© TiCCA4DANU
Climate change adaptation is no longer a future challenge, it is a present necessity for cities and regions across Europe. But responding effectively requires more than isolated actions. It calls for stronger cooperation, new governance approaches, and solutions that reflect the realities of different places and communities. This is exactly where TiCCA4DANU comes in.
As a three-year Horizon project under the EU Mission on Climate Change Adaptation, TiCCA4DANU brings together 18 partners from across the Danube Macro-Region to address two major challenges: the slow and uneven implementation of climate adaptation measures, and the growing polarisation between urban and rural areas.
To respond to these challenges, the project promotes an approach based on collaboration, innovation and systemic thinking. Rather than focusing on isolated solutions, TiCCA4DANU supports city-regions in developing new ways of working together on climate resilience.
At the centre of the project are four anchor cities in the Danube Macro-Region: Burgas🇧🇬, Debrecen🇭🇺, Maribor🇸🇮 and Suceava🇷🇴, each working closely with its surrounding administrative region. Together, these city-regions co-design and test new models of climate governance and policy experimentation, grounded in local needs and developed with local stakeholders.
A key concept behind this work is Transformative Innovation Policy. This approach links climate adaptation with broader societal change by connecting governance, innovation and investment in ways that can generate long-term impact. Through this framework, TiCCA4DANU supports the development of Local and Regional Green Deals and encourages collaborative processes that strengthen climate resilience on the ground.
Inclusion is also a core part of the project. Citizens, local organisations and vulnerable groups are actively involved in co-creating solutions that reflect local realities and priorities. At the same time, TiCCA4DANU seeks to strengthen private sector engagement, helping mobilise new investments that can support climate adaptation efforts across the region.
Through practical tools, training opportunities and progressive governance models, the project aims to help accelerate meaningful change. Collaboration between researchers, policymakers, businesses and communities plays a central role in this process, creating a transdisciplinary approach to climate action and innovation.
TiCCA4DANU also strengthens cooperation across the Danube Region through partnerships with the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). Recognised with Danube Strategy Flagship status and a Letter of Merit, the project contributes to knowledge exchange and shared learning across borders, including with neighbouring countries such as Ukraine and Turkey.
The mission of TiCCA4DANU is clear: to promote systemic and just climate adaptation across the Danube Macro-Region. Its vision is a resilient and innovative region where climate adaptation becomes not only a response to risk, but also an opportunity for broader societal and economic transformation. Between June 2025 and May 2028, the project is working to help shape exactly that future — a future where cities and regions adapt to climate change, together.
