From Vulnerability to Active Citizenship: Fostering Inclusive Decision-Making Towards Just Adaptation
17. June 11:15-12:30
Room 1
The role of communities, and particularly vulnerable groups, in shaping planning and policy-making processes has long been acknowledged within climate adaptation and urban governance debates across Europe and beyond. As the EU advances a just climate resilience agenda, increasing attention has been placed on embedding climate justice principles within local and regional governance systems. Yet, while just resilience and adaptation are widely recognised as a normative imperative, its implementation in practice remains uneven. In many cases, justice is acknowledged rhetorically but weakly embedded in decision-making structures, resource allocation, and institutional practices.
This session explores how Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) can move from aspirational commitments towards operationalising equitable climate adaptation. It critically examines participation as both a necessary and challenging dimension of governance. While participatory approaches are widely promoted, integrating community voices into planning processes often confronts institutional limitations, consultation fatigue, regulatory constraints, and the risk of tokenistic engagement.
The discussion will focus on governance constrains and enabling conditions that shape inclusive adaptation planning, exploring the role of vulnerable and underrepresented groups such as rural and low-income neighbourhoods to people with disabilities as active agents in shaping resilient territories. Particular attention will be given to the role of civil society organisations and local actors with deep contextual knowledge in supporting LRGs to build trust, strengthen participation, and institutionalise inclusive practices.
By examining the challenges and opportunities of procedural justice as an enabler of climate justice, the session aims to identify practical pathways for embedding equitable adaptation into long-term governance systems and decision-making processes.
Speakers
Director, Cascais Ambiente
JoÃo Dinis, Director, Cascais Ambiente
João Dinis has been developing climate change action and sustainable development strategies through innovative approaches on spatial planning, technology and governance models for the last 15 years. By managing local strategies for climate change, partnerships and stakeholders are brought in a multi-specialist and multi-institutional approach to develop a roadmap towards a resilient future. This resulted in a frontrunning experience which led to the implementation of over 40 climate actions in the last 5 years for the city of Cascais, the development of monitoring and digital tools which help both citizens and risk related stakeholders, nature-based solutions which significantly contributed to the quality of life of citizens and also for smooth mobility solutions, governance models with established processes and a comprehensive set of communication tools aiming towards environmental awareness for all socio-demographic target audiences.
Senior Researcher, Demos Helsinki
Dr. Johannes Klein, Senior Researcher, Demos Helsinki
Johannes Klein works as Senior Researcher at the globally operating, non-profit and independent think tank Demos Helsinki. He works on climate change adaptation with a focus on the governance of adaptation in an urban and regional context.
With his work he contributes to just, transformative, and inclusive adaptation action.
Being trained as an environmental engineer and with a PhD in Land Use Planning and Urban Studies, he feels at home in academic research, interdisciplinary work, and hands-on activities.
He is currently actively involved in the EU Adaptation Mission projects Regions4Climate and FairFuture.
Accessibility Policy Officer, Estonian Forum of People with Disabilities
Mari Puuram, Accessibility Policy Officer, Estonian Forum of People with Disabilities
Mari Puuram is an accessibility policy officer at the Estonian Forum of People with disabilities. Her work focuses on accessibility advocacy, user involvement and collaborative policy-making, ensuring that people´s lived experience and practical knowledge are meaningfully included in decision-making processes, especially in relation to public space, services and crisis preparedness.
She coordinates accessibility-related consultations, trainings and expert opinions in cooperation with disability organisations and partners. She has a background in Government and Administration and Modern European Languages and Cultures, and her academic work explores public policy and spatial design as a collaborative process. Also, there is a particular interest in how accessibility can be understood not only as a technical requirement, but as a practice of inclusive governance and co-creation.
Project Manager of the Urban Innovation Division, ME Institute for Urban Development
Daria Kaliuzhna, Project Manager of the Urban Innovation Division, ME Institute for Urban Development
Daria Kaliuzhna is a project manager of the urban innovation division at the Municipal Enterprise “Institute for Urban Development” (ME IUD) of the Vinnytsia City Council (Ukraine).
On a local level, she coordinates city and international multistakeholder projects, including Vinnytsia's action in the FairFuture, that contribute to the community’s resilience and adaptation to climate change. Daria operates within the city framework documents – Vinnytsia Green Deal and Vinnytsia Small Rivers Development Concept 2035, meaningfully contributing to their implementation through development, identification and piloting of innovative tools, approaches and solutions.
On a personal level, Daria is highly attentive to nuance and treats every new experience as a learning curve. She actively seeks out cutting-edge methodologies, e.g. nature-based solutions, and participatory engagement tools, resulting from her commitment to pursuing new knowledge and expanding her professional understanding.
Policy & Portfolio Project Manager, Association of Danube River Municipalities "Danube"
Dr. Boryana Stancheva, Association of Danube River Municipalities "Danube"
Boryana Stancheva, PhD, is Policy, Projects & Communications Lead and Senior Researcher at the Association of Danube River Municipalities “Danube”, the first regional association of local authorities in Bulgaria, representing 36 municipalities along the Bulgarian Danube region. With more than 10 years of experience in public policy, communications, and regional development, she leads the organization’s project portfolio, stakeholder engagement, and transnational cooperation initiatives.
Her work focuses on collaborative approaches to resilience, sustainability, and regional development, with a particular interest in strengthening local capacities and cross-sector partnerships. Boryana combines academic expertise in Political Science and European Studies with extensive experience managing European projects that support innovation and long-term regional impact.
Moderators
Technical manager & Post doc, Basque Centre for Climate Change
Estibaliz Sanz, Technical manager & Post doc, Basque Centre for Climate Change
Postdoctoral Researcher and Advisor on Local and Regional Climate Emergency Policies at BC3 – Basque Centre for Climate Change. She holds a degree in Law, specialized in Urban Planning and Policy Design, and has more than 25 years of experience advising local and regional governments on urban regeneration, climate governance, and climate emergency policies. Her work focuses on supporting and coordinating regional, national, and European projects that promote urban climate action through integrated approaches linking resilience, public health, social equity, and sustainable urban development. She has extensive expertise in local and regional climate governance, climate resilience, participatory urban regeneration processes, and the integration of health, equity, and climate justice into public policies and urban strategies.
Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe
Laia García, Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe
She is an urban researcher interested in environmental justice and its links with everyday practices of city-making. She holds a PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning from Ferrara University (IT) and an MSc in Urban Design in Development from UCL. Building on material ecologies, her research looks at people–environment behaviours and communities’ adaptive capacity in the face of fast-changing environments.
Currently, she works at ICLEI Europe as an Expert in Resilience and Climate Adaptation, leading the scientific coordination of the Horizon-funded Project FairFuture which focuses on just climate resilience with a particular focus on vulnerable communities. She is also involved in the EU-funded projects COMMIT2GREEN and REHUBS. In this role, she supports local and regional authorities in advancing inclusive climate adaptation strategies following environmental justice principles, fostering co-creation while ensuring meaningful stakeholder participation for more equitable futures.
Senior Expert, ICLEI Europe
Vivien Franck, Senior Expert, ICLEI Europe
Vivien works as a Senior Expert in ICLEI's Climate Resilience and Adaptation team and in the FairFuture coordination team. Vivien studied biology and urban ecology at the Technical University Berlin and has been working on climate adaptation, sustainable food systems and urban planning topics.