Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B North Sea

Date of latest update: 2026-05-13

Description

Description (EN):

Local authorities (LAs) play a crucial role to successfully become climate resilient by 2050. They are responsible for the design and maintenance of public spaces. Their teams work on a.o. road infrastructure, sewage systems, green landscaping, etc. All experts in their fields, but with hardly any knowledge on climate adaptation and no or limited cooperation between different departments: Streets are opened for sewer works and closed back while there were maybe opportunities for climate resilient measures like softening, infiltration or greening. This way quick wins are neglected. Regional authorities (RAs) also experience difficulties in adopting an integrated approach to climate adaptation and supporting LAs with this. There is a need for structural support around climate adaptation. The objective of the Green Team project is to equip local and regional authorities (LRAs) with a methodology to integrate climate adaptation into the governance mechanisms of LAs. By building: Green Teams: Establish cross-departmental cooperation under the banner of Green Teams to boost climate adaptation awareness, cooperation and action within the organisation. A green-blue public investment planning: Develop a roadmap and local action plans that guide local authorities to seize opportunities for climate adaptation in planned projects from design to maintenance. A cross-sectoral learning network: Stimulate the exchange of knowledge and good examples by involving different sectors and better aligning the supply and demand side of climate adaptation in public spaces. 4 RAs will cooperate with LAs to set up communities of practice to jointly develop, validate and implement the Green Team (GT) methodology. Overall, GT will establish an integrated and systemic approach to climate adaptation within the NSR, fostering multi-level governance by involving different sectors (horizontal) and different levels of government (vertical).

Actual Achievements (EN):

During this third period, the Green Team project made significant progress across all work packages, strengthened by active transnational cooperation. The period was marked by intensive knowledge exchange, the expansion of local core “Green Teams,” and growing political and institutional commitment to climate action. A milestone was the partner meeting in Papenburg (March 31 – April 2, 2025), which brought together all project partners for interactive workshops, field visits, and strategic planning. This event symbolized the spirit of transnational cooperation, enabling partners to learn directly from each other’s experiences and align their approaches to building climate-resilient communities. WP1 – Build Green Teams: TUDO and PoA developed and refined the Green Team methodology, enabling municipalities to embed climate adaptation across departments. Workshops in the 4 Lighthouses allowed local teams to take increasing ownership while using the self-assessment tool to monitor progress. IFLA EU contributed expertise on stakeholder engagement and cross-sector collaboration, while VVOG shared best practices from Flemish public green space projects. WP2 – Green-Blue Public Investment Planning: PoA and VVOG finalized and published the compendium about the benefits of greenblue measures in public spaces, and organized online training sessions for the lighthouses and promoted wider municipal uptake. PoA and IFLA EU also identified climate-adaptive procurement problems and explored solutions and best practices to tackle them. WP3 – Cross-Sectoral Learning Network: FAA coordinated the development of the Stakeholder Integration Guide and the Value Network Mapping tools, helping partners identify key actors and build effective adaptation networks. PoA and FAA co-authored the replication strategy, and 14 peers already joined the learning circles to test methodologies and share experiences.

Website: https://www.interregnorthsea.eu/green-team

Thematic information

Governance, partnership Climate change and biodiversity Knowledge and technology transfer

Type of intervention: 173 Enhancing institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders to implement territorial cooperation projects and initiatives in a cross-border, transnational, maritime and inter-regional context

Partners (13)

Lead Partner: Provincie Antwerpen

Partner’s ID if not PIC: BE0207725597

Address: Kon. Elisabethlei 22, 2018 Antwerpen, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Regional public authority

Website: https://www.provincieantwerpen.be/en/provincial-government.html

Total budget: EUR 617 005.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 370 203.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 246 802.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Energieeffizienzagentur Landkreis Emsland e.V.

Name: Energieeffizienzagentur Landkreis Emsland e.V.

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 6122003755

Address: Ordeniederung 1, 49716 Meppen, Germany

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Other

Website: http://www.eea-emsland.de

Total budget: EUR 99 495.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 59 697.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 39 798.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Vereniging Voor Openbaar Groen vzw

Name: Vereniging Voor Openbaar Groen vzw

Partner’s ID if not PIC: BE0414 897 902

Address: Predikherenrei 1c, 8000 Brugge, Belgium

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Website: https://www.vvog.info/

Total budget: EUR 284 336.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 170 602.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 113 734.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Technische Universität Dortmund

Name: Technische Universität Dortmund

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DE 811258273

Address: August-Schmidt-Str. 4, 44227 Dortmund, Germany

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://sfs.sowi.tu-dortmund.de/en/

Total budget: EUR 521 545.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 312 927.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 208 618.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Stichting Adaptatie Atelier

Name: Stichting Adaptatie Atelier

Partner’s ID if not PIC: N.a.

