The Med-IREN project aims to provide actionable demonstration on how to climate proof the Mediterranean critical infrastructures, across critical sectors, by introducing NBS both in terms of improving climate risk management and sustaining their business continuity to extreme climate change. The project will be showcased in five lighthouse regions across the Mediterranean, each corresponding to a present day challenge, that are aligned with regional policies and can constitute the EU as a global leader in the field. Med-IREN will cover different and diverse types of CI (energy, transport, water, ICT, social) , priority climate hazards within the Mediterranean, which is a climate hot-spot, and NBS interventions. In parallel, the interventions and solutions will be replicated into four more regions across the EU, covering the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Boreal regions. Med-IREN will also provide evidence how key enabling conditions, such as participatory governance and citizen engagement, novel forms of financing, innovative urban/landscape planning and capacity building will support regional systemic transformation nd provide the upscaling and replication mechanism within Mediterranean regions and beyond. A high-end digital decision making support toolset will be developed, integrating data from multiple sources, both in-situ and E.O., applying state-of-the-science models, as well as providing unprecedented visualization and sensemaking capabilities for understanding and quantifying resilience through-out the infrastructure and NBS life-cycle. Med-IREN will rely on the integration of the research output of more than 15 European and National projects, that focused on the (climate) resilience of infrastructures, regional adaptation and implementation of NBS. Med-IREN is conceived as a powerful showcase of the EU twin green & digital transition and an immediate success story of the EU Green Deal.

Increasingly frequent extreme weather conditions due to climate change concomitant with unsustainable historical resource use and management practices create the perfect storm - threatening our livelihoods, well-being and environment. A transition towards resilience requires that we simultaneously address social inequalities and implement cross-sectoral innovations to build social, economic and environmental resilience to extreme events. Together, Regions4Climate partners commit to addressing current and forecasted climate change-related challenges and building more resilient European communities within an innovative socially engaged, citizen-driven paradigm. We aim to develop smarter, more inclusive, more resilient regional ecosystems through cross-sectoral innovation jointly created with stakeholders, by and for people. The development and implementation of cross-sectoral strategies that incorporate combinations of social, technological, digital, business, governance and environmental solutions to common climate resilience challenges is at present constrained by knowledge deficits and uncertainties, as well as science-policy-stakeholder gaps. Regions4Climate will bridge these gaps and address existing uncertainties by further developing, adapting and integrating state-of-the-art technical know-how, innovative tools and collaborative practices to support transparent, evidence-based risk and vulnerability analyses and robust decision-making processes. We will utilise system dynamic modelling to understand relationships among and trade-offs between different resilience innovations, providing tools for informed decision-making tailored to engage stakeholders and support European regions and communities exposed to significant climate change impacts. New scientific insights, along with a framework of interoperable tools, methodologies and demonstrated solutions will enable European regions to develop their own resilience plans and transformative adaptation pathways.