Get involved

As IMPETUS progresses, there will be opportunities to get involved with events, co-creation of climate-change adaptation solutions, and other activities at local, regional or international levels. The first opportunity to get involved is to share knowledge, expertise, concerns and ideas about regional climate change impacts and solutions in our regional surveys. 

You are also welcome to contact us to find out more about such opportunities, the work of IMPETUS and how it is cooperating with its sister projects REGILIENCE, ARSINOE and TransformAr.

Any questions?

Coordinator

  • Hannah Arpke
  • EURECAT
  • hannah.arpke[at]eurecat.org

Media enquiries

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Resources

Communication material

IMPETUS brochure (General)

IMPETUS roll up (General)

IMPETUS brochure (Italian)

IMPETUS roll up (Mountains demo site)

Publications

Coming soon

Project Deliverables

D1.1 Stakeholder mapping, analysis and engagement roadmaps in demo-sites

Deliverable 1.1 is a public report delivered in month 16 corresponding to Task 1.1. It contains a mapping of the identified stakeholders, their participation and engagement in terms of role and potential contribution to project activities per each demo site.

D1.3 Multi-level governance assessment in the demo sites: governance challenges for climate change solutions

This deliverable analyses the governance structures and challenges for specific CA actions in the IMPETUS Demonstration Sites (DSs). It asks: What are the main multi-level governance challenges for climate change solutions in each DS?

D2.2 Semantic Context Broker Tool

This deliverable is aimed at describing the elaborated initial version of the semantic context broker to (i) integrate climatic regional, national, and transnational data to tackle further analysis and predictions; (ii) enable data interoperability between public repositories, local/regional data and, specific key community systems data; (iii) support data understanding and management according to FAIR principles using meta-data descriptions.

D3.1 Metrics for climate change vulnerability, resilience and adaptation

Climate change urges strategic decision-makers across sectors and geographies to both mitigate and adapt, while weighing different interests and dealing with uncertainties and unknowns. To support local stakeholders with such complex strategic and transdisciplinary decision-making, the aim of this deliverable has been to develop a flexible framework of indicators to undertake resilience assessments and evaluate climate vulnerability and climate adaptation measures and pathways.

D4.1 Assessment of baseline conditions of each demo site

This deliverable describes the detailed steps and activities towards demonstrating 27 innovative technological and non-technological solutions in the seven demo sites of the IMPETUS project. For each of the seven demo sites and solutions demonstrated, pre-requisites, challenges and barriers are identified and the implementation is broken down into the necessary actions and timeline.

D7.1 Framework for communication, collaboration and dissemination

This document describes the framework for communication, collaboration, and dissemination within the 4-year ‘Dynamic Information Management Approach for the Implementation of Climate Resilient Adaptation Packages in European Regions’ project ‘IMPETUS’.

D7.3 Interim report on editorial, video and visual content and distribution

This document describes editorial, video and visual content creation and distribution activities within the 4-year ‘Dynamic Information Management Approach for the Implementation of Climate Resilient Adaptation Packages in European Regions’ project ‘IMPETUS’, up to the end of February 2023 (project month 17).

D7.4 Interim report on lean learning, knowledge building & results transfer

This document describes lean learning, knowledge building and results transfer related activities within the 4-year ‘Dynamic Information Management Approach for the Implementation of Climate Resilient Adaptation Packages in European Regions’ project ‘IMPETUS’, up to the end of February 2023 (project month 17).

7.10 IMPETUS website

This document describes the objectives, structure and design principles of the website for the 4-year ‘Dynamic Information Management Approach for the Implementation of Climate Resilient Adaptation Packages in European Regions’ project ‘IMPETUS’.

D8.1 Project Handbook

This Handbook provides all project partners with an overview of how we will pursue the innovation vision of IMPETUS through suitable project procedures. Our vision is to construct a European community of practice working on climate adaptation solutions, a community involving stakeholders at the regional and other scales and enabling them to use an ecosystem of cutting-edge IT tools.

D8.3 Data Management Plan

This document presents the initial version of the Data Management Plan on open access data handling defined for the IMPETUS project. The aim of the document is to consider the many aspects of data management, data and metadata generation, data preservation- maintenance- and analysis, whilst ensuring that data is well managed at present and prepared for preservation in the future.

Coming soon

icon_heat

High temperatures

Record-breaking summertime temperatures have been recorded in the Netherlands in recent years. With global temperatures rising, such extreme weather events will occur more often, and for longer periods. Prolonged high temperatures, with warm nights as well as hot days, can cause heat stress* and related health issues, particularly among city populations.

*Heat stress occurs when the human body cannot get rid of excess heat and can impact wellbeing through conditions such as heat stroke, exhaustion, cramps and rashes.

Map of Zeeland and Rotterdam in the Netherlands
Zeeland and Rotterdam in the Netherlands (© ESCI)
Heat stress map of Zierikzee in Zeeland
Heat stress map of Zierikzee in Zeeland (© N&S)

"We want to enable municipality decision makers who are working on spatial developments to identify heat stress 'hot spots' and cool areas, analyse the future effects of climate change, and model the effect of different heat stress-reducing measures. The tool must provide them with an easy starting point to integrate heat stress risks in their projects."

