A Guide to the Regional Resilience Journey (RRJ)

This task involves collecting evidence to evaluate a region’s climate risks, vulnerabilities, and current climate risk management capabilities. Key activities include reviewing climate impact studies, adaptation measures, disaster risk reduction efforts, historical cost of disasters, policies, strategies, budgets, resources, and institutional frameworks.

The task is critical for effective climate adaptation planning, enabling stakeholders to assess the direct and indirect impacts of climate risks on various sectors. This process establishes a solid factual basis to inform subsequent stages of the Regional Resilience Journey and identifies gaps in data and knowledge that should be addressed through further research and innovation.

To complete this task:

• Develop a data collection plan: Identify data needs, sources, methods, resources, roles, and timelines for gathering and organising data.
• Collect historical data and information: Compile data on past climate events, impacts, and socio-economic and environmental dynamics. Engage stakeholders to enrich the evidence base with diverse insights.
• Identify relevant frameworks: Identify relevant legal, fiscal, institutional, and operational frameworks, including policies and legislation addressing climate risks.
• Analyse evidence: Synthesise collected data, identify gaps requiring additional research, and extract key insights to outline the region’s adaptation and resilience needs.

> RRJ Task 1.1.1 Gather evidence(PDF)

This task involves defining and specifying an initial common and agreed set of problem statements and decision-making frameworks (for example, assessment and evaluation criteria) against which to formulate the climate adaptation pathways and innovation portfolio.

Proper problem framing ensures clarity on what the Climate Resilience Strategy aims to achieve, transitioning discussions from vague ambitions to actionable goals with measurable outcomes. It helps build consensus and legitimacy among stakeholders, fostering engagement throughout the Regional Resilience Journey. Risk-based problem framing also supports the formulation of adaptation pathways (see Task 3.2.1) by considering the evolution of climate risks, system vulnerabilities, and uncertainties in timing and magnitude.

To complete this task:

• Review evidence and system understanding: Reflect on data, underlying causes, and resilience needs, building on Task 1.1.1 and Task 1.2.1.
• Formulate initial set of problem statements: Define and prioritise specific challenges impacting key community systems.
• Formulate initial set of planning objectives: Specify objectives addressing climate risks and fostering broader resilience goals.
• Identify initial set of performance metrics: Establish measurable criteria to evaluate adaptation options and pathways.
• Set boundary conditions: Define constraints like time horizons, geographic scope, and system boundaries to guide planning.

> RRJ Task 1.1.2 Frame the problem(PDF)

This task uses systems thinking to create a shared understanding of the regional system's components, functions, and interactions that influence climate resilience. It focuses on mapping the system holistically, identifying relationships within and between key community systems, and prioritizing climate hazards, their drivers, and potential risks.

By organizing system components into a comprehensive map, the task highlights dependencies, feedback loops, and potential opportunities or barriers for improving resilience. It also examines cascading and indirect effects, stakeholder roles, and processes that could benefit from enhanced enabling conditions.

To complete this task:

• Identify system boundaries: Define and prioritise relevant hazards, key systems, and subsystems, considering physical, socio-economic, ecological, and institutional factors.
• Map relevant systems: Use spatial and conceptual tools to visualise system components, relationships, feedback loops, and barriers, identifying drivers of risk and potential intervention points.
• Consider cascading effects: Analyse indirect and compounding effects of climate hazards throughout the system.
• Examine stakeholder roles: Map stakeholder contributions and influences to identify areas for collaboration and innovation.

> RRJ Task 1.2.1 Map relevant systems(PDF)

This task is about identifying and analysing stakeholders essential to developing and implementing your Climate Resilience Strategy. It emphasises mapping stakeholders’ power dynamics, their influence on planning, and their role in building system resilience. Special attention is given to vulnerable groups and existing inequities, recognising that climate impacts and adaptation measures can disproportionately affect certain populations. The task aims for inclusivity, ensuring no stakeholder is overlooked and critical actors, such as potential ambassadors, are identified. The stakeholder mapping process is collaborative, involving staff from various departments and refining the analysis over time.

To complete this task:

• Identify all potential stakeholders: Build a stakeholder map using insights from the systems map (Task 1.2.1) and include relevant sectors and groups.
• Assess and prioritising stakeholders: Use a stakeholder assessment matrix to evaluate stakeholders’ interest, influence, and engagement needs.
• Develop stakeholder profiles: Create detailed stakeholder profiles analysing power dynamics, responsibilities, and roles to guide engagement strategies.