Address: Kennemerstraatweg 464, unit 1.48, 1851NG Heiloo, Netherlands

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Website: http://www.adaptatieatelier.net

Total budget: EUR 395 378.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 237 227.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 158 151.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Stadt Papenburg

Name: Stadt Papenburg

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DE116960181

Address: Hauptkanal rechts 68/69, 26871 Papenburg, Germany

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Local public authority

Website (not verified): https://www.papenburg.de/

Total budget: EUR 73 010.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 43 806.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 29 204.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Landkreis Emsland

Name: Landkreis Emsland

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DE117330968

Address: Ordeniederung 1, 49716 Meppen, Germany

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Regional public authority

Website: https://www.emsland.de/

Total budget: EUR 116 280.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 69 768.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 46 512.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Gemeente Putte

Name: Gemeente Putte

Partner’s ID if not PIC: BE207499727

Address: Gemeenteplein 1, 2580 Putte, Belgium

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Local public authority

Website: http://www.putte.be

Total budget: EUR 97 520.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 58 512.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 39 008.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Gemeente Middelburg

Name: Gemeente Middelburg

Partner’s ID if not PIC: NL02686479

Address: Kanaalweg 3, 4337PA Middelburg, Netherlands

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Local public authority

Website: https://www.middelburg.nl/

Total budget: EUR 223 632.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 134 179.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 59.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 89 453.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

European Region of International Federation of Landscape Architects

Name: European Region of International Federation of Landscape Architects

Partner’s ID if not PIC: N.a.

Address: Rue Général Tombeur 81 bus WAO 23, 1040 Brussel, Belgium

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Website: https://iflaeurope.eu/

Total budget: EUR 229 975.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 137 985.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 91 990.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Falköpings kommun

Name: Falköpings kommun

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 212000-1744

Address: Sankt Sigfridsgatan 9, 52181 Falköping, Sweden

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Local public authority

Website: https://www.falkoping.se/

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Länsstyrelsen i Västra Götaland län

Name: Länsstyrelsen i Västra Götaland län

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SE202100236101

Address: Södra Hamngatan 3, 40340 Göteborg, Sweden

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Regional public authority

Website: https://www.lansstyrelsen.se/vastra-gotaland.html

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Hoogheemraadschap van Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard

Name: Hoogheemraadschap van Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard

Partner’s ID if not PIC: N.a.

Address: Maasboulevard 123, 3063GK Rotterdam, Netherlands

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Regional public authority

Website: http://www.hhsk.nl

Total budget: EUR 280 443.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 168 266.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 112 177.00

GBER schemes / de minimis:

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Energy Efficiency Agency Landkreis Emsland

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

Association of public green

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

TU Dortmund University

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

Foundation Adaptatie Atelier

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

City of Papenburg

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

District of Emsland

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

Municipality of Putte

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

Gemeente Middelburg

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

European Region of International Federation of Landscape Architects

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

Province of Antwerp

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

Municipality of Falköping

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Partners and Projects info

Water Authority of Schieland and the Krimpenerwaard

Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Operation of strategic importance (OSI) or above EUR 5 million

Project name (EN): Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Project acronym: Green Team

Project ID: 3zwo5WEOL

Project start date: 2024-01-01

Project end date: 2027-07-01

Project status: ongoing

Relevant mentions and prizes:

false

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 2 678 832.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 607 300.00

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 60.00%

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 1 607 300.00. Co-financing rate, 60.00%.

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

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Deliverables:

Needs analysis and internal stakeholder map / Carrying out a needs analysis with LRAs and a stakeholder analysis is crucial to prepare the current state of work in the region, to summarise the regional characteristics and to provide an overview of the important actors. For each step in the plan-design-implementation process necessary internal stakeholders will be indicated. Next to the public works department, spatial planning, environment & sustainability, and mobility team, also traffic police will be included.
Compendium with inventory of good examples / LAs are sometimes unaware of the opportunities to work around climate adaptation in public spaces. To help them better recognise these opportunities, an inventory of good examples on climate adaptation in public spaces are brought together in a compendium. This compendium will help LAs to identify their needs and can be an interlocutor when they sit around the table around the public investment planning.
Value network mapping / An analysis of external key stakeholders that are involved in the design (planners, architects, constructers, …), maintenance (maintenance companies and utility companies such as electric, gas or water utilities) and use of public spaces will be made (citizen organisations, public transport). The map shows the connections between the stakeholders exchanging knowledge and values so that it can also be visualised where additional exchange is required
Set up Green Teams / RAs cooperate with Lighthouses to set up Green Teams within their organisation. Each Lighthouse will set up a cross-departmental group of 3 to 8 people from existing staff that function as change agents or ambassadors for promoting and supporting climate adaptation within the organisation. Local needs and specifications resulting from the needs and stakeholder analysis are taken into account. Also RA Emsland will set up a GT at regional level with guidance from EEA LE and TUDO.
Training sessions on seizing opportunities for green-blue infrastructure in public spaces / Lighthouses and Followers will follow 2 online training sessions where they will learn how to work with the compendium of good examples. This will help them to recognize opportunities for implementing climate adaptation measures within planned projects, compare solutions, and calculate costs and benefits. The business model that was developed during the Interreg 2Seas project ‘Nature Smart Cities’ project, PoA was a partner for, will be used to compare costs and benefits of different solutions.
Meet and greets on climate proof public procurement and maintenance / To engage and encourage external stakeholders to focus on climate adaptation within their projects and services, meet and greets will be organised (1 per country) for enterprises, SME and NGOs already, or potentially, working for LAs to inform about new trends in climateproof public procurement and maintenance of public spaces (WP2). Like this the project offers new opportunities for organisations to create value by aligning objectives, recognising competences & creating shared value.
Improve climate adaptation standards for public procurement / When LAs draft or commission a firm to design a climate resilient plan, that design must be translated into public procurement specifications. It is important that climate adaptive requirements are not lost when translating a plan to tender specifications. Local administrations struggle with writing these specifications as they don’t know what to write in technical terms and copy old templates. Standard requirements on climate adaptation will be improved in tender templates.
Ambassador trainings / With input from the LIFE ‘Evolving regions’ project, a 5-part training scheme will be developed and implemented to teach the GTs how to form a GT and take the role of ambassador for climate adaptation within their organisation. GTs will learn how to involve relevant actors from different administrative areas in a joint process, to manage the different perspectives and to develop joint action plans for a climate-resilient region. The training scheme will run in DE and jointly for BE&NL.
Recommendations for climate-adaptive management of public green / Focus on climate adaptation doesn't end with the delivery of a project, and should also be integrated in the maintenance of infrastructure and green. However, this job is done by field services that often aren’t aware of the latest development in climate adaptive maintenance. Guidelines for climate proof maintenance will be developed. A comparison will be done between BE&NL and DE&SE where for the former maintenance is increasingly being outsourced because of too high costs to keep it inhouse.
Developing integrated action plans / Through 3 monthly follow-up meetings CAB Västra Götaland, HHSK, Emsland, EEA LE and PoA will guide the Lighthouses within their country with building an action plan to develop a green-blue public investment planning using the ‘cooperation strategy’ developed in WP1, and the ‘compendium’ and ‘improved standards for public procurement’ of WP2. At the start a baseline will be measured as reference point to compare progress of integrating climate adaptation into the public investment planning.
Green Team Exchange sessions / Every 6 months, from the 6th month onwards, the Lighthouses (alternating offline and online) will meet to exchange knowledge and experience on project process and implementation of the GT methodology within their organisation. Through evaluation forms, common stumbling blocks will be identified. They will form the input for the thematic working sessions that TUDO will provide during the exchange sessions to address these pitfalls and monitor progress.
Develop a replication strategy / A replication strategy will be developed with extra focus on rural municipalities. Key is to help accelerate implementation of the project results in other LRAs to scale-up the impact of the project. The RAs guiding the establishment of GTs will take an active role in replicating the GT method to other (Follower) LAs. For developing the replication strategy we will strive to respond to and build on the questions and challenges that other LRAs express during meet-ups and webinars.
Develop evaluation guidelines / Develop an integrated evaluation strategy to assess impact of the GT methodology on local climate adaptation goals and evaluate the effectiveness of the developed GT strategies. At the beginning and at the end of the project an organisation-wide survey with Lighthouse and Follower LRAs will be conducted to measure impact of the GT methodology on the integration of climate adaptation within the organisation. Result is an evaluation report which is also input for the policy recommendations (WP2).
Policy recommendations / Based on the experiences with implementing the GT methodology with Lighthouses and Followers, policy recommendations will be written. These aim to further disseminate and embed lessons learned based on experience at different policy levels and within different sectors cooperating on climate adaptation.
GT dissemination & replication events / The developed strategies, roadmaps and tools in WP1,2 and 3 will be actively spread by the project partners by including it in their existing operations and networks and by using their (social)media. All partners also commit to actively disseminate GT methodology within and beyond the NSR and will seize relevant international events, such as the ‘European Week of Regions and Cities’, to disseminate project results to speak on their best practices and lessons learned.
Set up Self-Assessment Tool / A self-assessment tool is a method that can help individuals gather information for self-evaluation. A self-assessment tool (SAT) for LRAs will outline the use of the strategies developed after the project ends, allowing GTs to continue their role as climate adaptation ambassadors within their organisations. Part of the SAT is a self-assessment tool that GTs can use to stay motivated and encourage each other in their role as GT ambassadors. The tool comes in the form of an online questionnaire.
Green Teams' best practices / Workbook with the GTL results, the good examples, stumbling blocks, and lessons learned. The thematic working sessions during the GT exchange sessions serve as input. The workbook acts as a guide with quick wins for other local authorities and functions as an addendum to the developed roadmap.
Involve decision-makers / While the different departments of the LRAs learn to work together integrally and proactively around climate adaptation, it is important to also temporarily involve decision-makers in this process. Lighthouses will involve decision-makers in the implementation of the GT methodology from the beginning, starting with a statement of order for the process, agreeing on targets. TUDO will provide tools and communication methodologies to keep decision makers involved.
Sharing resulsts and show experience / The Roadmap, together with the compendium with good examples, the workbook with GT best practices and the policy recommendation that will be published on the projects’ and projects' partners website. All partners will use their (social) media channels to share these results via a 'peronsal'/local story to show their personal experience with setting up local action plans.
Develop a GT communication toolbox / The GT communication toolbox collects the outputs of WP1 and translates that into an easily workable communication toolbox for LRAs to work with the GT cooperation methodology within their organisations. Besides that, the toolbox also functions as an important dissemination tool for RAs to replicate the GT cooperation methodology to other LRAs and organisations. Therefore the toolbox will also contain communication strategy with templates/modules and accompanying PR materials for dissemination.

