‘Transboundary Adaptation Learning Exchange’ (TalX) is a collaborative project working across Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales and is an Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded research project.
TalX aims to establish an innovative learning network to enable a cohesive approach for measuring and acting on climate change adaptation across boundaries. It also seeks to develop best practice for processes which empower national, sectoral and local decisions makers. Each of the five case study jurisdictions are subject to similar climate risks but are at different stages of maturity in adaptation planning and implementation. TalX will develop recommendations for the improvement of local and national adaptation planning and implementation.
The project will be delivered using a stakeholder-led approach with University College Cork (as project lead MaREI, UCC) Climate Northern Ireland (part of Northern Ireland Environment Link) and Adaptation Scotland (SNIFFER).
Adaptation represents a new area planning for local and sectoral decision makers across Ireland and the United Kingdom and although understanding and awareness of climate change and adaptation amongst decision-making communities is increasing, the implementation of adaptation remains in its infancy.
This innovative learning network will be employed to ‘sense test’ international best practice, learn from experiences of adaptation planning and upskill adaptation decision-making across borders. In collaboration with project stakeholders, recommendations will be developed for the continuous improvement of national, local and sectoral adaptation policy. Importantly, careful attention will be paid to ensure that the learning network will be designed to create an enabling and supporting environment for all participants in which to share learnings rather than generate competition between participating countries on adaptation progress.
TalX builds on existing capacity for adaptation planning across the UK and Ireland and activities of Climate Ireland (MaREI, UCC), Adaptation Scotland (SNIFFER) and ClimateNI (NIEL).