> RRJ Task 1.2.2 Identify stakeholders(PDF)

This task focuses on conducting a Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) to understand the current and future climate risks relevant to your region.

It involves three main phases: 

• Risk identification, which pinpoints significant hazards and associated risks; 
• Risk analysis, which examines the magnitude and likelihood of these risks;
• Risk evaluation, which prioritises risks based on urgency, severity, and the region's adaptive capacity.

The task also includes determining methodologies, collecting data, and developing scenarios to enhance the assessment's accuracy and applicability.

To complete this task:

• Identify risks: Use baseline data, stakeholder input, and existing studies to identify hazards and risks, considering both current and future scenarios.
• Analyse risks: Apply the chosen methodology to assess magnitude and likelihood of risks, analyse system interdependencies (cascading impacts), and identify critical points for intervention.
• Evaluate risks: Prioritize risks by evaluating their impact, urgency, and adaptive capacity.

Associated activities:

• Formulate a risk assessment methodology (quantitative, qualitative, or semi-quantitative).
• Collect or generate supplementary data to refine the assessment.
• Develop scenarios based on system mapping and prioritised risk drivers.

> RRJ Task 1.3.1 Assess climate risks(PDF)

This task focuses on evaluating and monitoring the capabilities required to implement a Climate Resilience Strategy and support your region’s transition toward resilience. The objective is to identify the regional readiness for transformative adaptation and highlight areas for improvement. This process involves determining current resilience capabilities, identify gaps, and develop a roadmap to address them. The insights gained enable a targeted approach to strengthening resilience capacities, ensuring efficient use of resources and fostering collaboration among stakeholders.

To complete this task:

• Measure baseline resilience capacity: Use the self-assessment questionnaire to assess your regional resilience capacity and readiness for the Regional Resilience Journey.
• Identify resilience gaps: Pinpoint areas needing improvement.
• Identify key enabling conditions to leverage: Determine conditions to enhance public policy innovation.
• Develop a roadmap to enhance resilience maturity: Plan capacity-building activities and set performance criteria.
• Share outcomes with stakeholders: Foster collaboration through shared understanding and dialogue.

> RRJ Task 1.3.2 Assess capabilities(PDF)

This task focuses on obtaining high-level political endorsement and commitment for the development and implementation of your Climate Resilience Strategy and Investment Plan. It involves integrating resilience goals into broader policy areas by coordinating with governmental initiatives, aligning policies across departments, and harmonising adaptation objectives. It aims to foster a whole-of-government approach by engaging local, regional, and national stakeholders, addressing policy obstacles, and leveraging opportunities identified in legal and institutional frameworks, also beyond the regional level. This includes establishing a strategic connection between your resilience efforts and existing policy structures.

To complete this task:

• Understand your current policy mix: Map relevant policies, strategies, and programmes at EU, national, regional, and local levels, identifying alignment and reform needs.
• Identify entry points to policy cycles: Pinpoint stages in policy cycles for presenting Regional Resilience Journey outputs.
• Map relevant bureaucratic processes: Clarify administrative steps and key decision-makers required for strategy endorsement.
• Develop an initial policy roadmap: Plan the integration of your strategy across varying interests and policy alignments.

The following activities should take place continuously along your journey:

• Engage, communicate, and collaborate with colleagues at the identified departments and/or agencies: Communicate with stakeholders, arrange information sessions, and build ambassador support within departments. Use science and evidence to support your statements, building on the knowledge you gathered at the beginning of your journey.
• Arrange meetings with political representatives: Discuss resilience goals with political representatives, highlighting regional challenges and bottlenecks. Capitalise on the engagement of key stakeholders, by demonstrating broad interest and participation in thematic activities.
• Establish partnerships: Create or use forums for multi-level collaboration with other regions, national ministries, and research institutions.
• Secure explicit commitments: Obtain letters of intent, formal endorsements, or signatories to showcase support.

> RRJ Task 2.1.1 secure high-level support(PDF)

This task focuses on creating and executing a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy to guide participation throughout the Regional Resilience Journey. It defines how and when various stakeholder groups will be involved — whether in co-creation, consultation, validation, or information-sharing — and outlines the methods, channels, and timing for engagement. Engaging stakeholders meaningfully is essential for building ownership, trust, and commitment to the Climate Resilience Strategy.

