The ClimateGO project promotes comprehension and awareness of regions and cities in developing better policies for climate-smart and resilient governance (Interreg Europe 2025). One of the concrete measures of the project is arranging webinars on current issues related to climate change. Finnish project partners the Regional Council of Päijät-Häme and LAB University of Applied Sciences hosted the “Climate Change Risks and Adaptation” webinar directed at Finnish stakeholders. The keynote speaker of the event was climate adaptation expert Tuukka Rautio from the Climate Unit of the ELY Centres (Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment).
Rautio (2025) brought up that the year 2024 was the warmest on record, and the global average temperature exceeded the 1.5-degree limit set by the Paris Agreement. According to some studies, the polar regions are warming up even 3–4 times faster than other regions. This also applies to Finland. Even if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were drastically cut today, temperatures would continue to rise because the natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere is slow. To prevent the realization of risks and to increase resilience, identifying climate risks and adaptation is needed. (Rautio 2025.)
Rautio (2025) also stated that climate change mitigation is a global effort, but managing climate change-related risks and adapting to them always requires local planning and implementation. The best way for regions and cities to start adapting is proactively. Proactive adaptation helps to identify, plan and implement activities in advance, and in this way, it is also economically profitable compared to reactive actions. (Rautio 2025.)
A plan guides climate change adaptation in the Päijät-Häme region
Proactive adaptation challenges regions, municipalities and their decision-makers to act in the moment. This is the case also in Päijät-Häme, Finland, where the Päijät-Häme Regional Council and the Häme ELY Centre have compiled a climate change adaptation plan for the region. The original plan was approved in 2023, and it will be updated during the current year with the support of the EU Mission. The document describes the region’s most significant climate phenomena, risks and vulnerabilities, the goals of climate change adaptation and preparedness, as well as regional actions, actors and timetables. (Rosberg & Virtanen 2023.)
The goals of adaptation and preparedness in the Päijät-Häme region are described in the plan as follows:
1. increasing awareness of climate risks throughout the region.
2. making adaptation and preparedness for climate change part of normal work in various public administration sectors, companies and preparedness groups.
3. seizing potential positive impacts. (Rosberg & Virtanen 2023.)
The ClimateGO project arranged a meeting in February 2025, where the Päijät-Häme region’s work on adapting to climate change was assessed and further developed.
Blue-green solutions support local adaptation
In the Košice region of eastern Slovakia, the effects of climate change are becoming more and more visible, especially in winter. Over the past 20 years, the amount of snow cover has drastically decreased. The Košice region is also particularly prone to drought. Therefore, water retention measures are a significant part of the proactive adaptation in the region.
On 21 January 2025, the ClimateGO project partner, Košice Self-governing Region, organized an online workshop titled ‘Water Retention Measures in the Landscape”.
In this workshop, Dr. Martina Zelenáková (2025) presented several Natural Water Retention Measures suitable for urban environments, such as green roofs, rainwater harvesting, permeable surfaces, swales, channels and rills, rain gardens, and retention ponds. Most of these measures are reasonably inexpensive, easy to implement, and suitable for already built environments. The application of these measures supports green infrastructure and reduces vulnerability to floods and droughts.
In the same workshop, Michal Kravcík (2025) reminded of the importance of small water cycles and provided examples of supporting them with local solutions. The renewal of small water cycles over land can temper extreme weather events and ensure growth in water reserves.
Local governance has been actively promoting water retention measures in the Košice region. At the Secondary Technical Industrial School in Spišská Nová Ves, an extensive renovation of the school’s outdoor areas to increase the shade and capacity to storm water storage has been carried out with the help of local governance and with monetary support from the EU. (Kristofova & Meszaros 2025.)
Good administrative practices promote climate-smart adaptation
As the climate continues to warm, extreme weather conditions will increasingly impact our lives in numerous ways. The effects of various corrective measures may only become visible after several years, or even decades. This underscores the urgency for local decision-makers to act promptly. However, understanding specific risks and implementing precautionary measures can be challenging, given the complexity of climate change and its associated risks.
The Steps to prepare for climate change project (LAB 2025) has developed and tested climate change walks especially aimed at local decision-makers. During the climate change walks led by local experts, participants gain insights into local risk sites, receive concrete information and examples related to these sites, and learn about methods to reduce or prevent risks. (Malinen-Lallukka et al. 2024.) Climate walks are recognized as one of the good practices guiding local decision-makers towards more climate-smart adaptation.
Authors
Marjut Villanen works as an RDI Specialist at LAB University of Applied Sciences. She promotes climate-smart decision-making in her work as a project manager in several climate change adaptation projects.
Maarit Virtanen works as a Project Manager at the Regional Council of Päijät-Häme. She promotes climate-smart decision-making in her work with municipalities and other stakeholders through different projects and regional programmes.
Hanna Suutari works as an RDI Specialist at LAB University of Applied Sciences. She promotes climate-smart decision-making in her work through communication.
References
Interreg Europe. 2025. ClimateGO. Cited 19 Feb 2025. Available at https://www.interregeurope.eu/climatego
Kravcík, M. 2025. Water Retention Measures in Practice – Green-Blue Solutions of the Košice Region. Presentation in the Water Retention Measures in the Landscape workshop on 21 Jan 2025.
Kristofova, L. & Meszaros, P. 2025. Water Retention Measures at the Secondary Technical Industrial School. Presentation during the excursion to Spišská Nová Ves on 11 Feb 2025.
Malinen-Lallukka, E., Tuominen, K. & Vanhamäki, S. 2024. Supporting Municipalities in Climate Change Adaptation case Päijät-Häme, Finland. In Vanhamäki, S. & Vitie, P. (eds.). Smart Cities in Smart Regions Conference Proceedings. Lahti: LAB UAS. The Publication Series of LAB University of Applied Sciences, part 81. 117–125. Cited 20 Feb 2025. Available at https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-827-486-8
LAB. 2025. Steps to prepare for climate change. Cited 19 Feb 2025. Available at https://lab.fi/en/project/steps-prepare-climate-change
Rautio, T. 2025. Ilmastonmuutos, ilmastoriskit ja ilmastonmuutokseen sopeutuminen. Presentation in the Ilmastonmuutoksen riskit ja sopeutuminen webinar on 22 Jan 2025.
Rosberg, E. & Virtanen, M. 2023. Päijät-Hämeen ilmastonmuutoksen sopeutumisen suunnitelma 2023–2030. Lahti: Päijät-Hämeen Liitto. Cited 19 Feb 2025. Available at https://paijat-hame.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/220523Ilmastonmuutoksen_sopeutumisen_suunnitelma_2023-2030.pdf
Zelenáková, M. 2025. A Comprehensive Approach to Sustainable Water Management Solutions. Presentation in the Water Retention Measures in the Landscape workshop on 21 Jan 2025.
