D.1.2.1 Stakeholder Engagement Report. Climate_CRICES project

This document is part of the Climate_CRICES project, which focuses on enhancing the resilience of communities and ecosystems in response to climate change. A key element of this initiative was the organization of eight local co-creation workshops with regional authorities responsible for the development and management of climate change adaptation plans aiming at engaging stakeholders in meaningful dialogue and collaboration. These workshops serve as a platform to effectively involve local communities, governmental bodies, and other relevant stakeholders in the revision of regional adaptation strategies aiming to identify weaknesses, gaps, and areas for improvement in existing strategies, while fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders. The primary objectives of these workshops are threefold: Stakeholder Engagement, Dashboard Design and Data Needs and SWOT Analysis Contributions.The report provides a comprehensive overview of the stakeholder engagement process, which was designed to ensure harmonized approaches across regions. Guided by an internal Stakeholder Engagement Handbook, the workshops facilitated dialogue between policymakers, implementers, local users, researchers, and other relevant actors. Special attention was given to understanding stakeholders' needs regarding data availability, cooperation with data providers, decision-making processes, and capacity building.The document is structured to provide a clear and comprehensive overview of the stakeholder engagement process and its outcomes. It begins with a description of the five-step approach to organizing workshops, ensuring consistency and comparability across all events. This is followed by an explanation of how stakeholders were identified and engaged, detailing the categorization methods and strategies used to facilitate effective participation in climate adaptation discussions. The document then outlines the standardized agendas implemented during the workshops, focusing on key topics such as data usage, collaboration, and the development of adaptation measures. Subsequently, it presents a summary of the outcomes from all eight workshops, including participation figures, key insights, and the identification of barriers hindering effective data-driven climate adaptation planning. Finally, the document emphasizes the importance of maintaining continuous communication with stakeholders and leveraging the gathered insights to guide future project activities and forthcoming workshops.