Integrated & Holistic Resilience: Governing Place-Based Climate Action
17. June 13:30 - 15:15
Room 2
Integrated resilience is widely recognised as a goal, yet in practice, climate adaptation, nature-based solutions, cultural heritage, and social inclusion continue to be governed in silos, planned at different scales, and funded through separate streams. Making integration real requires more than a vision: it demands specific governance arrangements, planning tools, and forms of cross-sector collaboration that work across territorial scales.
This workshop brings together European cities and EU projects to explore what integrated, place-based climate action looks like in practice. Drawing on the long-term “one planet” vision of Guimarães, European’s Green Capital 2026, the metropolitan governance experience of the Lisbon region, Vejle, Greater Manchester, and Hamburg, and the systemic resilience approaches developed through R-Cities’ Holistic Urban Resilience Frameworks, RescueME, SMARTER and the session examines how cities and regions can align strategies, tools, and stakeholders across planning scales to deliver integrated outcomes.
Following a moderated city panel, participants will work in facilitated groups to apply an integrated resilience lens to a shared climate challenge, exploring how governance arrangements, landscape tools, and community approaches differ and connect across planning scales: from territorial and landscape-level strategy through to city-wide planning and place-based action on the ground.
The session aims to generate transferable insights on the enabling conditions, recurring barriers, and practical mechanisms that help cities move from holistic resilience frameworks to integrated action and to connect these insights to local policies and city network practice.
Speakers
Executive consultant, Vejle Municipality
Jonas Lundgreen Dall, Executive consultant, Vejle Municipality
Jonas Lundgreen Dall is executive consultant to the Board of Directors of Vejle Municipality. He has background in political science with a specialty in public leadership, focusing on visionary leadership, strategy execution and organizational development. One of Jonas’ main tasks is to support the politicians and senior executives at Vejle Municipality in driving the long term focus on our vision, values and resilience by facilitating discussions on strategy, organizational development, and leadership. Back in 2022, Jonas was part of the team that designed the process leading to the current vision of the City Council, including the integration of our resilience strategy.
Member of the Board, Guimarães 26 European Green Capital
Isabel Loureiro, Member of the Board, Guimarães 26 European Green Capital
Isabel is a member of the Board of the Guimarães 2026 European Green Capital Mission Unit, responsible for delivering the European Green Capital 2026 title, and serves as Co-President of its Scientific Committee. As General Coordinator of the Guimarães 2030 Mission Structure, she contributes to connecting the multiple components of the Guimarães 2030 multi-governance ecosystem, with expertise in systems thinking, visioning and goal definition, strategic networking and communication, change implementation, and the development of monitoring and adaptation systems. She is also a professor and invited faculty member at the University of Minho and a member of the Industrial Engineering and Management Research and Development Line at the Algoritmi Research Centre.
Researcher, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
Francesca Poggi, Researcher, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
Francesca Poggi is an architect and Principal Investigator at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Social Sciences (CICS.NOVA), Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, where she is also an Invited Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography and Regional Planning (NOVA FCSH). Her work focuses on urban resilience, climate adaptation, spatial planning, and regenerative urbanism. Her current research addresses climate change in cities and rural areas through three ongoing Horizon Europe projects, MOSAIC and SMARTER, the GREENEXUS Marie Curie, and the COST Action GO2CHANGE. Her research emphasises systemic planning, sustainable land use, nature-based solutions, digital tools and participatory approaches to support decision-making. She is the author of more than 50 scientific publications, including books, book chapters, and indexed journal articles dedicated to these topics.
Head of Division, Lisbon Metropolitan Area
JoÃo Lopes, Head of Division, Lisbon Metropolitan Area
Architect, holds a Master's degree in Environment and Bioclimatic Architecture from the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, since 2001.
From 2006 to 2018 he held leadership positions in the area of Spatial Planning, Environment and Mobility at the municipal level. He developed his activity in the area of Territorial Planning, Environment and Mobility.
He has coordinated several projects within the scope of European and national programs, in the areas of Mobility, Spatial Planning and Climate Change.
Since 2021 he is Head of the Division of Spatial Planning, Environment and Urbanism, in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. He develop her work in the areas of Regional Development, Climate Action, Housing, Smart Territories, Food, Waste, Urban Infrastructure. Integrates two Thematic Partnerships on multilevel governance of the European urban agenda.
Senior Project Officer, Ministry of Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture, Hamburg
Dr. Catharina Greve, Senior Project Officer, Ministry of Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture, Hamburg
Cathi is an enthusiastic geographer who specialises in coastal geomorphology. She has many years of experience working in coastal management, coastal vulnerability and climate change risk assessment. While living in Australia, she taught coastal geomorphology and management at various Australian universities, as well as working for the Victorian state government's Central Coastal Board on different projects and in the coastal protection team. Previously, she was employed by the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park Administration to manage the Interreg project PROWAD LINK, after which she moved to the National Park Authority of the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park to work on the Horizon Europe project RescueME. She is currently also involved in the trilateral Strategic Environmental Assessment for the UNESCO Wadden Sea World Heritage Site.
Strategic Policy Lead (Whole of Society Resilience), GMCA
Sulafa Abushal, Strategic Policy Lead (Whole of Society Resilience), GMCA
Sulafa Abushal is Strategic Policy Lead for Whole-of-Society Resilience at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. She works across partners and systems to strengthen how communities, public services and institutions prepare for, respond to and recover from disruption, with a focus on embedding community resilience in practice.
Her work brings together climate risks and emergency preparedness with wider public service priorities, supporting more joined-up policy, partnerships and place-based delivery. She has over 15 years’ experience working with communities and the voluntary and community sector, with a focus on inequality, local capacity and the role of relationships in shaping resilience.
She brings a perspective on the role of communities and local organisations in strengthening climate resilience, and how cities can move from strategy to practical, place-based action.
Moderators
Manager, Climate Resilience Programs, Resilient Cities Network
Nadine Burbar, Manager, Climate resilience Programs, Resilient Cities Network
Nadine Burbar is an urban resilience and climate governance specialist with over ten years of experience working at the intersection of local government, international networks, and development partners. She currently serves as Manager, Climate Resilience Programmes at the Resilient Cities Network, where she leads European initiatives supporting cities in advancing climate neutrality, circular economy, and systems resilience. Nadine has worked closely with municipalities, national platforms, and international institutions to translate complex policy agendas into actionable strategies and collaborative programmes. Previously, she served as Deputy Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Ramallah. Her work focuses on bridging governance practice, applied research, and capacity building to deliver tangible urban impact.
Senior Researcher, Tecnalia
Dr. Aitziber Egusquiza, Senior Researcher, Tecnalia
Aitziber Egusquiza is a Senior Researcher at TECNALIA, architect and urbanist, with extensive experience in coordinating international research projects and multidisciplinary teams. She is the coordinator of RescueME (Horizon Europe) and SHELTER (H2020), leading work on resilience in complex socio-ecological systems.
Her research focuses on community-based and data-driven approaches, developing methodologies and tools to advance just resilience and sustainability, particularly in contexts with high cultural and natural heritage value. Her work also addresses implementation models, including governance, business, and financing, with a focus on participatory, digital, and nature-based strategies. She led the project that established the sustainability standard for the Galapagos Islands.