Building a just and resilient future: from knowledge to action
26. June 9:00 - 9:45
As climate adaptation efforts accelerate across Europe, the imperative to ensure they are fair, inclusive, and equitable is clearer than ever. This session will explore the concept of just resilience, highlighting how adaptation policies and measures can both address and unintentionally reinforce social and structural injustices.
The session will feature key insights from the forthcoming European Environment Agency flagship report on Just Resilience, developed under the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Adaptation (ETC-CA). The report examines progress at EU, national, and sub-national levels, and offers an in-depth look at how adaptation actions interact with justice across various systems and sectors - identifying both risks and promising approaches for delivering more equitable outcomes.
Following a brief presentation of report highlights, the session will open up to reflections from speakers bringing both policy and practical perspectives. Contributions will include lessons from real-world experiences in implementing just adaptation measures, as well as insights from related fields such as the just transition - exploring how these efforts can inform and strengthen one another.
Together, these discussions will help deepen our collective understanding of what it takes to embed justice into resilience-building at all levels
Speakers
Adaptation Manager, Climate Alliance
Alison De Luise, Adaptation Manager, Climate Alliance
Alison is an urban climate change adaptation specialist, applying policy, partnership & program management experience towards support city resiliency. As Manager, Adaptation to Climate Change at Climate Alliance, Alison contributes to the Covenant of Mayors for Europe's adaptation and energy poverty work, building adaptation capacity across European cities. She also manages the EEA European Topic Center on Climate Change Just Resilience Task. Prior to this, Alison led strategic initiatives aimed at supporting case-making for Green Infrastructure across US cities. As Senior Advisor at the Water Center at Penn, she co-developed integrated solutions to complex urban water resource challenges. As head of Strategic Partnerships at Bioversity International, she focused her partnership development efforts on achieving development impact and securing funding. This work built on her years working for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in food security and in rural development policy. The foundation of all this experience was her three years establishing social enterprise initiatives in Swaziland.
Freelance Expert in Urban Climate Adaptation and Resilience (Germany)
Birgit Georgi, Freelance Expert
Birgit Georgi is an experienced freelance expert in urban climate adaptation and resilience. She collaborates with stakeholders ranging from local authorities and businesses to international organizations. As an expert for the European Urban Initiative, Urban Innovative Actions, URBACT, and the Covenant of Mayors, she has supported numerous cities on their path to resilience—drawing on deep knowledge from her time as project manager for urban adaptation at the European Environment Agency. Birgit bridges practical implementation with strategic foresight, recently leading the “Just Transitions – Democratic Transitions” initiative under UIA, linking social equity and adaptation. She also co-initiated the European Urban Resilience Forum (EURESFO) in 2013.
(https://www.birgitgeorgi.eu)