JustSafe Newsletter #1
- Jun 12
- 3 min read
Building Climate Resilience — Fairly, Together
Climate change is already reshaping communities across Europe, but its impacts are not felt equally. Extreme heat, flooding, reduced access to services, and limited capacity to respond can place additional pressure on people and groups already facing social, economic, or health-related vulnerabilities.
This is where JustSafe begins.
Funded under Horizon Europe, JUSTSAFE brings together cities, researchers, practitioners, public authorities and local communities to support climate resilience strategies that are not only effective, but also fair, inclusive and grounded in real needs. JustSafe combines social research, digital innovation, and participatory approaches, aiming to redefine how climate adaptation is designed and implemented.
From Vision to Foundations:
During its first months, JustSafe has been working closely with local communities, stakeholders and project partners to better understand local needs, vulnerabilities and expectations around climate resilience.
One of the project’s first priorities has been to ensure that different voices — especially
those that are often underrepresented — are actively involved in shaping future solutions and pilot activities. Through participatory workshops, stakeholder engagement and co-design activities, JustSafe aims to build solutions together with communities, rather than for them.
At the same time, the project has established a strong methodological approach for exploring future climate resilience pathways. This includes a series of innovative methods that combine social, environmental, and economic dimensions — allowing decisions to reflect the complexity of real-life situations.
Early activities have already started in pilot areas, where co-creation processes involve local communities. These activities have already generated a series of insights for perceived climate challenges and their potential responses.
Moreover, these efforts are complemented by the development of behavioural models, which will help to better understand how people perceive risks and make decisions in changing environments.
At the same time, the groundwork for the project’s demonstration phase is also taking shape, ensuring that upcoming solutions can be tested, refined, and ultimately replicated in different contexts across Europe.
JustSafe General Assemblies: consolidating progress across the project
Within the JUSTSAFE consortium, we strongly believe in working collaboratively and building connections through direct interaction and shared experiences.
From the beginning of the project, partners have prioritised close cooperation — not only through online coordination, but especially through in-person meetings that allow meaningful exchange of ideas, knowledge and perspectives.
These moments of collaboration also help partners better understand the realities, local conditions and challenges faced by the communities involved in the project.
Since the launch of the JustSafe project, the consortium has already held two General Assemblies, bringing together technical, research, communication and local partners to strengthen coordination and shape the project’s next implementation steps across the pilot and replication regions.
Opening the conversation: the JustSafe Stakeholder Forum
An important milestone in the first project period was the launch of the JustSafe Stakeholder Forum.
The Forum brings together experts, policymakers, civil society organisations, local and regional representatives, and practitioners from across Europe. It is designed as a space for dialogue, feedback and exchange, helping the project remain connected to real policy, practice and community needs.
The first session introduced the project’s vision and early methodological work, marking the beginning of a longer engagement process that will accompany JustSafe throughout its lifecycle.
As the project progresses, stakeholder input will support the validation and strengthening of project results, to ensure that project outputs remain relevant, practical and transferable.
What are we working on now?
With the initial research done, JustSafe is moving into a more active phase of co-creation, scenario-building and tool development.
In the coming months, the project will focus on:
launching scenario-building workshops across pilot regions;
expanding co-creation activities with local stakeholders and communities;
finalising the Risk & Resilience Communication Strategy;
continuing the development of digital tools and data-driven systems to support decision making;
preparing the ground for future demonstrations and replication activities.
Together, these activities will help JustSafe move from analysis and planning towards practical climate resilience solutions that can be tested, refined and adapted across different European contexts.
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