Contribution to wider strategies and policies:

Financing the transition: Becoming climate resilient requires significant financial investments. In this project local/region public authorities learn how to link climate adaptation measures to already planned/financed infrastructure works. This way, adaptation measures can be implemented with limited additional resources The Just Transition will ensure that the transition happens in a fair way. Green Team will guide both rural and urban authorities so that no one is left behind.
One of the priorities of the Territorial agenda is empowering local/regional communities to protect, rehabilitate, utilise and reutilise their built environment. Actions taken should aim o.a. to strengthen multi-level governance (MLG) and place based approaches. In this MLG project the main focus is empowerment of staff. A place-based approach will be used by really looking into detail at the local public authorities’ own territory and investment plans through developing local action plans.
Pillar 2 of the EU Biodiversity strategy ‘restoring nature in the EU’ has as one of its key-commitments: Bring nature back to urban spaces. This is in line with the objective of the GT project. By developing a methodology to improve and accelerate the process of climate adaptation within the NSR, the project contributes greener public spaces. By doing so it also creates linking opportunities to work on biodiversity.
The 4 principles of the EU Adaptation Strategy also underpin the GT project: Smarter adaptation by supporting the use of adaptation opportunities in planned projects from planning to maintenance. Faster adaptation by identifying quick wins within the multiyear investment planning. Systemic adaptation by involving different sectors (horizontal) and different levels of government (vertical). Increase support for international climate resilience through stronger exchange via the cross-sectoral network.
The Charter highlights that cities need to establish integrated and sustainable urban development strategies and ensure their implementation for the city as a whole. The charter also sets a framework for how urban development should take place in Europe across the different layers of governance. This is in line with the objectives of the GT project that wants to obtain that local/regional public authorities work together in a more integrated way on the sustainable development of public spaces.

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 083 - Strategies and action plans jointly developed, Measurement unit:

Delivered output indicator(s):

(RCO83) Strategies and action plans jointly developed: 256

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 079 - Joint strategies and action plans taken up by organisations, Measurement unit:

Delivered result indicator(s):

(RCR79) Joint strategies and action plans taken up by organisations: 4

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B North Sea

Latest month of project-partner-call data publication

2026-05

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

65 / 65 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

832 / 832 (100%)

Notes on the data

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Improved governance mechanisms for integrated and pro-active climate adaptation planning in public spaces [FA]

Description

Thematic information

Partners (13)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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