Martine Rottink, Nelen & Schuurmans

Issue

Despite the cooling effect of the sea in the region of Zeeland, the growing risk of heat stress has become a concern.

Elderly and other vulnerable people are more impacted by the effects of prolonged heat, which can cause headaches, dizziness, insomnia and other health issues – even death. Excess temperatures also affect general comfort and liveability of cities. Water quality can be reduced, both for drinking and swimming, and infrastructure can be affected. Buildings and concrete surfaces trap heat, potentially leading to damage, and release it during the night, keeping temperatures warm.

During heat waves, it is important that everyone has access to a cool and comfortable place. Appropriate spatial planning can help to decrease and deal with heat stress. Environmental factors like water bodies, trees, and shade have a major impact on stress caused by high temperatures. Therefore, planting trees, removing concrete surfaces, creating green roofs and cool spaces can improve our comfort and health. The IMPETUS Atlantic team is developing a digital tool to support regional decision making for city planning to address these needs.

Flood risk
Energy and waste water
icon_flood

Flood risk

By 2050, sea-level within this region is predicted to rise by 15-40 cm, with more frequent extreme weather and more (severe) storms triggered by climate change. These changes will exacerbate the natural risk of flooding in the IMPETUS ‘Atlantic’ region, because it is surrounded by rivers and the sea, and is below sea level.

*Risk takes into account two aspects; the chance that an event will occur and the negative impact of such an event once it occurs. When there is a low chance that an event will occur, but its impacts are huge, the risk is still significant.

Zeeland dike
Zeeland dike
Elevation map of Rotterdam and Zeeland
Elevation map of the IMPETUS 'Atlantic' site (© N&S)
Flood risk map of Rotterdam and Zeeland
Flood risk map of the IMPETUS 'Atlantic' site (© N&S)
Elevation map of part of the Netherlands
Elevation map of part of the Netherlands (© N&S)

“In the Netherlands, an extensive system of dikes protects us against sea and river flooding. We have always put our faith in this defence and focused almost solely on flood prevention. However, pressure on our system will increase with climate change and rising sea levels. To adapt and maintain a safe living environment, we should develop other safety measures, like more robust spatial planning and contingency plans."

Martine Rottink, Nelen & Schuurmans

Issue

Rotterdam city, is located in Rijnmond – ‘mouth of the Rhine’. The Rhine river flows through this densely populated area and characterises the region. Protections such as sea dikes and storm surge barriers have been constructed to protect the region, but flooding still occurs.

People living in the city are accustomed to seeing smaller floods. The changing climate affects the interplay between rainfall, river levels and sea storms, increasing the flooding risk. Water levels could rise by a few metres, even in populated areas, with potentially massive impacts. 

Mitigation measures such as storm surge barriers reduce the chance that high water reaches the city, but to minimise the impact of floods when they do occur, adaptation strategies are also needed. A city that can adapt to be safe from floods must be carefully designed. How best to design such an adaptive city?

Critical infrastructure, such as hospitals and evacuation routes, must be accessible at all times. Planning how to best protect them, homes and lives is complex. Flood water behaves in a complex way and flood risks show strong spatial variations. The IMPETUS Atlantic team is developing a digital tool to support regional decision making for adaptive city planning. 

Energy and waste water
High temperatures
icon_factory

Energy and waste water

To become climate-neutral by 2050, climate mitigation* efforts are crucial in our strategy for how to deal with climate change. Reducing our energy consumption is a significant mitigation step. In the Netherlands, 15% of energy is consumed in the Rijnmond area around the port of Rotterdam, in large part by a major petrochemical industry cluster.

*Climate mitigation encompasses measures such as technologies, processes, or practices that reduce carbon emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases.

Map of Zeeland and Rotterdam in the Netherlands
Zeeland and Rotterdam in the Netherlands (© ESCI)
Zeeland dike
Zeeland dike

Issue

The Rotterdam port petrochemical industry cluster is Europe’s largest. It consumes 70% of the Rijnmond region’s energy. A large part of this energy is wasted (64%, 203 petajoules). More than half of that energy is lost with wastewater. In addition, most energy processes within these industries rely on fossil fuels, which has a significant impact on the climate.

Energy use must be minimised and fossil fuels should be replaced by renewable sources if climate change is to be mitigated. Electrification of processes opens up the possibility to use more renewable energy and can greatly impact decarbonisation. Recovering wasted heat would significantly reduce energy consumption and is a first step towards a more circular industry. 

Supporting industries in a transition towards climate-neutrality depends on identifying how best to reduce their carbon footprint without sacrificing production or performance. The IMPETUS Atlantic team is creating a digital tool that supports decision making about pathways towards an effective energy transition for EU industry.

High temperatures
Flood risk