To complete this task:

Co-develop a stakeholder engagement strategy:
• Identify stakeholders, their roles, and objectives.
• Define participation processes for each output (e.g., vision, action plan).
• Specify tools, channels, logistical arrangements, and support mechanisms.
• Establish timelines for stakeholder involvement.
• Include principles for equitable participation and conflict resolution.
• Develop a communications strategy to raise public awareness.
Implement the strategy:
• Create “safe spaces” for inclusive discussion and collaboration with neutral facilitators.
• Establish participatory mechanisms (e.g., citizen assemblies, advisory committees, or community hubs).
• Raise awareness through workshops and communication materials.
• Engage regional stakeholders in decision-making and adaptation efforts, fostering continuous collaboration.

> RRJ Task 2.1.2 Foster engagement(PDF)

This task involves exploring alternative desirable futures for your region considering its potential climate risks. It aims to stimulate stakeholder thinking about what the future could look like, beyond the conventional climate adaptation strategies, to encompass climate resilience as a central organising principle. These futures are narrative descriptions that integrate social, ecological, and technical dimensions, and represent desirable outcomes that address key challenges in your region, including climate resilience.

Unlike risk-based scenarios, this task focuses on how your region could adapt to varying conditions, not just the risks it faces. Involve a diverse group of stakeholders in the process, including vulnerable groups, youth, the private sector, and the public sector, to ensure comprehensive perspectives.

To complete this task:

• Agree on challenges that your futures need to address so that these would be considered desirable: Identify which challenges your future scenarios must address (e.g., climate risk, inequality, regional development).
• Understand what is already changing and how these changes affect your region’s future: Identify emergent changes, both local and global, that could influence your region’s future.
• Select relevant changes to explore possible futures: Choose the most impactful changes and drivers to explore, ensuring at least one climate driver is included.
• Identify levers of change for each desirable future: Determine the key factors that would enable your region to reach each desirable future.
• Develop narratives/visuals representing the selected futures: Create short descriptions and visuals representing selected futures, highlighting social, ecological, and technical features.

> RRJ Task 2.2.1 Explore possible climate resilient futures(PDF)

This task focuses on the co-creation of a shared vision for your region’s transition to climate resilience. It involves a wide participatory process to align on a common understanding of the desired future and the changes needed to achieve it.

The vision should be ambitious, transformative, and realistic, specifying a clear timeframe for its realization. This task sets the stage for broader engagement activities and helps align stakeholders on the region’s climate resilience journey. It also serves as a key moment for decision-making, ensuring that stakeholder priorities are represented in the development of the strategy.

A shared vision is essential for creating a cohesive narrative and a unified direction for the region. It provides the foundation for the Climate Resilience Strategy, including adaptation pathways and the investment plan.

To complete this task:

Contextualise: Set the stage for your stakeholders by explaining the process, goals, and expected outcomes, aligning them on prior work done (e.g., climate risk assessments).
Co-develop the vision:
• Develop guiding principles for decision-making and prioritization.
• Debate and agree on a shared vision, based on desirable futures and stakeholder preferences.
• Create a narrative and visual elements that reflect the social, ecological, and technological aspects of the vision.
Communicate the vision: Spread the vision through campaigns, events, and international conferences. Gather support by collecting signatories and promoting the vision widely.

> RRJ Task 2.3.1 Co-create a shared vision for the transition to climate resilience(PDF)

This task focuses on understanding the broad systemic changes required to achieve your region’s climate resilience vision. It helps identify and agree on the changes needed across different sectors, as well as the assumptions underlying these changes. The task does not focus on specific activities but rather on understanding the chains of outcomes and how stakeholders may respond to these changes. It clarifies dependencies, needs, and weaknesses in the vision, providing insight into the transition toward resilience in the short-, medium-, and long-term. This task makes the level of ambition and commitment required from regional stakeholders explicit.

To complete this task:

Define broad systemic changes and high-level outcomes:
• Revisit the vision and system map to frame the required changes.
• Identify and describe the longer-term, mid-term, and short-term changes as outcomes.
• Analyse the changes, ensuring all sectors and stakeholder groups are covered, and consider potential conflicts.
• Identify assumptions (positive enablers or risks) that may influence these changes.
Align these changes with principles and planning objectives:
• Cross-check the outcomes with guiding principles, planning objectives, and performance metrics.
• Share the aligned outcomes, assumptions, principles, and objectives with stakeholders through simplified diagrams and narratives.
> RRJ Task 2.4.1 Reflect on how change is supposed to happen(PDF)

This task involves identifying a wide range of adaptation options that can reduce risks and help achieve the desired outcomes. It includes researching best practices from similar regions and engaging with stakeholders to gather diverse ideas.

