LOCALIENCE

Project overview

Developing resilience against extreme weather threats caused by climate change at local level in Central Europe

Extreme weather events are increasing with rising temperatures. They are best tackled in collaboration but the task too often relies on experts alone. The LOCALIENCE project took disaster managers out of their one-directional information and service provider position and connected them in a co-design process with local communities. The partnership developed and tested collaborative disaster response and management solutions and mobilised local communities through mutual learning and networking.

2,04m €

Project Budget

80%

of the Budget is funded by ERDF

Layer 1

5

Countries

8

Regions

11

Partners

5

Pilots

Duration

Start date

End date

Project progress

100%

About the project

LOCALIENCE strengthened local resilience to climate-related extreme weather events by improving cooperation between disaster management professionals, municipalities, civil society organisations, volunteers and local communities across five Central European countries. By project closure, the partnership had jointly developed a comprehensive set of practical tools and methods. These include an Extreme Weather Catalogue, a performance appraisal methodology for assessing local cooperation, policy gap analyses, a multi-level governance White Paper, multilingual training materials on multi-hazard events and nature-based solutions, and a coaching methodology supporting cooperation between municipalities and disaster management actors. The project also implemented and tested five pilot solutions under real local conditions: an urban Climate Living Lab in Hungary, community-based flood management in Austria, a responsive urban warning system in Slovenia, an enhanced warning system supporting mayors in Czechia, and decision-making simulation games in Poland. All five pilots were assessed through transnational peer-review visits, refined through stakeholder feedback and documented with their lessons and transferable elements. The LOCALIENCE Handbook brings together the project’s tested solutions, tools, training resources and recommendations in an accessible online knowledge repository. National transfer workshops and the Closing Conference introduced these results to municipalities, emergency services, public authorities and other potential users. The partners and associated partners also endorsed a Transnational Roadmap defining their commitments to continued knowledge exchange, dissemination, stakeholder engagement and uptake of LOCALIENCE results. Together, these outputs provide tested and transferable approaches for strengthening communication, preparedness, governance and community involvement in local disaster resilience.

Project partnership

Project partners

Magyarország (HU)

Lead partner

Ministry of Interior

Address
József Attila 2-4
1051 Budapest
Country
Hungary (HU)
Web
https://kormany.hu/belugyminiszterium

Project partner

Address
Márvány 1/D
1012 Budapest
Country
Hungary (HU)
Web
https://ovf.hu/
Total partner budget
109,715 €
Address
Ady Endre tér 1
9700 Szombathely
Country
Hungary (HU)
Web
https://vas.katasztrofavedelem.hu/
Total partner budget
178,020 €
Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Hydrometry and Institute for Land and Water Management Research
Address
Pollnbergstrasse 1
3252 Petzenkirchen
Country
Austria (AT)
Web
www.baw.at
Total partner budget
245,731 €
Abteilung 14 Wasserwirtschaft, Ressourcen und Nachhaltigkeit
Address
Wartingergasse 43
A-8010 Graz
Country
Austria (AT)
Web
www.wasserwirtschaft.steiermark.at
Total partner budget
233,404 €
Address
Kloknerova 26
14801 Prague
Country
Czechia (CZ)
Web
www.hzscr.cz
Total partner budget
195,019 €
Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine
Address
Syllabova 19
70300 Ostrava
Country
Czechia (CZ)
Web
www.osu.cz
Total partner budget
122,342 €
Address
Vojkova 1b
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Country
Slovenia (SI)
Web
www.arso.gov.si
Total partner budget
210,298 €
Address
Vojkova cesta 19
1000 Ljubljana
Country
Slovenia (SI)
Web
https://gasilskabrigadaljubljana.si/en/
Total partner budget
110,697 €
Address
Juliusza Słowackiego 52/54
01-629 Warsaw
Country
Poland (PL)
Web
https://apoz.edu.pl/
Total partner budget
164,366 €
Crisis Information Centre
Address
Bartycka 18A
00-716 Warsaw
Country
Poland (PL)
Web
www.cbkpan.pl
Total partner budget
118,882 €

Roadmap

1

The challenge

OpenAI. (2026). Compound climate hazards affecting a Central European community [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 202
OpenAI. (2026). Compound climate hazards affecting a Central European community [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 202

Climate change altered the hydrological cycle and increased the frequency and intensity of weather- and water-related hazards across Central Europe. Floods, storms, droughts, wildfires, landslides and heatwaves placed growing pressure on municipalities and local communities, often causing serious economic, environmental and social damage.

2

The starting point

OpenAI. (2026). Extreme weather and urban flood risk [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.
OpenAI. (2026). Extreme weather and urban flood risk [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.

