Clim-ATIC is a three year, 2.4 Euro million international project that has been awarded project funding of 60% by the European Commission's Northern Periphery Programme.
This exiting new project began on 1 March 2008, and will involve community stakeholders working in partnership with public sector and academic institutions, from Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Greenland and Finland, to explore the potential for different community sectors to develop adaptation capacity, and deliver real adaptations that will provide local economic and social advantages.
Clim-ATIC's overall objective after three years is to establish a sustainable, self-financing service that will provide information, training and advice to communities, small businesses, and local administrations across the Northern Periphery who wish to significantly increase their capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
This service will be established and delivered in collaboration with the University of the Arctic, an existing cooperative network of 109 universities, colleges, and other organisations across the Arctic; including the University of the Highlands and Islands.
To achieve this overall objective, the project will undertake a number of key activities over the three-year period subdivided into five separate work packages, with communities and community sector stakeholders across all five participating regions of the Northern Periphery, to build the necessary knowledge.
- A comprehensive review of the likely short and long-term implications of climate change on a number of specific rural communities in each partner region
- Develop climate change vulnerability scenarios using existing climate change data and models, social change scenarios, and local knowledge and experience
- Identify the barriers and opportunities for rural communities that wish to adapt to climate change
- Development, adoption and initial implementation of a Community Climate Change Adaptation Strategy by the participating communities.
- The planning, delivery and evaluation of up to 12 complementary adaptation demonstration projects by communities and their stakeholders across the Northern Periphery.
Clim-ATIC will be led and managed by the Centre for Mountain Studies with the support of the University of the Highlands and Islands, and several partners from academic and public sector organisations in other participating regions.
The project will be principally coordinated by Clive Bowman of the Centre for Mountain Studies, based at Perth College UHI.
The project runs until 31 April 2011.
The relevance of, and the barriers and opportunities to, initiating such a scheme will be explored in the context of national and local political structures and policies, available grants, support from the voluntary and business sectors, cultural and social attitudes, media, and climate change awareness.
The main project will have a particular emphasis on supporting the implementation of a pilot project project information will be available on the Clim-ATIC website.