International workshop climate change impacts and adaptation: reducing water-related risks in Europe - scientific and policy report

International workshop climate change impacts and adaptation: reducing water-related risks in Europe 6–7 July 2010, scientific and policy report

This workshop held in Belgium, Brussels was organised with the aim to boost synergies among research consortia and provide an exchange platform for the scientific and policy communities in the area of climate change impacts and adaptation to hydro-meteorological risks.

The first part of the event consisted in a scientific brainstorming organised by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Research, which constitutes the first part of this report. It aimed particularly to gather representatives of on-going FP6 and FP7 projects, as well as of related EU-funded projects, IPCC authors, Hyogo Framework for Action focal points, national platforms coordinators and other ISDR system partners to discuss the state of knowledge, identify research perspectives and needs, and best ways to communicate key findings to policy-makers and stakeholders.

The second part of the report deals with an international science-policy workshop, which was jointly organized by the EC DG Research and the UNISDR Europe Regional office. The meeting intended to continue reinforcing the exchanges among the scientific and policy community that in Europe deals with the issue of adaptation to climate change and reducing the risks posed by natural hazards, in particular, water-related and flood risks. The event aimed at providing practical examples of how research can contribute to guide policy makers in investment decisions towards disaster risk reduction in order to implement the climate change adaptation agenda. The workshop also addressed how the policy makers access the information produced by research projects.