The LOCALISED project – Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) – is sponsoring the European Climate Change Adaptation Conference (ECCA) 2025, taking place in in Rimini, Italy, from 16–18 June. In particular, Together with other EU-funded projects — I-CISK, ReachOut, and RethinkAction — we are hosting a Brokerage Event on Tuesday, 17 June, at 16:30 in Room Faro.

This special session will showcase innovative tools developed over the past year by our projects. Attendees will have the opportunity to:

• Explore the tools’ features and real-world applications
• Engage directly with developers and project teams
• Discover how these solutions can support tackle climate change

In addition, the four projects will share a joint booth throughout ECCA 2025, where visitors can learn more about our research, methodologies, and key outputs.

We look forward to inspiring conversations and meaningful exchanges: see you in Rimini!

The 2025 edition of the European Urban Resilience Forum (EURESFO) will take place on 25-27 June in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Also this year, LOCALISED is co-organising the event as well as is contributing with a panel discussion “Towards climate-resilient cities: Co-creating tools and services for local action”.

Organised by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability and the European Environment Agency (EEA), EURESFO has been acting as a unique exchange platform in the field of resilience. The event brings together city representatives, experts, and stakeholders from local and regional institutions to discuss strategies, initiatives, and actions affiliating to climate change adaptation, disaster management, and the cultivation of urban resilience.

The 2025 edition of EURESFO is also co-organised the City of Rotterdam, and will focus on how to accelerate resilience action on six key topics. These topics are justice, inclusion and societal resilience, new extremes and polycrises: from heatwaves to water resilience, exploring nature-based solutions: from policy to action, finance and investment strategies for resilience-building, resilience governance in a polarised political landscape and finally data, information and evidence-based resilience action.

More information will come soon: stay update!

The LOCALISED project will participate in the European Climate Change Adaptation Conference (ECCA) 2025, taking place this summer in Rimini. 

Together with other EU-funded research projects, I-CISK, ReachOut, and RethinkAction, we organised a session titled “Cross-sectoral and multi-scale climate services – upscaling of mitigation and adaptation actions,” to present key findings and solutions developed over the course of our overall work and activities (DAY 2 17 June 2025 – 11:00-12:30).

In particular, this collaborative session will highlight:

• Scientific outcomes on regional climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, 
• Innovative decision-support tools and platforms tailored for local policymakers,
• Real-world use cases and pathways for upscaling project results across Europe.

A focus will be also on a critical question: How can the results of EU-funded projects remain sustainable and impactful beyond their funding lifecycles? And together, we will explore strategies for long-term maintenance, dissemination, and market adoption of these tools.

Electrical system from Pypsa-eur.

As experts in sustainable energy solutions, IREC is working on two transformative EU initiatives: the LOCALISED Project, focused on localized decarbonisation strategies, and ICARIA (Improving ClimAte Resilience of crItical Assets), dedicated to safeguarding critical infrastructure from climate threats. In this regard, within ICARIA,  IRECa ims to evalaute and ensure resilience of Europe’s energy networks can withstand escalating hazards like wildfires, floods, and extreme winds.

ICARIA project

ICARIA is a Horizon Europe-funded project that employs cutting-edge methodologies to assess risks to energy grids, water networks, and transport. Our role at IREC focuses on the electricity sector, where we analyze climate impacts on power infrastructure and design actionable resilience strategies.

ICARIA Use Cases: Assessing Climate Risks

In order to achieve the results, we’ve developed a robust methodology to assess climate risks to energy grids. Our approach involves:

1. Data collection: Gathering historical climate data, such as temperature and precipitation records.
2. Climate models and forecasting: Using climate models to predict future climate scenarios, including the potential for extreme weather events.
3. Risk assessment: Evaluating the vulnerability of power infrastructure to these climate risks.

This methodology has been applied into two different use cases in Austria and Greece, which also consider different extreme events such as wildfires and windstorms.

Fire risk on Rhodes island.

