The Co-Adapt project objective was to develop, test and roll-out approaches to co-creation of nature based and natural process solutions to improve adaptive capacity of the 2 Seas area to the water-related effects of climate change. The project sought to develop more open and transparent governance for adaptive water management by embedding co-creation in policy frameworks, especially spatial and water management strategies - leading to greater awareness and stakeholder-led action to improve climate resilience.

Co-Adapt aimed to result in increased capacity to adapt to climate change and a region that is more flood & drought resilient. As a consequence, it would directly decrease risk of flood & drought to 30,000ha through co-created NBS, leading to €5.4M of savings from reduced damages, and €5.8M of savings compared to using traditional hard engineering. The project wished to involve 3000 stakeholders in co-creation leading to changed public attitudes to water & climate risks, with 80% of participants feeling involved and supporting NBS measures.

The cross-border cooperation has allowed partners to set up transdisciplinary cooperation (evaluated by research) on different topics. First, the co-creation of nature-based solutions in headwater stream catchments, then the socio-ecological issues associated with the transition to climate-adaptive solutions and designing a framework with tools to support the process of co-creation in terms of engagement, knowledge transfer and spatial transition for water professionals with their stakeholders. Additionally, partners reflected together about the contribution that these climate-adaptive solutions can make in terms of carbon sequestration, drought mitigation and biodiversity conservation and finally, the pivotal element was connecting partners from knowledge institutions, companies, and organisations in a learning network around natural solutions in water management.

Working in a cross-border partnership enabled opportunities to compare approaches and pick up new ways of doing things. The shared directory of resources that the Open University compiled, with the co-creation, knowledge and transition tools, was a valuable resource for developing new and innovative approaches informed by the work of cross-border partners.

Whilst local context is unique for each project partner (even within the same country), looking in detail at the ways that each partner communicated climate risks and adaptation options helped to hone the messaging in the most effective way possible. Similarly, observing how partners integrated co-creation into their approach inspired the exploration of new methods and the adoption of innovative perspectives.

Working in a cross-border cooperation project connects different partner regions, highlights similarities and differences and can thus help to better understand one’s own region, culture, and context. Consequently, partners were able to combine the experience and know-how of the individual cultures so that the greatest possible benefit could be derived from this. These different experiences were very valuable on defining different co-creation approaches to adaptive water management solutions to at risk communities and capture this in a framework for co-creation of NBS. As partners worked around climate adaptation measures, the cross-border cooperation, knowledge and experiences from neighbouring countries is important because they all face common challenges.