On 29 and 30 October 2015, the Fundação da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (FFCUL) and Ecologic Institute, Berlin, convened a training course in Palmela (Portugal) on behalf of the BASE project. Designed for 16 carefully selected adaptation practitioners from all over Europe, the course provided a curriculum dedicated to the implementation of climate change adaptation projects, and offered illustration through hands-on examples, practical experience and case studies, heavily based on the results obtained from the BASE project. The presentation slides are available for download.

The three focus areas of the training were:

• Economic Evaluation of Adaptation Options
• Participatory Aspects in Adaptation Processes
• Implementation Analysis

The teaching faculty was composed of representatives from BASE project partners and additional key experts.

Economic Evaluation of Adaptation Options

Volker Meyer (from the UFZ) presented the BASE approach to economic evaluation of adaptation options. He illustrated the five steps of this approach by way of the example of a case study from Germany, the city of Jena. In the following exercise, participants were asked to work in teams to come up with a hypothetical case study and develop a first concept for an economic evaluation based on the 5 steps of the BASE guidelines.

Participatory Aspects in Adaptation Processes

In the training module by FFCUL Gil Penha-Lopes and Filipe Moreira Alves focused on participation in adaptation processes. They emphasised and discussed the need for participation processes and outlined how this aspect is dealt with in the BASE project. During the course, participants had the opportunity to take part in different participatory methods such as the World Café and the Open Space Technology.

Implementation Analysis

Nico Stelljes (Ecologic Institute) discussed the issue of implementing adaptation measures. He invited two participants to provide insights from their field of expertise. Panos Fetsis introduced the funding scheme of the LIFE projects with relevance to adaptation projects. Merete Hvid Dalnæs presented on her experience with the development of risk management plans in Slagelse Municipality, Denmark.

Keynote Speakers

Additionally, João Dinis from the Portuguese coastal municipality of Cascais gave a detailed presentation on the adaptation actions undertaken by his municipality such as water discharge control, fire prevention plan or coastal defence measures. Luísa Schmidt from the University of Lisbon illustrated participation processes in coastal areas in Portugal.

After the training days, participants had the opportunity to participate in a hike in the natural park surrounding the training venue and in a tree planting activity to compensate their CO2 emissions related to the event.