The goal is to create a portfolio of adaptation options that offers flexibility and resilience in addressing climate challenges while addressing the underlying drivers of risk and vulnerability. These options may include technological, informational, nature-based, community-based, financial, governance-related, behavioural, and structural interventions.

The task emphasises considering options across various levels (individual, regional, national) and sectors to better understand potential interventions for your region. By exploring multiple approaches, you can identify the most effective interventions, balance traditional and innovative methods, and consider local expertise.

To complete this task:

• Research potential interventions: Study successful climate adaptation strategies from similar regions and review relevant case studies, scientific research, and best practices.
• Co-create with stakeholders: Engage local communities, experts, and policymakers in co-creation workshops to gather diverse perspectives on potential options.
• Adopt a systemic perspective: Focus on interconnected, multi-functional interventions that address both direct and indirect climate risks.
• Categorise and screen: Create an inventory of adaptation options, categorizing them by scale, type, sector, and timeframe, ensuring alignment with your region’s objectives and capacity.

> RRJ Task 3.1.1 Identify options for adaptation pathways(PDF)

This task focuses on evaluating the effectiveness, applicability, and potential performance of each identified adaptation option against climate risks, considering benefits, trade-offs, and synergies. It involves assessing how well these options align with planning objectives and their capacity to drive systemic change.

Guided by the Theory of Change, the task identifies the conditions needed for successful implementation and provides insights into what works, why it works, and what resources are required. This analysis forms the foundation for crafting effective adaptation pathways and innovation portfolios.

Assessing adaptation options is vital for selecting strategies that not only mitigate climate risks but also contribute to broader societal goals, such as economic development, social well-being, and public health. By prioritising options with multiple benefits and minimal adverse effects, the process ensures alignment with regional policy goals and stakeholder expectations.

To complete this task:

• Establish evaluation criteria: Define criteria for assessing performance, feasibility, and transformative potential, ensuring alignment with regional goals.
• Conduct feasibility studies: Evaluate technical, economic, social, and environmental feasibility.
• Analyse opportunities: Assess enabling conditions for future feasibility and impact.
• Stakeholder review and validation: Engage stakeholders for feedback and alignment with their needs.
• Prioritise options: Rank options based on benefits, feasibility, and transformative power.

> RRJ Task 3.1.2 Assess the effectiveness of options for adaptation pathways(PDF)

This task focuses on creating adaptation pathways to achieve your region’s climate-resilient vision (Task 2.3.1). It involves sequencing prioritised adaptation options (Task 3.1.2) over time and identifying key adaptation decision moments. Pathways ensure flexibility, allowing for adjustments as conditions evolve.

Short-term actions should leave future options open, enabling a scalable response to changing climate and socioeconomic conditions. Key activities include selecting and sequencing low-regret options, identifying adaptation limits, and iteratively building pathways to address risks over short-, medium-, and long-term time horizons. Formulating adaptation pathways supports proactive, flexible, and robust long-term planning under uncertain future conditions to avoid maladaptation and stimulate transformation.

To complete this task:

• Characterise promising options: Categorise prioritised options as short-, medium-, or long-term based on timing, effectiveness, feasibility, and costs/benefits.
• Identify potential adaptation limits: Define the conditions under which options may no longer achieve adaptation objectives.
• Explore combinations of options: Build logical combinations of short-, medium-, and long-term options to create pathways.
• Visualise pathways alternatives: Use tools like tables or metro maps to illustrate pathways and identify key decision moments.

> RRJ Task 3.2.1 Formulate pathways to climate resilience(PDF)

This task focuses on evaluating the adaptation pathways developed in Task 3.2.1 to assess their capacity to deliver broader resilience goals and ensure they are flexible, feasible, robust, and effective. It aims to identify pathways that align with the region’s shared vision (Task 2.3.1) and Theory of Change (Task 2.4.1) while performing well under planning uncertainties.

The evaluation process prioritises a manageable number of pathways that best achieve both adaptation and broader resilience goals. Stakeholder engagement is integral to the evaluation, fostering alignment and ownership over the selected pathways.

