Abstract ID: 3.12992 | Accepted as Poster | Talk/Oral | TBA | TBA

Mountains cover 30% of the land area and are home to 17% of the EU’s population, making them vital to both people and ecosystems but are particularly vulnerable to climate change (CC) and despite this they often lack adequate adaptation strategies due to gaps in policy, uptake, and coherence. Due to this, the Horizon Europe MountResilience project aims to enhance the climate adaptation capacity of European mountain regions, strengthening resilience in the Alpine biogeographical area focusing on 10 key regions across nine EU countries, with six pilot regions developing and testing transformative adaptation solutions—integrating technological, social, and nature-based innovations. At the core of the methodology designed to achieve this objective is a holistic approach based on stakeholder engagement within the quadruple helix framework. This ensures the active involvement of key change agents across three levels—local, regional, and national—representing the four main sectors driving transformation: government, academia, industry, and community. To structure this engagement effectively, the project conducted an analysis using a matrix of influence and interest, identifying the most relevant entities within each sector and level. Those with the highest influence and interest were designated as key stakeholders and became members of the Local Councils. These are informal working groups established to facilitate communication, coordination, and concrete action in an organized manner, acting as intermediary bodies between project partners and decision-making actors, ensuring that the project has a tangible impact on real-world challenges. Their role is crucial in bridging research and practice, preventing the project’s findings from remaining mere scientific contributions without practical application. Through this mechanism, MountResilience fosters real change, ensuring that adaptation strategies are not only developed but also effectively implemented on the ground. Through regional quadruple-helix partnerships, the project will leverage open innovation, participatory decision-making, and stakeholder engagement to mobilize key communities. Four additional “replicator” regions will adapt and implement these solutions, ensuring broader impact and improved adaptive capacity across European mountain landscapes.