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ESPACE: EUROPEAN SPATIAL PLANNING:
ADAPTING TO CLIMATE EVENTS
KEY AREAS OF INFLUENCE 2003-2008
This paper is a summary of the key areas of influence of the ESPACE Project
from 2003 to 2008. It is drawn from the Lead Partner’s experiences and
perspective.
INTRODUCTION
Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency said the
ESPACE Project “is one of the first trans-boundary projects to raise awareness of the
need for spatial planning systems to adapt to climate change, establishing transnational
and sub-national networks and contributing to EU policy development."
The quote above illustrates clearly the influence and the respect that the ESPACE Project
has gained amongst some of the most highly regarded institutions and individuals in the
European environmental arena.
The ESPACE project has spent the last 5 years, since its launch in 2003, influencing the
spatial planning agenda across Europe. The evidence to support the widespread influence
that the ESPACE Project has had is provided below under five main categories:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Presentations
Publications
Working / Expert groups
Policy changes
ESPACE Extended Partnership
1. PRESENTATIONS: this is only a selection of key presentations that the Partnership was
invited to give on the ESPACE project. For full details of all presentations given in the
last 5 years please refer to the ESPACE Activity Reports.
In June 2004, at the request of the Irish Presidency of the European Commission,
ESPACE was invited to make a presentation to the 20th meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies
of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. ESPACE was
presented as part of a discussion on the “EU Action Plan on Climate Change” and the role
local authorities play in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
In May/June 2005 ESPACE was invited to give two presentations and was also allocated an
exhibition stand at Green Week. The first ESPACE presentation took place during the
European Cities Combat Climate Change session and was given by Chitra Nadarajah,
ESPACE Project Manager. The second ESPACE presentation took place during the
Planning and Funds for Climate Change session and was given by Bryan Boult, ESPACE
Contract Manager.
In 2005 the British Council made climate change a major theme, in support of the UK's
presidencies of the G8 and EU. As part of this, ESPACE was invited to speak at a highlevel conference in co-operation with the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
(Committee for Regional Development and Environment), the Czech Ministry of
Environment and the Centre for Transport and Energy. The aim of the conference, (which
brought together leading Czech politicians, business people, academics and journalists) was
to discuss the impacts of climate change, build awareness of the challenges and potential
solutions and learn from the best examples of UK practices.
In June 2006, as a result of its widespread recognition across Europe, the ESPACE Project
was invited to present at the European Climate Change Programme Working Group II
Impacts and Adaptation "Adaptation to Climate Change: The European Dimension".
In October 2005, Bryan Boult, the ESPACE contract manager, was invited to attend a
meeting to discuss EU climate change policy organised by the Institute for European
Environmental Policy & the Institute for Public Policy Research. Only 30 attendees
were invited to this meeting which included Elliott Morley (former UK Minister of State
for Climate Change and Environment) and Catherine Day (former Director-General for
Environment).
In 2005, ESPACE was invited to lead a workshop at the UK Presidency of the European
Commission Adaptation Conference organised by the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (UK).
In February 2006 ESPACE was invited to present at a conference on “The Coast under
Threat. How will the maritime regions adapt to the future climate ?” organised by CPMR
(Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe).
In August 2007, ESPACE presented at two separate sessions for an event organised by the
Directorate-General of Public Works and Water Management of the Ministry of
Transport, Public works and Water Management (Netherlands).
In September 2007, ESPACE was invited to present at the workshop on “Adaptation to
Climate Change: Building Adaptive Capacity of Local and Regional Authorities”,
organised by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Council of Europe.
In November 2007, ESPACE presented at the European Environment Agency Adaptation
Conference in Copenhagen.
ESPACE has been cross referenced by other projects and organisations presenting at the
European Climate Change Programme working group meetings (e.g. SEAREG and
ASTRA projects) and in a number of national and European publications such as the UK
Climate Change Programme 2006 and the CCP (ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection)
Europe Adaptation Working Group cuttings pack.
