LOCALIENCE Concludes: Stronger Local Cooperation for a More Climate-Resilient Central Europe

After three years of transnational cooperation, the LOCALIENCE project has concluded 31 March 2026, leaving behind tested solutions, practical tools and a strengthened network of organisations committed to improving local resilience against extreme weather events.

Co-funded by the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme, LOCALIENCE brought together 11 project partners from Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. Together with the Associated Partners and stakeholders, these organisations worked together to address a challenge shared across Central Europe: local communities are increasingly exposed to floods, storms, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and other climate-related hazards, but the knowledge, responsibilities and capacities needed to respond are often fragmented.

The project therefore focused not only on the hazards themselves, but also on the way institutions and communities prepare for them. Its central ambition was to replace one-way communication with practical cooperation between professional disaster-management organisations, local authorities, volunteers, civil society and residents.

From analysis to practical local solutions

LOCALIENCE combined research, capacity building, pilot implementation, peer learning and policy development. The project began by examining extreme-weather risks, disaster-management systems and the institutional gaps that can prevent local actors from responding effectively. This evidence was then used to develop tools, training programmes and five pilot solutions tested under real local conditions.

Five pilot solutions tested across Central Europe

Hungary – Urban Living Lab for extreme-weather communication The Hungarian pilot created a participatory environment in which municipal actors, emergency services and local stakeholders could jointly examine communication challenges and test approaches for improving preparedness and two-way information flows during storms, flash floods and heatwaves.

Austria – Community-based flood management The Austrian pilot combined hydrological expertise with local knowledge. Municipalities, residents and volunteer responders explored flood risks through participatory mapping, accessible visual tools, preparedness exercises and discussions on nature-based approaches.

Slovenia – Responsive urban warning system The Slovenian pilot improved the local use of national weather warnings by bringing meteorological experts, the Ljubljana Fire Brigade, municipal services and other stakeholders together. Warning messages and dissemination procedures were adapted to local operational needs and tested during real weather events.

Czechia – Enhanced warning system for mayors Recognising the key responsibilities of municipal leaders during emergencies, the Czech pilot developed a clearer and more user-oriented warning interface. It translated complex hydrometeorological information into locally relevant messages and practical guidance for decision-making.

Poland – Decision-making games for disaster preparedness The Polish pilot used gamification to simulate flood and extreme-weather scenarios. Municipal representatives, responders and other participants practised coordinated decision-making under time pressure in a safe environment, improving their understanding of institutional interdependencies.

Although the pilots addressed different hazards and governance settings, they shared three essential features: user-centred design, stakeholder involvement and practical testing.

The project’s main results

LOCALIENCE Handbook and Online Knowledge Repository The Handbook brings together the project’s tools, pilot experiences, methodologies, recommendations and lessons learned. It provides municipalities, civil-protection authorities and other organisations with practical guidance on how LOCALIENCE approaches can be adapted to different local circumstances.

Extreme Weather Catalogue and analytical tools The project developed a shared evidence base on extreme-weather risks and available local capacities. A performance appraisal methodology was also created to assess cooperation between professional and public or civic actors, supported by 29 indicators and nine Key Performance Indicators.

Training materials on multi-hazard events and nature-based solutions Multilingual training resources were developed and adapted to national contexts. They addressed the management of interacting hazards and the role of nature-based solutions in water retention, sediment management and climate adaptation. Training activities involved municipal representatives, emergency services, water authorities, NGOs, volunteers and other local actors.

Coaching for municipalities and disaster-management organisations The coaching process helped participants translate training knowledge into practical local cooperation. Facilitated discussions, workshops and exercises supported a clearer understanding of local risks, institutional responsibilities and opportunities for joint action.

Peer-review visits and transnational learning Each pilot region hosted a peer-review process. Partners and local stakeholders examined the solutions in practice, identified strengths and weaknesses and provided recommendations. Direct observation and face-to-face exchange helped refine the pilots and revealed which elements could be transferred to other regions.

Transfer workshops National transfer workshops introduced LOCALIENCE tools and experiences to municipalities, emergency services and organisations beyond the partnership. Rather than promoting direct replication, the workshops encouraged participants to consider how individual solutions could be adapted to their own institutional, territorial and hazard contexts.

White Paper on multi-level governance The project’s policy analysis was translated into a White Paper containing recommendations for improving communication, coordination and community involvement across local, regional and national governance levels. It also includes an Action Plan demonstrating how policy findings can be taken up in practice.

Transnational Roadmap for continued cooperation The 11 project partners and seven associated partners committed themselves to continued cooperation after project closure. The Roadmap provides a framework for knowledge exchange, thematic follow-up, dissemination, policy uptake and annual dialogue for at least three further years.

Key lessons from LOCALIENCE

Warnings must be understandable and actionable

High-quality meteorological and hydrological data do not automatically lead to effective local action. Municipalities need information that is timely, clearly prioritised, locally relevant and connected to concrete responsibilities and recommended steps.

Resilience is not only a technical challenge

Tools and technologies are important, but their effectiveness depends on governance, communication and trust. Clear responsibilities, established workflows and functioning relationships between institutions are just as important as technical capacity.

Local actors must be treated as partners

Municipalities, volunteers, civil organisations and residents possess knowledge and capacities that professional institutions cannot replace. Involving them in planning and testing improves the relevance, acceptance and long-term ownership of resilience measures.

Sustainability must be designed from the beginning

A technically advanced solution has limited value if local organisations cannot maintain or integrate it after project funding ends. Ownership, maintenance responsibilities, resources and links to existing systems must therefore be considered during development, not after implementation.

Practical and experiential learning creates lasting change

Simulations, coaching, peer reviews, field demonstrations and joint exercises proved more effective than one-way knowledge transfer alone. They helped participants understand each other’s roles, reveal coordination gaps and build relationships that can support cooperation during real emergencies.

Solutions should be adapted, not simply copied

Institutional structures, available resources and local risks differ across regions. The most transferable aspect of LOCALIENCE is therefore not a single standardised tool, but a method: understand local needs, involve end users, test solutions under realistic conditions and improve them through feedback.

A lasting project legacy

LOCALIENCE demonstrated that local resilience emerges from the interaction of technical tools, human capacities, governance structures and community engagement. None of these elements is sufficient in isolation.

The project’s lasting achievement is therefore broader than its individual outputs. It created practical examples of how national expertise can be connected with local realities, how municipalities and communities can become active partners in preparedness, and how transnational learning can accelerate the development of more inclusive and effective solutions.

As climate-related hazards continue to intensify, the tools, partnerships and lessons developed through LOCALIENCE provide a strong foundation for continued action. The project has ended, but the cooperation and transfer of its results will continue—supporting more prepared, connected and resilient communities across Central Europe.