In preparation for the new decade, society urgently needs to implement actions that can make us more resilient to the challenges of the 21st century. Societies that are well-adapted to the changing climate are critical to minimise present and future risks and vulnerabilities, as well as maximise opportunities.

The impacts of extreme weather events are felt keenly in urban areas, particularly as city populations expand and stresses on infrastructure increase. Intelligent risk management and preparation for extreme weather events are essential to protect inhabitants.

Adapting to climate change requires a coordinated and coherent approach from a diverse range of actors from different sectors. This cooperative approach allows us to make the best use of resources, and improve learning and knowledge exchange in order to deliver optimal solutions. Interaction and collaboration with the disaster risk reduction (DRR) community is a critical element in improving climate change adaptation (CCA), as the communities share similar goals and activities. Bringing the two groups together is particularly important in relation to the goals and targets of the three major international agreements: Paris, Sendai Framework for DRR and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The 4th ECCA builds on past conferences that took place in Hamburg (2013), Copenhagen (2015) and Glasgow (2017), and aims to:

• Provide a space that facilitates the dialogue between academia, government, business and citizens on the issues of climate change adaptation;
• Promote the communication and knowledge exchange between researchers, policymakers and practitioners;
• Find solutions and inspire practical action;
• Support ongoing efforts to enhance the coherence and collaboration between CCA and DRR research, policy and practice;
• Discuss key sectorial challenges and solutions in cities;
• Provide a stage for presenting European’s excellence on Research & Innovation for CCA;
• Inform the next European funding framework for Research & Innovation.

Important dates

• 09 Jul 2018: Call for abstracts open
• 31 Oct 2018: Deadline for abstract submission
• Dec 2018: Notification of acceptance for oral & poster presentations, and session submissions
• 15 Jan 2019: Deadline for registration of presenters

Registration

• 25 Sep 2018–15 Feb 2019: Earlybird
• 16 Feb–24 May 2019: Standard
• 28–30 May 2019: Onsite