Understand climate risks
Map vulnerabilities and risks to create an evidence base for action.
REGIONs4CLIMATE / GIS Story Maps
From climate risks to resilient regions across Europe
The Regions4Climate project supports a socially just transition to climate resilience across 12 European regions by identifying climate risks, co-developing solutions, and showcasing them through interactive GIS Story Maps.
EU-wide vulnerability mapping regional action real-world tested solutions
A shared pathway from risks to regional solutions
Regions4Climate brings together 12 European regions to understand climate vulnerabilities, design tailored resilience solutions, and test them in real-world conditions. The project ensures that adaptation strategies are socially inclusive, place-based, and transferable across Europe while supporting a just transition to climate resilience.
Working closely with regional stakeholders, R4C identifies and maps climate vulnerabilities and risks affecting each territory, from water scarcity to floods and coastal erosion. Each region then co-develops locally attuned solutions combining sociocultural, technological, environmental, governance, and business innovations.
Learn about the approachCo-design solutions
Work with stakeholders to define place-based and inclusive responses.
Test solutions
Demonstrate locally attuned solutions in real-world regional conditions.
Share results through GIS Story Maps
Make each region's climate journey accessible through interactive maps, narrative, images, and lessons learned.
Evidence base
Stakeholder design
Demonstration sites
GIS Story Maps
From climate risks to resilient regions across Europe
The Regions4Climate (R4C) project supports a socially just transition to climate resilience across 12 European regions, including the Azores, Basque Country, South Aquitaine, Tuscany, Pärnumaa, Helsinki-Uusimaa, Burgas, Sitia, Castilla y León, Cyprus, the Nordic Archipelago, and Køge Bay. Working closely with regional stakeholders, R4C identifies and maps climate vulnerabilities and risks affecting each territory, from water scarcity to floods and coastal erosion.
Building on this shared understanding, each region co-develops and implements tailored locally attuned solutions that respond directly to its specific challenges. These solutions combine sociocultural, technological, environmental, governance, and business innovations, and are tested through real-world demonstrations to support long-term resilience strategies across Europe.
01
Climate risks identified
02
12 regions selected
03
Solutions co-developed
04
Story Maps document the journey
EU-level vulnerability and risk maps
Understanding climate risks across R4C regions
The journey begins with vulnerability and risk maps developed by project partners. These interactive datasets provide a comparative view of climate risks across all Regions4Climate territories.
What users can do here
- Explore EU-wide climate risk patterns
- Compare vulnerability across regions
- Toggle layers: floods, droughts, coastal erosion, and heat stress
From vulnerability and risk to regional solutions
Evidence as the starting point for action
R4C's approach starts with evidence. By mapping vulnerabilities and risks in each region, the project creates a clear foundation for action and decision-making. These insights guide the development of targeted, place-based solutions that address both environmental and socio-economic dimensions of climate change.
Each region follows this pathway - from understanding risks to implementing solutions - creating a portfolio of tested approaches that can be adapted and replicated elsewhere. The full journey of each region, including how solutions are designed and applied, can be explored through the GIS Story Maps.
And see how vulnerable they are to climate change risks.
Core platform explanation
What are GIS Story Maps?
GIS Story Maps combine interactive maps, narrative text, images, and multimedia to tell the full story of each region's climate journey - from risks to solutions.
They are the main output of the project, not just a visualization tool.
What they show
- Climate risks and vulnerabilities
- Co-designed solutions
- Real-world implementation sites and practical demonstration sites
- Lessons learned and transfer potential
From EU maps to regions
From risk maps to regional action
The EU-level vulnerability and risk maps identify where climate pressures are most significant. These insights guide the selection of local interventions in each of the 12 pilot regions where solutions are developed and tested.
Each selected region becomes a living case study, explored in depth through a GIS Story Map.
01 EU maps identify risk hotspots
02 12 pilot regions are selected based on evidence
03 Each region develops their own tailored solutions
04 Each region is documented in a Story Map
Copernicus CMIP6
EU-level risk layer
Hot days
days / summer
Loading climate layers...
From risk maps to regional action
12 pilot regions become living case studies
The EU-level vulnerability and risk maps identify where climate pressures are most significant. These insights guide the selection of local interventions in each pilot region where solutions are developed and tested.
Each region follows the pathway from understanding risks to implementing solutions, creating a portfolio of tested approaches that can be adapted and replicated elsewhere.
Partners and consortium
Who is behind Regions4Climate
The project brings together regional authorities, research institutions, innovation partners, and local stakeholders across Europe. This consortium supports the production of the evidence layers, demonstration activities, and Story Maps that make regional climate resilience pathways visible and transferable.
Meet the consortium
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
- Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy
- Forum Virium Helsinki Oy
- Demos Research Institute Oy
- Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council
- Government of Aland
- Helsingin Yliopisto
France
- SUEZ Eau France - Center Rivages Pro Tech
- Communaute d'Agglomeration Pays Basque
- Universite de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour
Germany