Peer reviews on Transformative Innovation for Climate Change Adaptation – The urban case of Turku

The Peer Review exercise for Turku and Southwest Finland on Transformative Innovation for better Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) was organised in late Autumn 2024, by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), as part of a series of such events focusing on territories that had recently been the subject of case study research on this specific topic. Due to their position as frontrunners in mitigation strategies, and a prevailing culture of trust and cooperation, Turku and Southwest Finland are already in a good position to advance towards effective and transformative CCA strategy and action.

Turku’s participation in the EU Cities Mission is seen as successful so far, notably through the instrument of Climate Cities Contracts, which supports mobilisation. This provides a building block to accelerate mobilisation and engagement on CCA. Involving the youth more directly appears as a tangible opportunity, facilitated by the strong relationships between the City and the Universities of Applied Science. To succeed in its CCA engagement strategy, Turku picks up the explicit message from workshop’s participants around the importance of tailored communication, e.g. according to size of companies: it is important to deliver clear and adapted messages for each target group, using their language and taking into account their needs.