A conference organised by the ESPACE Project in November 2005, “Blueprint for a
Changing Climate – how the planning system can deliver adaptation to climate change”,
was branded as an official UK Presidency of the European Commission event. The
Conference reviewed how well the planning system in England is delivering adaptation to
climate change and explored new ideas on what more can be done in England and across
Europe.
2. PUBLICATIONS: the references below relate to publications only in the last 6 months of
the project. For more detailed listings of all publications citing ESPACE over the last 5
years please refer to the ESPACE Activity Reports.
The Assembly of European Regions Committee 1 has recently launched a new working
group on climate change. It’s objective will be to highlight the role of regions in this area
by putting together regional best practices contributing to climate change mitigation
measures. ESPACE has been invited to sit on this working group and has also been cited as
an example of best practice. See http://www.a-er.org/fileadmin/user_upload/MainIssues/Environment/2008/BEst-Practices-CC-Zip.pdf
ESPACE is cited in an article in the March 2008 issue of the Inforegio Panorama on
Regional Policy, Sustainable Development and Climate Change. The article by the
European Environment Agency entitled Regional adaptation to climate change: a
European spatial planning challenge. The section on ESPACE states:
“….Results from research programmes have often not been fully shared with policy makers and other
stakeholders in a form that they can understand. There are some good examples, such as the ESPACE
(European Spatial Planning: Adapting to Climate Events) and BRANCH (Biodiversity Requires
Adaptation in Northwest Europe under a Changing climate) projects under the INTERREG
Community programme, but overall, there is an urgent need for projects that can help provide the
right policy guidance and tools and which will help to build effective transnational and sub-national
networks.”
“…..With these developments in mind, the European Union must adapt its governance structures to
deal with the cross-cutting nature of adaptation. The failure to do so will jeopardise the entire
adaptation effort. This has been clearly demonstrated by the ESPACE project, which provides
concrete adaptation guidance for policy-makers involved in managing climate change impacts on
spatial planning for water management. The project includes making climate change adaptation a
core objective of spatial planning, looking beyond the lifetime of normal planning to understand
climate risks and fostering ‘climate adaptation champions’. This type of project should be expanded to
other key regions and adaptation issues, e.g. drought and water scarcity in Southern and
Mediterranean regions.”
ESPACE is cited as an example of best practice in the “Climate Change: Building
Adaptive Capacity of Local and Regional Authorities” report by the Standing Committee
on Sustainable Development, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Council of
Europe.
3. WORKING / EXPERT GROUPS: ESPACE has accepted invitations to sit on various
working / expert groups during the last 5 years. Details are provided below for one of
the key working groups ESPACE has been part of, the other examples are just listed.
I. European Climate Change Programme Adaptation Working Group
The February 2005 Communication ‘Winning the battle against climate change’1 indicated
that the Commission should explore “the role of the EU in reducing vulnerability and promoting
adaptation (…) with the involvement of the EU insurance industry.”
In line with the Communication ‘Winning the Battle against climate change’, the EU climate
policy should aim to reduce vulnerability of European society and economy to the adverse
effects of climate change and improve its resilience. The general objective of the Working
Group was to define the EU role in adaptation policies so as to integrate adaptation fully
into relevant European policy areas, to identify good, cost-effective practice in the
development of adaptation policy and to foster learning.
The Group was chaired by the Commission and was composed of around 25-30 people,
and included specific experts depending on the topic to be discussed. The working group
comprised of Member States experts, representatives of relevant business sectors, NGO
representatives, academic experts and Commission officials of relevant services.