Rhodes Island, Greece: Wildfire Risk to Overhead Power Lines

Our analysis in Rhodes focused on quantifying wildfire risks to overhead electricity infrastructure under different climate scenarios. We used a combination of historical Fire Weather Index (FWI) data and future climate projections to map fire risk across the island.

To assess vulnerability, we evaluated the proximity of power lines to natural vegetation (a fuel source) and roads (potential ignition points). Our results showed that 50.34% of Rhodes’ overhead network (87.82 km) faced a high combined risk, prioritizing these segments for upgrades like fire-resistant materials or vegetation clearance.

Wind speed predictions on Salsburg.

Salzburg, Austria: Windstorm Impacts on Power Infrastructure

In Salzburg, we evaluated wind-driven risks to transmission lines and towers in alpine regions. Our analysis focused on wind speed predictions and their alignment with infrastructure fragility thresholds.

We used a Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) model to interpolate wind data across the region, generating raster layers of predicted wind speeds. Our results showed that while current wind gusts are below critical thresholds, proactive resilience measures are necessary to ensure the grid remains robust against future wind extremes.

Why the work in ICARIA Matters

Our findings in Rhodes and Salzburg highlight the urgent need for utilities to allocate resources efficiently, balancing safety, cost, and reliability. By addressing climate risks proactively, we can:

1. Reduce power outages: Minimize disruptions to energy supply.
2. Protect infrastructure: Prevent damage to power lines and towers.
3. Ensure grid resilience: Maintain a stable and reliable energy network.

ICARIA’s work in assessing climate risks to energy grids is crucial for building resilience against climate change leading to recommendations and planning. Our technical expertise and regional focus enable us to provide actionable recommendations for utilities and policymakers to minimize such risks. By working together, we can ensure Europe’s energy networks remain secure, efficient, and sustainable for generations to come.

On 30 May 2025, from 12:00 to 13:00 CEST, we are organising an insightful webinar in collaboration with CMCC, highlighting two innovative tools developed within LOCALISED to support local businesses in their transition toward decarbonisation and sustainability.

Nadia Soledad Ibañez Iralde, Architect Researcher at the Energy Research Center of Catalonia (IREC) and Giorgio Coppola, Researcher at EIEE-CMCC Institute will present:

• The LOCALISED Sustainable Business Model Canvas (LSBMC) –Designed by the Institute for Energy Research of Catalonia (IREC). A tool designed to help analyse and transform business models to align them with sustainable development. Based on an Excel-like structure, the tool allows businesses to identify barriers, detect opportunities and evaluate practical indicators to advance towards decarbonisation.
• The Net Zero Business Consultant (NZBC) – Developed by the CMCC Foundation in collaboration with Assalombarda, which is a tool that allows local businesses of the transport, agriculture and manufacturing sector to assess their risk and vulnerability to the transition.

To illustrate the practical use and impact of these tools, the webinar will include a live case study, demonstrating how they can be applied to drive meaningful and measurable change.

A new study developed in the context of LOCALISED and published in Energy Research & Social Science provides a novel, comprehensive, and spatially explicit analysis of the energy poverty risk of households due to a forced transition to low-carbon lifestyles.

By integrating indicators related to energy systems, food security, household lifestyles, and broader socioeconomic factors, the study assesses the risk of households facing energy poverty using the newly developed Heat-or-Eat Risk Index (HERI). The HERI provides insights into the heat-or-eat-dilemma – a well-documented condition that puts households in a difficult situation of reducing energy services or nutrition to fulfil their basic needs. Developed as a multidimensional approach, the study maps how households are exposed to unjust side effects of the energy transition. This mapping identifies European regions where certain populations are at greater risk of experiencing energy poverty due to competing pressures in the energy and food domains.

The paper introduces the framework to better assess the justice of mitigation measures by offering a detailed, reproducible, and transferable methodology to guide targeted interventions and policy support. At a time of rising energy prices and economic uncertainty, the study provides crucial evidence for strengthening social resilience and enabling more just energy transitions.

This new resource is set to play a key role in informing more equitable climate and social policies across Europe.