Introduction

The heterogeneous nature of the Mediterranean environment, combined with a wide diversity of socio-economic and cultural identities, make this region particularly amenable to integrated research on climate change impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptive response. Eleven case-study locations have been strategically selected to represent three generic Mediterranean environments (urban, rural and coastal). While each case study location comprises a unique and complex set of climate-related issues, the range and scope of the case studies allows identification of common lessons and messages for the wider Mediterranean region. The aim is to perform an integrated assessment of climate impacts, vulnerability and adaptation at a regional to local scale. A risk-based \u2018bottom up\u2019 approach (based on regional stakeholder dialogue) is combined with a \u2018top down\u2019 case-study indicator assessment focused on a common conceptual and methodological framework

Synthesis and the Assessment of Adaptation Measures,

The fi nal stage of the CIRCE case-studies integrated assessment involved identi fi cation and evaluation of the effectiveness of local and regional adaptation options in collaboration with stakeholders, and in the context of wider national adaptation policies and strategies. This stage provides a synthesis of both the casestudy work and the wider CIRCE project since it draws on the case-study indicators for present and future periods together with wider CIRCE work on adaptation options, particularly in the thematic areas of agriculture, forestry and ecosystems, and Mediterranean communities. This synthesis and evaluation links impacts and vulnerability with adaptation, and also bene fi ts strongly from the local stakeholder workshops held towards the end of the project. Lessons learnt and key messages from the CIRCE case studies are presented. While the objectives of the CIRCE case studies have generally been achieved, a number of research gaps and needs remain

Climate Impact Assessments

This chapter highlights key climate impacts, hazards and vulnerabilities and associated indicators that have been used to assess current (recent) climate impacts at each of the case-study sites. The aim is to illustrate some of the wide range of information available from individual case studies and highlight common themes that are evident across multiple case-study locations. This is used to demonstrate linkages and sensitivities between the speci fi c climate impacts of relevance for each case-study type (urban, rural and coastal) and the key climate hazards and biogeophysical and social vulnerabilities representing the underlying drivers and site conditions. For some impacts, there are clear, direct links with climate events, such as heat stress and fl ooding, while for others, such as energy supply and demand, the causal relationships are more indirect, via a cascade of climate, social and economic in fl uences. Water availability and extreme temperatures are common drivers of current climate impacts across all case studies, including, for example, freshwater supply and heat stress for urban populations; irrigation capacity and growing season length for agricultural regions; and saltwater intrusion of aquifers and tourist visitor numbers at coastal locations. At some individual case-study locations, speci fi c impacts, hazards and/ or vulnerabilities are observed, such as peri-urban fires in Greater Athens, infrastructure vulnerability to coastal fl ooding in Alexandria, groundwater levels in Tel Hadya and vector-borne diseases in the Gulf of Oran. Throughout this chapter, evidence of current climate impacts, hazards and vulnerabilities from each of the case studies is detailed and assessed relative to other case studies. This provides a foundation for considering the wider perspective of the Mediterranean region as a whole, and for providing a context from which to assess consequences of future climate projections and consider suitable adaptation options