The ESPACE Project was represented on the working group and is quoted in two of the
topic papers
1. Regional Planning, Energy and Public Infrastructure and Structural Funds Sectoral
Report
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/pdf/eccp/impactsadaptation/regional.pdf
2. Urban Planning and Construction Sectoral Report
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/pdf/eccp/impactsadaptation/urbanplanning
.pdf
II. Other working/expert groups on which ESPACE was represented:
1. Planning and climate change expert working group – DG Environment Working
Group
2. Assembly of European Regions expert group
3. Thematic Strategy for Urban Environment – DG Environment Working Group
4. Global Warming Local Warning Group (which presented its key recommendation to
Prudencio Perrera former Director of DG Environment)
1
COM(2005) 35
4. POLICY CHANGES: It is difficult to provide conclusive evidence that ESPACE has been
solely responsible for changes in policy. Below are two types of examples
a. ESPACE has been directly responsible for new policies
b. ESPACE has had a significant influence on the creation of specific policies.
a. Development of planning policies
Building on the experiences found in each of the partner countries, the ESPACE partners
have worked together to help determine regional planning policies on how to adapt to
climate change. The South East England Regional Assembly (the Assembly) (UK) led the
work which included a review of the South East Plan (a 20-year statutory planning
framework for South East England). This ensured the integration of climate change into
the Plan as a cross cutting policy that promotes measures to adapt to and reduce the effects
of climate change. Behavioural change of the region’s residents is considered essential in
implementing this policy.
Following on from this, a dedicated 'Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Implementation Plan' has been developed, providing guidance and actions on how to
deliver the adaptation policies within the South East Plan. Proposed activities cover a
variety of measures including:
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Guiding development to areas where climate change has less impact, i.e. areas
protected from flooding, erosion, storms, water shortages and sinking of the land level
Ensuring buildings are resilient
Incorporating sustainable drainage and water efficiency systems into developments –
for example reed beds or low-flush toilets
Increasing flood storage capacity and developing new water resources
Ensuring options for sustainable flood management
Considering impacts on wildlife habitats and species.
For each of the above, the Climate Change Implementation Plan identified key issues and
reviewed the effectiveness of existing actions such as the available research, raisingawareness issues, partnership working, and ways of developing and implementing policy.
This provides a useful audit of actions, which is currently being undertaken by the
Assembly. The Implementation Plan also identifies the barriers to implementation
including:
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Uncertainty about the nature, complexity and extent of climate change and its impacts
Regulations, codes and standards which have not yet been revised to reflect anticipated
climate conditions
Conflicting priorities, perceptions, behaviour and attitudes and the lack of incentives
to change these
This information is used to prioritise actions per sector at a national, regional and local
level and to identify the relevant organisations that are responsible for these actions.
The Assembly has also prepared a good practice guide ‘Adapting to Climate Change
Impacts on Water Management: for Planners and Developers’. This states that planners
need to use the guide when developing spatial plans. This way developers would be
required to undertake water management adaptation measures described in the guide.
Matters such as pressure on water resources, flood risk and resilience to other water-related
climate change impacts were addressed in the guide.
The Implementation Plan and the Guide for Planners are not bound to the UK and can be
used elsewhere in Europe. They will help practitioners and policy makers identify ways to
help reduce the impact of climate change.
Building on this regional policy development, Ministerie van VROM (NL) organised two
International Conferences in 2007 that focused on developing robust adaptation policies
at the national level. The first of these events took place in early spring 2007 with the aim
of:
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exchanging knowledge and experiences on national adaptation policies to climate
change
comparing national adaptation strategies
testing the draft Dutch national spatial strategy on adaptation to climate change
preparing the international stakeholder congress (May 2007) on adaptation in the
Netherlands.
The results of the conference were used for refining the Dutch National Adaptation
Strategy.
The second event was an international congress that aimed to:
 enhance the level of awareness of international stakeholders in respect to adaptation to
climate change;
 exchange knowledge and experience on adaptation
 deliver international commitment for adaptation on climate change
 present the Dutch national adaptation strategy on climate change
An analysis of all of the Partner actions was undertaken by Acclimatise Ltd in 2006 to help
draw out the key transnational findings and lessons learned throughout the duration of the
project. This review focused on:
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How to manage climate adaptation through spatial planning
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Developing and applying adaptation policies and strategies in spatial planning

Methods so that the planning process can foster and promote adaptation

Creating capacity and understanding with key stakeholders of how spatial planning
mechanisms can be influenced to address climate adaptation

Awareness of climate adaptation issues and creating ‘agency for change’.
