Accelerating Action & Policy

Knowledge Library

Project Acceleration

Capacity Building

To catalyze implementation across regions, MCAP is growing its knowledge library of adaptation and resilience building measures for Mediterranean bioregions to better combat shared climate hazards and risks.

Knowledge Library

BEST PRACTICE GUIDE

To complement the Guide, the Secretariat is also collating learnings from proven, implemented solutions. This Solutions Bank catalogs implemented projects, best practice examples, and member region experiences that have been tested and delivered in Mediterranean bioregions. The Solutions Bank extends moves beyond the practice principle itself, cataloging proven adaptation solutions from member regions so other regions can learn from and adapt them.

MEMBER VAULT

This Best Practice Guide seeks to support Mediterranean bioregions by providing a roadmap for resilience building, Understanding and prioritizing adaptation measures can make MCAP regions, as well as other Mediterranean bioregions with shared climates, more resilient to their most acute challenges, like drought, wildfire, and extreme heat. The Best Practice Guide itself is a dynamic resource for MCAP member regions, as well as the broader public, that will be refined and grown over time. 

SOLUTIONS BANK

The Vault contains member-only resources to better understand implementation mechanisms, detailing more tactical challenges and dynamics of getting the thing done, to provide key lessons learned by other member regions in order for other member regions to speed and smooth their own implementation journey. The Secretariat is a broker and a matchmaker for MCAP regions in identifying their priorities and needs, building capacity, and collaborating with other member regions to speed adaptation policy and project implementation. 

Project Acceleration

In 2025, the Secretariat launched a “Mini Sprint” as an experimental project acceleration initiative to spur project implementation and collaboration. Nine cross-regional teams submitted project proposals to be considered for funding and added capacity support from the MCAP Secretariat, thanks to the generosity of the Hilton Foundation. Ultimately, three projects were selected to design and implement solutions to MCAP's core climate challenges—Extreme Heat, Wildfire, and Drought— with the ambitious goal of generating meaningful progress within a year to attract additional resources for future projects.

About the Drought Project
About the Wildfire Project
About the Extreme Heat Project
Project Findings & Outputs

Improving Mediterranean Coastal Wetland Resilience Through Biodiversity Protection and Sustainable Water Management Practices

  • Catalonia

  • Western Cape

    Central Greece

  • Amics dels Aiguamolls i del Patrimoni Natural de l’Empordà (AAPNE)

  • Western Cape Freshwater Research Center

This project will enhance the resilience of freshwater reservoirs by installing physical and nature-based barriers to reduce saline intrusion. In Catalonia, a sluice gate will be installed on the Fluvià River to physically limit saltwater intrusion from maritime storms and reduced freshwater flows, protecting local ecosystems and agricultural lands. Simultaneously, the Western Cape will construct a floating wetland to act as a natural filter in the Hartenbos estuary, absorbing excess water and managing salinization and erosion while improving overall ecosystem health. Both regions will monitor the performance of their interventions by tracing water loss and assessing infrastructure and riparian health.

Central Greece will act as a key knowledge partner, supporting implementation teams with best practices and research to prepare for a similar intervention in the future. Ultimately, the three regions will jointly develop a set of policy recommendations for long-term adaptive management of freshwater reservoirs under the increased threat of salinization.

Detailed One-Pager

Informing Mediterranean Managed Fire Practices Through a Geospatial Risk & Biodiversity Assessment Platform

  • Western Cape

  • California

    Catalonia

    New South Wales

    Santiago de Chile

  • Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

  • CapeNature

    Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF)

This project will create a comprehensive, map-based tool that integrates biodiversity and historical wildfire data from Catalonia and the Western Cape. Building on Catalonia’s existing methodology, the tool will identify high-priority areas for proactive, managed fire practices to reduce fuel loads from invasive species, helping to restore biodiversity and preserve water. A broader team of wildfire and biodiversity experts from California, New South Wales, and Santiago, Chile will collaborate to enhance this methodology and develop a system for predictive risk modeling and mitigation planning. The project will leverage remote-sensed imagery and other sources to establish indicators for evaluating the efficiency of these fire prevention actions. This comprehensive system will be designed to provide critical biodiversity and risk information for governance and a continuous service for a wide range of public and private users, enabling them to integrate managed fire practices in their mitigation actions.

