The platform aims to assist Europe in adapting to climate change by enabling users to access and share data and information on expected climate change in Europe; current and future vulnerability of regions and sectors; EU, national and transnational adaptation strategies and actions; adaptation case studies and potential adaptation options; and tools that support adaptation planning. Everyone involved in climate change adaptation can look for and share information on Climate-ADAPT – from policymakers to climate change adaptation experts, actors working in the private sector, practitioners, and many more. The platform is easy to use and allows users to search for relevant information by applying several options.

Ramboll and Ecologic Institute joined forces to develop and implement a 2-year outreach and engagement campaign, intended to draw new visitors and users to the Climate-ADAPT platform in five selected Eastern and Central European countries (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia). The objective of the outreach and user engagement activities was to make new users aware of the huge potential of the Climate-ADAPT and encourage them to share relevant data and information, turning more users from passive consumers of information into proactive providers of information and contributors to the platform (by uploading and sharing content, assessing adaptation plans and strategies implemented by other entities, etc.).

After selecting the five target countries, Ramboll developed an outreach and user-engagement work plan, while Ecologic Institute created a set of communication products to be used for the outreach activities. Materials included:

• Three video tutorials to guide users in submitting information to the platform;
• The short profiles of Climate-ADAPT in Bulgarian, Polish, Romanian, Slovakian, and Slovenian, which explain the structure and key functions of the platform;
• Illustrative stories of Climate-ADAPT use (Personas), which illustrate the different challenges and needs of climate change adaptation experts in a storytelling format. They show the characters using Climate-ADAPT step-by-step to find specific data and information sets to assess climate change risks, develop policies and plans, and adaptation solutions.

This material was then used during a series of webinars and training sessions, co-organised by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) and implemented by Ramboll and Ecologic Institute in co-operation with the relevant authorities (i.e., Ministry of the Environment) in the selected countries.

The five webinars provided an overview of the climate change adaptation knowledge, guidance, and tools available at the national and EU levels to national decision makers as well as supporting organisations in the countries working on adaptation at all scales of governance. The webinar also reflected on how the available information is being used and which knowledge gaps need to be addressed at the EU and the country levels.

The five training sessions focused on how Climate-ADAPT can be used for research from a sectoral perspective (and from other perspectives) and on how to become an active contributor by submitting information to the platform. The training also allowed for reflection on how the currently available information is being used and the potential knowledge gaps that could be addressed at the European level.

Based on these webinars and training sessions, a script for a basic interactive working session was developed for further use by the EEA.

The project was developed under the Specific Contract No 340202/2020/839829/SFRA/CLIMA.A.3 "Support to the Commission and the EEA in Climate-ADAPT dissemination and stakeholder outreach activities", which ran between 2021 and 2022.