First things first: the end is not the end.
The RethinkAction Final Project Event – held in hybrid format in Bonn, Germany – marked the conclusion of the four-year EU-funded project, while also pointing towards what comes next. Despite the usual technical challenges of hybrid events, the ICLEI team, co-organisers together with CARTIF, ensured a smooth start. Maryke van Staden, Director of the carbonn Climate Center and Director of Business Development at ICLEI WS, opened the event with a review of achievements and an outlook on future opportunities.
Highlights and Results
The morning sessions showcased the project’s main outcomes:
- The collection and curation of extensive data.
- The Land-use Based Adaptation and Mitigation Solutions (LAMS) catalogue, featuring 60 solutions identified through EU and local policy analysis, enriched by stakeholder and expert consultations.
- Advances in modelling adaptation and mitigation policies.
- The RethinkAction Integrated Assessment Platform, which brings these elements together.
Participants also engaged with concrete policy recommendations developed across six case studies, and discussed how the project’s methods could be replicated in other regions. A roundtable offered time for reflection, before a well-deserved break prepared everyone for an equally dynamic afternoon.
Looking Ahead: Platforms and Partnerships
Ensuring that the RethinkAction Platform remains in use beyond the project was a recurring theme. The Train the Trainer session introduced the RethinkAction MOOC, a comprehensive guide designed to help users independently apply the platform’s many tools and functions.
Sustainability was also central to later discussions. Tomer Shalit from ClimateView presented their vision of integrating the LAMS catalogue into ClimateView’s Transition Elements Framework. The event further benefited from the presence of RethinkAction’s sister projects: LOCALISED (represented by Jürgen Kropp, PIK) and Regilience (Jen Heemann, IEECP), who shared their experiences, challenges, and successes.
Not the End
A final exchange and group photo brought the day to a close. Yet, as highlighted from the beginning, the end is not the end. The project’s results will continue to shape practice and policy well into the future. Another opportunity to present them will come at NYC Climate Week 2025, where RethinkAction will reunite with ClimateView to advance their shared vision.
And finally, after four years of intensive collaboration among 13 partners, the project concluded not only with reflections but also with a toast – to achievements reached, and to new collaborations still to come.
