From wildfire-resistant landscapes in Spain to flood warning systems in Denmark, researchers are working with local communities to find, test, and implement practical ways to live with climate change, and to share effective methods across borders.
Many people expect raging wildfires to leave a black and lifeless landscape. However, after the 2009 fires in Las Furdes, Extremadura, Spain, the situation was completely different. In the midst of the scorched earth was a patch of green, where healthy trees stood intact.
From a distance, the flames seemed to stop at the edge. In fact, this was no coincidence.
Fernando Pulido, an ecologist at the University of Extremadura, was researching ways to slow the spread of wildfires. His research focused on so-called “productive firebreaks,” carefully designed areas where different types of vegetation are managed to make it harder for fires to pass through. The approach at Las Fuldes worked well.
“Helicopters and water cannons alone cannot extinguish the fires. Additional strategies are needed to reduce the destructive power of these large fires,” he said. The urgency is real. In the summer of 2025, fires burned more than 45,000 hectares of land in Extremadura. Extremadura is one of Spain’s warmest regions and is increasingly prone to wildfires. Forecasts predict that conditions will only get hotter and drier.
More than a decade later, Pulido is building on these early experiments as part of a broader five-year EU-funded research effort called RESIST to help vulnerable regions prepare for the impacts of climate change.
Do you have the same problem but in a different location?
Extremadura is not alone. Many regions across Europe face different but equally pressing climate risks. Some try to cope with floods and landslides, while others try to cope with drought, soil erosion and extreme heat. Researchers have found that solutions developed for specific climate risks in one place can often be applied elsewhere.
The RESIST team brings together researchers, local authorities and businesses across Europe to test and refine more than 100 climate adaptation solutions, ranging from new technologies to changes in land management and planning.
The goal is to reduce the time and risk of moving new ideas from testing to actual use.
Despite their geographical separation, many regions share similar environmental conditions. Flood-prone farmland in central Denmark has much in common with river basins in southern Latvia, and the heat and drought affecting Catalonia resemble conditions in parts of southern Italy.
By combining regions, such as “twin regions” (matched regions that share key climate challenges), researchers and companies can test whether solutions developed in one location can be transferred to another.
“These regions face many different challenges and have different needs,” said Vilja Baryonite Merl, project coordinator for RESIST at the Norwegian research institute SINTEF.
“To truly understand their concerns and bring about tangible change, we need to talk to the people who live there. Only then can we consider the most effective solutions and apply them both locally and in our sister regions.”
Digital tools for climate adaptation
In central Denmark, where flooding is a recurring problem, researchers and companies are combining several approaches to improve preparedness.
One is to adapt buildings to withstand flooding. Augmented reality tools allow residents and planners to visualize what these changes will look like before they are implemented, making it easier to plan and gain public support.
Another element focuses on early warning. A network of underground sensors has been installed to monitor groundwater levels, which are often an early indicator of flooding. The data is fed into early warning apps that can alert authorities and residents before water reaches the surface.
Researchers are also creating digital replicas of local landscapes, or “digital twins.” These models allow different flood scenarios to be tested virtually, allowing decision makers to choose the most effective countermeasures before investing in physical infrastructure.
The result of consultation with researchers and end-users of the tools, these tools aim to give communities time to act and reduce the damage caused during flood events.
The solution developed in Denmark will be applied to similarly affected regions such as Zemgale in Latvia and Blekinge in Sweden.
work with nature
Not all solutions rely on technology. In Extremadura, Pulido’s work focuses on reshaping the landscape itself.
Much of the region’s forests are poorly managed or abandoned, making them more vulnerable to fire. Because land has little economic value, there is often little incentive to maintain it and protect it from wildfires.
Pulido and his colleagues are working with municipalities to build productive firebreaks, like the one first tested in Las Fuldes. These are strips of land within the forest, where vegetation is managed using native mixed-species plantings rather than monocultures such as eucalyptus and pine to reduce fire risk, while also supporting activities such as grazing and growing fire-resistant crops such as olives.
If land produces income, it is more likely to be maintained.
“Landscape changes have to make economic sense, otherwise they won’t last,” Pulido says.
Local governments, farmers and businesses are closely involved in developing these measures. The objective is not only to test new approaches, but also to ensure that they are adopted and maintained over time.
“We are working with mayors, organizations and businesses,” Pulido explained. “If they are part of the process, they are more likely to use the strategies we are currently developing.”
Such nature-based solutions will run alongside climate adaptation technology tools being developed in other regions, giving local governments a wide range of options to address floods, wildfires, droughts and other climate risks facing their regions.
From local trials to broader impact
This is part of a Europe-wide commitment to help the region adapt to climate change by the end of this decade, as part of the EU Mission on Climate Change Adaptation.
By 2027, many of the tools being developed, including early warning systems and planning models, will be more widely available, but the goal extends far beyond the project’s end date.
The aim is to not only support the regions directly involved, but also to produce solutions that can be adopted by other regions. Taken together, these approaches have the potential to be rolled out more widely and benefit millions of people across Europe as the EU’s climate change adaptation mission continues to serve the European region.
“We want to continue supporting communities with the tools, strategies and knowledge we have developed to help them adapt to the challenges posed by climate change,” said Barionité Merle.
This article was originally published in Horizon, EU Research and Innovation Magazine.
**The project in this article has received funding as part of the EU mission ‘Adaptation to climate change’. EU missions are EU-funded initiatives that mobilize research, policy and the public to tackle major real-world challenges by 2030.
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