Public participation was an invaluable process that increases transparency and allows stakeholders to actively collaborate in public policy. In the field of climate change adaptation, it was a useful tool to gather the needs and interests of affected parties to better understand the current state of the art as well as to identify ways to move forward.
In preparation for the EU Adaptation Strategy due out in 2013, DG Clima carried out a public consultation on potential policy options to collect opinions from stakeholders and experts in the field of adaptation to climate change. The “Consultation on the preparation of the EU Adaptation Strategy” was open from 21.05.2012-20.08.2012 on the website “Your Voice in Europe”.
In total, the consultation received 161 responses spanning 23 Member States and 3 non-Member States on the questions in three key topics: knowledge brokerage, cooperation among stakeholders, and mainstreaming adaptation into EU policies. Stakeholders from the private sector, environmental NGOs, national/regional governments as well as private citizens provided a wealth of information and indicated a wide variety of interests in the field of climate change adaptation.
Together with its partners, Fresh Thoughts supported DG Clima in its public consultation.