The project identified that the impacts of extreme weather were intensified not only by the hazards themselves, but also by gaps in preparedness and cooperation. Disaster management information often flowed in one direction, from professional organisations to local actors, while citizens, municipalities, volunteers and civil society organisations had limited opportunities to contribute their knowledge and capacities. Communication channels, responsibilities and cooperation procedures were often fragmented. Local decision-makers did not always receive information in a form that could easily be translated into action, and communities were not consistently involved in preparedness planning.

3

The LOCALIENCE approach

OpenAI. (2026). Participatory local resilience workshop [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.
OpenAI. (2026). Participatory local resilience workshop [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.

LOCALIENCE brought together disaster management, water management, fire and rescue organisations, public authorities, research institutions, municipalities and civil society actors from five Central European countries. Rather than treating local communities as passive recipients of information, the project involved them in identifying risks, developing solutions, testing tools and evaluating what worked. The partnership combined professional expertise with local knowledge and connected analysis, training, practical experimentation and policy development within one common process.

4

From shared knowledge to tested solutions

OpenAI. (2026). Five pilot solutions for local disaster resilience [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.
OpenAI. (2026). Five pilot solutions for local disaster resilience [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.

LOCALIENCE first examined how disaster management systems operated in the participating countries and identified where cooperation between professional organisations, municipalities and local communities could be improved. A comprehensive survey compared national frameworks, while a collection of awareness-raising and training practices highlighted approaches that had already strengthened community preparedness. Based on this shared evidence, the partners developed an Extreme Weather Catalogue, a performance appraisal methodology for evaluating local cooperation, policy gap analyses and multilingual training materials on multi-hazard extreme weather events and nature-based solutions. National trainings and a coaching process helped municipalities, emergency services, public authorities, volunteers and civil society actors translate this knowledge into practical cooperation. The project then implemented five pilot actions: - an urban Climate Living Lab in Hungary; - community-based flood management in Austria; - a responsive urban warning system in Slovenia; - an enhanced warning system supporting municipal decision-makers in Czechia; - decision-making simulation games for disaster preparedness in Poland. Each pilot addressed a specific local challenge but followed common principles: stakeholder involvement, user-centred development, practical testing and two-way communication. The pilots were assessed through peer-review visits involving partners and local stakeholders from all five participating countries. These visits enabled direct observation, external feedback and joint reflection. They helped refine the solutions, identify transferable elements and strengthen cooperation and mutual trust across borders.

5

What changed through LOCALIENCE

OpenAI. (2026). Participatory community disaster preparedness [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.
OpenAI. (2026). Participatory community disaster preparedness [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.

The project moved cooperation beyond one-way information provision towards more interactive and participatory disaster preparedness. Municipalities, professional organisations and community actors gained a clearer understanding of each other’s roles, needs and capacities. The pilots demonstrated that: - warning information became more useful when it was localised and linked to clear actions; - preparedness improved when institutions and communities trained and planned together; - local knowledge strengthened professional risk-management processes; participatory development increased trust, acceptance and ownership of solutions; - technical tools were most effective when supported by clear responsibilities, trained users and established cooperation procedures. LOCALIENCE therefore showed that local resilience depended not only on better technology, but also on communication, human capacities, governance and community involvement.

6

Results available for others

OpenAI. (2026). Sharing LOCALIENCE results with external stakeholders [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.
OpenAI. (2026). Sharing LOCALIENCE results with external stakeholders [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.

LOCALIENCE delivered a set of practical results to strengthen local resilience and improve cooperation between municipalities, disaster management organisations, emergency services, public authorities and civil society: - The Extreme Weather Catalogue supported local risk assessment and preparedness by bringing together information on relevant weather-related hazards, their impacts and available response measures. - The performance appraisal methodology provided indicators to assess cooperation between professional disaster management organisations and local public and civil actors and to identify areas for improvement. - Policy gap analyses identified institutional and governance barriers affecting local resilience and provided a basis for recommendations to local, regional and national decision-makers. - Multilingual training materials and coaching methods strengthened practical knowledge on multi-hazard events, nature-based solutions and cooperation between municipalities, professionals, volunteers and civil society. - Five pilot actions tested different approaches to improving local resilience, including a Climate Living Lab, community-based flood management, responsive urban warning, decision support for mayors and simulation-based disaster preparedness training. Peer reviews and transfer activities further supported the refinement and adaptation of these approaches. The LOCALIENCE Handbook on Local Resilience Against Extreme Weather Threats brings together the tested pilot solutions, practical tools, training resources and transferable lessons in an online knowledge repository, helping potential users understand how the approaches can be applied in different local contexts. The multi-level governance White Paper complements these practical results with recommendations for improving communication, responsibilities, community participation and cooperation across governance levels.