To complete this task:

• Select an evaluation methodology and criteria: Use approaches like Multi-Criteria Analysis, Cost-Benefit Analysis, or Social Return on Investment to assess pathway performance. Criteria should address broader resilience objectives and implementation factors.
• Evaluate pathway performance: Assess alternatives against the criteria to identify synergies, trade-offs, and performance outcomes.
• Rank pathways: Aggregate results to rank pathways based on their comparative effectiveness.
• Select and visualise preferred pathways: Highlight the best-performing pathways in a simplified pathways map for inclusion in the Climate Resilience Strategy.

> RRJ Task 3.2.2 Evaluate pathways to climate resilience(PDF)

This task involves creating a portfolio of innovation actions to support and accelerate the implementation of your adaptation pathways. These innovations encompass technical, social, institutional, and behavioural changes, aiming to enhance climate resilience through a holistic, whole-of-system approach.

Unlike adaptation options, innovation actions complement and enable pathways without directly addressing risks. The resulting portfolio, aligned with the region’s shared vision (Task 2.3.1) and Theory of Change (Task 2.3.2), integrates innovation policies, skills development, and regulatory adjustments. The portfolio evolves iteratively, being refined based on performance metrics and new insights.

To complete this task:

• Identify innovation actions: Build your portfolio by identifying actions aligned with your adaptation pathways through open calls and collaborative, multi-stakeholder workshops. Focus on synergies and appropriate composition.
• Assess portfolio quality: Evaluate the portfolio using criteria like scalability (amplification potential), synergies (pooled resources and cost-efficiency), and risk vs. return (balancing quick wins and long-term transformation).
• Communicate the portfolio: Clearly articulate the portfolio’s goals and management strategies to stakeholders for broad alignment and support.

> RRJ Task 3.2.3 Develop a portfolio of innovation actions(PDF)

This task involves translating the near-term actions from your Climate Resilience Strategy into a concrete action plan. While the strategy outlines long-term goals, visions, and adaptation pathways, the action plan provides a detailed roadmap for short-term implementation, focusing on activities, required resources, responsibilities, and timelines.

It prioritises activities, identifies enabling conditions (e.g., policy changes or stakeholder engagement), and defines performance indicators to ensure alignment with your vision and Theory of Change. Action plans are iterative, evolving with strategy progress and stakeholder input. By providing a clear, actionable framework, the plan enhances resource mobilisation, supports stakeholder engagement, and ensures the feasibility of short-term and long-term objectives.

To complete this task:

• Identify short-term actions: Define actions needed within 1-5 years, covering immediate measures and enabling conditions (e.g., policy updates, stakeholder engagement, behaviour change).
• Prioritise actions: Use criteria like costs, benefits, impacts, and dependencies to rank and categorise actions for balanced implementation.
• Integrate into policy mix: Align actions with broader policies, identify involved agencies, and ensure multi-level governance.
• Publish and disseminate the action plan: Clearly present actions with timing, mainstreaming strategies, financing approaches, and key performance indicators. Ensure political support and communicate the plan broadly.

> RRJ Task 3.3.1 Develop an action plan to implement your climate resilience strategy(PDF)

This task involves creating a MEL plan for your Climate Resilience Strategy and Action Plan to ensure effective implementation, assess outcomes, and adapt strategies as needed. The MEL plan operates at two levels: strategic, focusing on long-term objectives and guiding principles, and operational, addressing short-term goals and actions. It provides accountability to stakeholders and integrates learning cycles to evaluate progress, identify challenges, and adapt to new circumstances.

By combining monitoring, evaluation, and learning, the MEL plan ensures continuous improvement and alignment with your climate resilience vision. For regions relying on external funding, MEL plans demonstrate impact, increasing access to finance and aligning with requirements like the EU Taxonomy on Sustainable Finance.

To complete this task:

• Define your audience and purpose: Identify stakeholders, reporting cycles, and participants in learning processes.
• Establish a baseline : Assess the current regional context using Phase 1 data and additional relevant information.
Strategic MEL:
• Monitor guiding principles, results, and outcomes.
• Track adaptation pathways to identify approaching challenges, limits, and opportunities.
• Use data and contextual observations for adaptive management.
Operational MEL:
• Monitor key milestones and outputs for the Action Plan.
• Evaluate the Innovation Portfolio for outcomes and governance.
• Track financial aspects of the Investment Plan, including funding mobilization and use of proceeds.
• Communicate the MEL plan: Share with stakeholders, incorporate feedback, and ensure clarity and relevance in the process.

> RRJ Task 3.3.2 Develop a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan(PDF)