Detailed One-Pager

Increasing Awareness and Preparedness to Extreme Heat in Mediterranean Regions Through a Heat Island Monitoring & Prediction Tool

  • Santiago de Chile

  • Western Cape

    California

  • Universidad Andrés Bello

  • University of the Western Cape (UWC)

    Universidad de Chile

    Red por la equidad energética (REDPE)

This project will create a Heat Island Monitoring & Prediction Tool, a GIS-based web tool to map heat islands within the urban and rural areas of Santiago de Chile and the Western Cape regions. Building on a successful model from California, this tool will help regional and local governments, scientists, and planners understand heat exposure and inform adaptive strategies. Working with local university partners in Santiago and Western Cape, the project will deploy sensors to collect standardized temperature data across both regions. By integrating temperature data with census and health data, the tool will identify areas most at risk. This will enable stakeholders to make better-informed decisions on resource allocation and the development of adaptation strategies to keep communities safe, strengthening technical capacity and fostering data-driven decision-making to close the climate resilience gap.

Detailed One-Pager

Progress to Date

The Mini Sprints critically support MCAP and its members to build climate resilience, transforming climate policy priorities into practice through collaboration and network building, and raising global awareness of the shared fate of mediterranean regions. Early insights indicated that MCAP offers a platform for climate action that both attracts new forms of finance to support local governments and enhances cooperation across multiple levels of government to advance climate adaptation. Quick-wins delivered during the 9-month sprint included:

Santiago positioned the Urban and Rural Heat Monitoring Platform as a delivery priority, gaining the endorsement and support from the Regional Extreme Heat Roundtable, which brings national ministries, public services, and the national Meteorological Directorate to prepare the region to Extreme Heat.

14 government agencies from the Western Cape, Catalonia, California, and Chile convened to co-design a unified wildfire information system applicable across Mediterranean regions. The project established a cross-regional working group that leverages regional expertise present in the most robust wildfire agencies around the world, extending resources and methodologies to the other regions.

120 artificial wetlands were developed and installed in the Hartenbos estuary in Western Cape and replicated for validation by partners in Catalonia, with the goal to improve water quality and stream.

COP30 Progress Report
Heat Monitoring Tool
Artificial Wetlands Virtual Tour

Fostering Adaptation and Inclusion for Resilient Future (FairFUTURE)

As part of FairFUTURE, MCAP regions have the opportunity to engage with partners and regions across Europe and Associated countries in order to deepen their capacity and understanding of effective crisis management and improved governance when addressing the impacts of wildfires, drought and extreme heat in particular. MCAP regions will have the opportunity to:

  • Take part in a global comparative comparative Analysis of Resilience Gaps and Vulnerabilities: Focus on Drought, Heat, and Wildfires

  • Targeted knowledge exchange

  • Capacity-building program for resilience and adaptation

  • Provide global feedback on the adoption of Local Green Deals methodologies and Resilience Pathways promoting scalable, equitable resilience projects with a focus on groups most vulnerable to environmental shocks and stresses

At a Glance

  • Fostering Adaptation and Inclusion for Resilient FUTURE (FairUnderstanding, Transformation, Urban Resilience and Equity)

  • Official Start: 1st September 2025

    Duration: 48 Months

  • Total All-Partner Budget: € 7,516,888.75

  • 22 Partners representing:

    • Program leads

    • Technical experts

    • Incubator cities

    • Replicator cities

    • Local partners for incubators & replicators

    (Main partners include ICLEI, IEECP, DEMOS, Climate-KIC, STIPO, RCC, etc.)

The Opportunity

Contact us to learn more

Follow FairFuture for updates