Strengthening Climate Adaptation through Social Transformation
PRO-CLIMATE is a Horizon Europe funded Research and Innovation project that supports regions and communities across Europe in proactively adapting to climate change. The project addresses the growing gap between climate risk awareness and effective local action by focusing on social transformation, behavioural change, and inclusive governance as key enablers of climate resilience.
Rather than treating adaptation as a purely technical challenge, PRO-CLIMATE recognises that lasting climate resilience depends on people, institutions, and collective decision-making.
Why PRO-CLIMATE Matters
Climate impacts are increasingly affecting European regions, cities, and communities, yet adaptation efforts often remain fragmented, reactive, or insufficiently embedded in local social and governance contexts. Many adaptation strategies fail to deliver meaningful change because they do not adequately consider behavioural dynamics, social norms, or institutional capacities.
PRO-CLIMATE responds to this challenge by developing evidence-based tools and approaches that enable communities to move from awareness to action, supporting fair, inclusive, and locally grounded adaptation pathways.
Our Approach
PRO-CLIMATE applies a systems-based approach to climate adaptation, integrating insights from social sciences, behavioural research, and climate policy. The project combines analytical work with participatory processes to ensure that solutions are both scientifically robust and socially relevant.
Key elements of the approach include:
- Living Labs operating in diverse European regions, where local stakeholders co-create, test, and validate adaptation solutions in real-world settings
- Systems thinking to identify social tipping points and leverage points that can accelerate behavioural and institutional change
- Co-creation and stakeholder engagement involving public authorities, civil society, businesses, and citizens
- Knowledge transfer and upscaling, ensuring that successful practices can be replicated beyond the pilot regions
Key Outputs
PRO-CLIMATE will deliver a set of practical and policy-relevant outputs, including:
- Living lab framework: A comprehensive methodology to establish real-life environments that support the design, implementation, testing, and monitoring of systemic transformations toward climate resilience. This framework combines behavioural insights and governance innovations.
- Analysis of Key Drivers and Barriers: Evidence-based identification of enablers and obstacles that influence social transformation and behavioural change in the context of climate adaptation at the community level.
- Behavioural Change Process Manual: A practical guide outlining step-by-step processes to support systemic behavioural transformations aligned with climate resilience objectives.
- Web-based Policy Sandbox Tool: A digital platform that integrates the Multi-Agent Computer Model (MACM) and the TransCliR tool, enabling users to simulate behavioural, governance, and environmental dynamics in support of evidence-based climate adaptation planning).
- Evidence-based Policy Recommendations: A set of concise, actionable policy guidelines derived from project findings and case study experiences, aimed at supporting climate adaptation and behavioural change across European contexts.
Living Labs
The project is implemented through Living Labs in a diverse set of European regions, reflecting different climatic, socio-economic, and governance contexts. These Living Labs serve as testing grounds for innovative approaches and as reference cases for replication and scaling.