7

Lasting cooperation and key lesson

OpenAI. (2026). Community-based disaster resilience planning [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.
OpenAI. (2026). Community-based disaster resilience planning [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. Generated 4 August 2026.

The main lesson of LOCALIENCE was that resilient communities could not be created through isolated technical solutions. Resilience was strengthened when professional expertise, local knowledge, practical training, inclusive governance and sustained cooperation were brought together. Although hazards and institutional systems differed across countries, the challenges of communication, local capacity and coordination were widely shared—and the methods tested by LOCALIENCE offered practical ways to address them.

News

Events

No events found

Pilot actions

Outputs

Problem, analysis, solution
Pixabay, by geralt, https://pixabay.com/illustrations/problem-analysis-solution-hand-67054/

Multi-level governance policy White Paper including comparative and transferability analysis of local policy solutions, multi-level policy improvement recommendations

The White Paper delivers practical policy recommendations for strengthening multi-level cooperation in disaster preparedness and response. It identifies concrete opportunities to improve communication, clarify responsibilities and enhance collaboration between national and regional authorities, municipalities, professional organisations and local communities. The recommendations can support policymakers, public authorities, disaster management organisations and municipalities in adapting governance arrangements to their own institutional and regional contexts. The White Paper also includes a dedicated Action Plan for Czechia, translating the recommendations into proposed measures for national uptake. This provides a practical example of how the project’s policy findings can be turned into country-specific actions and may serve as inspiration for stakeholders in other participating countries.
Type of output: Strategies and action plans
Pixabay

LOCALIENCE Handbook on Local Resilience Against Extreme Weather Threats

This online repository brings together the knowledge and practical experience gained throughout the LOCALIENCE project. It presents successful practices from the partner regions, detailed descriptions of tested solutions, and practical guidance on how they can be adapted and applied in other contexts. The repository also provides access to the project’s main results, including the Extreme Weather Catalogue, the performance appraisal methodology, policy recommendations and improvements, pilot solutions, and training materials.
Type of output: Solutions
Cooperation across borders
Freepik

Transnational roadmap on cooperation and transfer activities beyond the project

We prepared a transnational roadmap - a plan on cooperation activities beyond the project implementation process. It supports sustained local and transnational collaboration among project partners and associated partners, as well as the transfer of LOCALIENCE knowledge, experiences, and good practices to interested third parties at both national and international levels.
Type of output: Strategies and action plans

Project videos

Project documents

Introduction of pilot activities - ENG Overview of the pilot actions

LOCALIENCE project results - ENG Project results - poster (English)
LOCALIENCE project results - SLO Project results - poster (Slovenian)
LOCALIENCE project results - HU Project results - poster (Hungarian)
LOCALIENCE project results - PL Project results - poster (Polish)
LOCALIENCE project results - DE Project results - poster (Austrian)
LOCALIENCE project results - CZ Project results - poster (Czech)

Completed deliverables in the LOCALIENCE project

Survey about the disaster management systems The survey compared disaster management systems in the partner countries and identified institutional differences, common challenges and good practices. Its results helped build a shared understanding of the project context and supported the development of later project tools and activities.
Appraisal methodology The appraisal methodology provided a structured tool to assess the effectiveness of cooperation between professional disaster management actors and local civic/public stakeholders. It focused on communication, coordination, stakeholder engagement and resource-sharing practices.
Gap analysis on local/regional/national level policy environment The gap analysis examined policy and governance barriers that limit effective local-level disaster preparedness and cooperation. Its findings supported the formulation of policy recommendations and contributed to the development of the White Paper.
Repository of applicable practices The repository collected and presented relevant practices, tools and experiences that can support local resilience against extreme weather events. It served as a practical knowledge base for partners and external stakeholders seeking transferable solutions.
Trainings on Nature-Based Solutions and Multi-Hazard Extreme Weather Events The trainings strengthened the knowledge and preparedness of disaster management professionals, municipalities and local stakeholders. They focused on practical approaches to managing multi-hazard extreme weather risks and promoting Nature-Based Solutions as sustainable resilience measures.
Piloting Handbook The Piloting Handbook provided a common methodological framework for preparing, implementing and monitoring the LOCALIENCE pilot actions. It ensured that pilots were developed in a structured and comparable way while allowing adaptation to local needs.
Peer-review visits The peer-review visits enabled partners to study, supervise and cross-reference the pilot actions implemented in different countries. They supported transnational learning, external feedback and the identification of transferable elements and common challenges.

LOCALIENCE

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Project on social media

Project contact

Petra Csizmadia, project manager