These lessons have been used to develop a common transnational strategy that outlines the
ESPACE project recommendations for incorporating climate adaptation into spatial
planning. The strategy – “Planning in a Changing Climate” aims to influence the
philosophy and practice of spatial planning by recommending how adaptation to climate
change can be incorporated.
b. Influence on policies
A key debate at the 2nd ESPACE Conference in November 2005 “Blueprint for a Changing
Climate – how the planning system can deliver adaptation to climate change” was whether
there was a need for a Planning Policy Statement (PPS) on climate change in the UK.
Many people felt it was necessary whilst others disagreed. Peter Bide from the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister (now called the Department for Communities and Local
Government) disagreed with the need for a PPS on climate change stating, “There is
already a powerful statement on climate change in PPS1. We need to look at how to
implement existing policies better." Four months later coinciding with the announcement
of the UK Climate Change Programme 2006, the UK Government announced that the
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister would be preparing a new Planning Policy Statement
on climate change through spatial planning.
The PPS on Planning and Climate Change was launched in 2007 and sets out how spatial
planning should contribute to reducing emissions and stabilising climate change
(mitigation) and take into account the unavoidable consequences (adaptation). In
developing the PPS, the aim was to focus on national policy and to provide clarity on
what is required at regional and local levels, to ensure that decisions are made at the most
appropriate level and in a timely fashion to deliver the urgent action needed.
The ESPACE project played a significant part in influencing the decision to develop this
ground-breaking policy.
Another example of where ESPACE has had a significant influence is the development of
the European Commission’s Green Paper on Adaptation to Climate Change. On 29
June 2007 the Commission adopted its Green Paper on "Adapting to climate change in
Europe – options for EU action". This green paper represents the Commission's first
comprehensive policy initiative on adaptation and can therefore be considered as a
milestone.
In July 2007 at the Adapting to Climate Change – Launching a public debate on options
for EU Action Conference, Jacqueline McGlade (Executive Director of the European
Environment Agency) gave a presentation in the Panel Session on Knowledge,
Information, Innovation and Research. In her presentation, Jacqueline cites the ESPACE
project as an example of how to respond to climate change and the knowledge and
expertise that local bodies have in delivering this agenda. See:
http://www.managenergy.tv/me_portal/env/_vi_wm_300_en/3101/3109/index_player.h
tml
5. ESPACE EXTENDED PARTNERSHIP
The ESPACE Extended Partnership has been included in this paper as we feel that it has
played a large role in how far the influence of the ESPACE Project has been spread.
The Extended Partnership currently has more than 280 members. The members represent
mainly European countries : Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Greece,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden and the UK; but it also includes organisations from Australia, Cameroon, Canada,
Morocco, Singapore and Tunisia. The members of the Extended Partnership represent a
range of organisations including the European Commission, European institutes, national,
regional and local governments, consultancies, NGO’s, research institutes and universities.
CONCLUSION:
This paper provides a brief overview of the key areas where the ESPACE Project has had
significant influence. The climate change agenda has moved on considerably in the time
since ESPACE was launched. In 2003, adaptation was not on any political agenda. In 2008
it is a major part of any response to climate change.
As demonstrated by the evidence provided above, the ESPACE Project has played a
significant role in ensuring that adaptation to climate change is recognised as a vital
component in the response to climate change. ESPACE has also ensured that adaptation is
embedded in spatial planning systems at the local, regional, national, European levels.
Credit for the influence and success of the ESPACE Project lies in the strength and
commitment of its core partners - Hampshire County Council (UK), Environment Agency
(UK), Regionaal Landschap Zenne Zuun en Zonien (BE), South East Climate Change
Partnership (UK), South East England Regional Assembly (UK), Surrey County Council
(UK), Waterschap Rivierenland (NL), West Sussex County Council (UK), Ministerie van
VROM (NL) and Bayerisches Landesamt fur Umwelt (DE).