Illustrator Neva Chieregato captures the essence of OrientGate during thefinal conference discussions

Elena Mateescu l NMA

ContactsLead partner, project coordinatorEuro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change (CMCC)Giulia Galluccio l Email: giulia.galluccio@cmcc.itorientgate-projectoffice@cmcc.it l www.cmcc.it

Work Package: Communication activitiesThe Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC)Venelina Varbova l Email: vvarbova@rec.org l www.rec.org

If you would like to subscribe to the project newsletter Climate Gateway, please write to Venelina Varbova.

In order to enhance the impact of the project, the OrientGate partners would behappy to get in touch with other similar initiatives, individual regions with goodpractice in the field, as well as companies and/or organisations carrying out research on the topic. If you have relevant experience to share, please write to Giulia Galluccio or Venelina Varbova.

www.orientgateproject.org

4 Climategateway • Issue 6 • December 2014

OrientGate outputs The Guidelines on Integrating Climate Change Knowledge into Planning isone of the key project outputs. The opening chapter outlines adaptation poli-cies and the adaptation context at EU and national level. The publicationdescribes steps towards integrating science into planning and also covers thebuilding of climate scenarios; assessments of the past and future projections;stakeholder involvement; and the development of indicators and tools forplanning. It analyses vulnerabilities via the six pilot studies carried out under

OrientGate. The guidelines summarise lessonslearned as well as key constraints in terms ofclimate change adaptation, drawing on pilotstudy results. Future challenges and opportuni-ties are outlined, and the publication endswith findings and recommendations relevantto European institutions and national andregional policy makers. The guidebook will be

available on the project website.

The use of climate scenarios andimpact indicators is an importantaspect of cooperation betweenresearchers and decision makers. Aleaflet was produced to explain howOrientGate mapped the variousmethodologies, tools and indicatorsused by SEE meteorological services.The results were used to create theOrientGate Data Platform, whichprovides a single entry point for userssuch as scientists, external experts andpolicy makers. The platform, which isaccessible via the OrientGate

website, ensures the efficient and transparent management of large volumes ofscientific data; an integrated view of data and indicators; and user-friendly dataaccess, browsing and downloading capabilities.

Editors: Réka Prokai, Venelina VarbovaContributors: Martino Bacile di Castiglione,Giulia Galluccio, Nathan Johnson, ElenaMateescu, Eleni Mougiakou, Antonio Navarra,Tomas RehacekDesign and layout: Tricia Barna Copyediting and proofreading: Rachel Hideg,Nathan JohnsonPublisher: The Regional Environmental Centerfor Central and Eastern Europe

ALL EYES ON LIMA

Thousands of government offi-cials, representatives of UNbodies, agencies and intergov-ernmental and civil societyorganisations and media met inLima, Peru, for the 20th session ofthe Conference of the Parties tothe UNFCCC and the 10th sessionof the Meeting of the Parties tothe Kyoto Protocol. In the first twoweeks of December, delegationsfrom 195 countries discussed thenext international climate agree-ment, due to be finalised andsigned at the 2015 COP in Paris.

This year’s COP followed alandmark deal between theworld’s two biggest emitters — theUS and China — which manybelieved would boost the Limatalks. With the new Green ClimateFund, which already has contribu-tions of USD 9.7 billion from over 20countries, many believe thatmomentum for global climateaction is building up.

The Lima talks aimed to lay thegroundwork for a new climateagreement, a goal underscored byCOP20 president, Peruvian Ministerof the Environment Manuel PulgarVidal, who stated that “COP20needs to provide a solid basis for astrong agreement in Paris”.

The talks ended with unanimousagreement on the “Lima Call forClimate Action”, which bringsforward countries’ intended nation-ally determined contributions tothe Paris agreement. The deal isnon-binding and each country hasuntil March to announce the quan-tity of emissions it is willing to cut.This kicks off what is anticipated tobe a difficult negotiation processleading to the Paris COP.

Tomas Rehacek l REC

Giulia Galluccio l CMCC