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The project titled “Development of climate change adaptation plans in cities with more than 100,000 residents” is an example of an effective measure that enables solving the above-described problem of insufficient adaptation of regional policies to the individual needs of cities facing the effects of climate change. The project was addressed to the largest Polish cities, enabling them to implement the objectives of the SAP 2020.

The project was implemented between 2017 and 2019 within a broad partnership that encompassed:

- the Institute of Environmental Protection - National Research Institute (Project Leader) (www.ios.edu.pl);

- the National Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute (www.imgw.pl);

- the Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas (www.ietu.pl); and

- ARKADIS Sp. z o.o. (www.arcadis.com/pl/polska).

Out of the 44 Polish cities participating in the project, as many as 15 were from the Silesian Province. This means that the impact of the performance of the project on this region was the highest in Poland.

The aim of the project was to develop adaptation plans that would contain proposed solutions intended to increase resilience to climate change, tailored to the needs of the most polluted and largest cities. Funding for these activities was provided from the European funds and from national funding sources.

Fig. 1. Location of the cities where the project was performed in the Silesian Province and analysis of problems related to climate change.

Source: Project: Development of climate change adaptation plans in cities with more than 100,000 residents, Project Report, www.44mpa.pl (access: 04.01.2020).

Fig. 2. Location of the cities where the project was performed in the Silesian Province and analysis of problems related to climate change.

Source: Project: Development of climate change adaptation plans in cities with more than 100,000 residents, Project Report, www.44mpa.pl (access: 04.01.2020).

The climate change adaptation plans developed for cities are strategic documents that describe urban policies aimed at reducing or mitigating the effects of the most serious hazards resulting from climate change. The plans were developed and implemented according to the steps described in Table 4.

Table 4. Steps of development of climate change adaptation plans.

1	Preparation of a schedule of implementation and identification of the team responsible for implementation of the measures
2	Obtaining funding for the development of the plan
3	Involvement of local communities and all relevant stakeholders in the process of development and implementation of the plan
4	Diagnosis of the situation in the city
5	Collecting action proposals for the plan and linking them with actions of other entities from the city
6	Development of the plan, as well as indicators of its implementation and its budget
7	Adoption of the plan
8	Submission of the plan for use on the regional level
9	Obtaining funds for implementation of the plan and its execution
10	Communication of the activities carried out
11	Monitoring the implementation of actions
12	Evaluation of the results of the implementation
Stakeholders involved in the development of plans: local government authorities and councilors, local businesses, non-governmental organizations, public institutions, residents, media, and tourists.

Source: prepared by the author.

The table above shows the full process of plan development that cities were responsible for. When developing their plans, the cities detailed the provisions contained in regional documents, but at the same time adapted the scope of activities to the individual needs of residents and other stakeholders.

The win-win approach used in the adaptation plans is that the adaptation measures selected for implementation achieve one specific objective while contributing to other important social, environmental, and economic objectives (e.g. building a blue-green infrastructure, such as green roofs and facades reduces energy demand in the summer). The opposite of win-win solutions are actions that, on the one hand, reduce the vulnerability of a sector or area to climate change but, at the same time, increase the vulnerability of other sectors or social groups (e.g. cooling of tram tracks with water adversely affects water resources and quality). It is therefore necessary to primarily implement sustainable measures. The project proposed three types of measures as described in the table.

Table 5. Types of measures within the adaptation plans.

No.	Measure type	Description
1	Informationand education measures	They serve to build cooperation, educate, and inform about hazards, planned and undertaken adaptation measures, and monitoring and warning systems in place, as well as promote good practices, e.g.: education actions, social media.
2	Organizational measures	They require changes in spatial planning, organization of public space, changes in local law, creation of guidelines on how to act in emergency situations, e.g.:- review and update of plans, programs, and strategies to address climate change adaptation needs;- building cooperation networks to implement the urban adaptation plan (within the city - organizations, businesses –and beyond– functional areas, associations of municipalities/communes, partner cities).
3	Technical measures	They concern investment activities allowing to achieve in a short time the effect of adaptation of the city to climate change, e.g.:- protecting buildings and critical infrastructure facilities located in the danger zone and- building and developing a blue and green infrastructure system.
Stakeholders involved in the development of measures: local government authorities and councilors, local businesses, non-governmental organizations, public institutions, residents, media, and tourists.

Source: Project: Development of climate change adaptation plans in cities with more than 100,000 residents.

Implementation of the above measures may bring many positive results, although one can imagine a situation where some cities are unable to implement these plans, e.g. due to lack of financial resources. However, the more strongly climate change risks are felt in cities (e.g. urban thermal risks, hydrological risks, risks linked to concentrations of pollutants in the air, and risks from windstorms), the higher the priority for implementation of these measures will be. The analyzed project also defined the opportunities and challenges related to implementation of climate change adaptation plans. These are presented in the table below.

Table 6. Challenges and opportunities related to adaptation of cities to climate change.

Area	Challenges	Opportunities
Environment	- the existing urban space does not take into account the needs associated with environmental protection;	- protection of biodiversity by creating habitats for different species;- ensuring protection of natural resources through their rational management;- reducing the city’s pressure on the environment.
Society	- low public awareness of climate change and adaptation;- lack of involvement of residents in activities aimed at adaptation to climate change;	- improvement of housing conditions, i.e. living in a well-designed urban space with large green areas located nearby;- protecting the health of the residents in the face of extreme phenomena related to climate change;- raising awareness of climate change and building a community responsible for the city.
Management	- shortage of funds for adaptation measures in cities;- low technological advancement of adaptation measures;	- reduction of financial and property losses resulting from disasters related to climate change;- combining Human Smart City measures with adaptation measures;- thoughtful adaptation measures intended for businesses.
Stakeholders involved in the development of challenges and opportunities: local government authorities and councilors, local businesses, non-governmental organizations, public institutions, residents, media, and tourists.

Source: Project: Development of climate change adaptation plans in cities with more than 100,000 residents, www.44mpa.pl.

The opportunities and challenges presented herein are only some of the factors that influence implementation of urban adaptation plans. As the project was carried out before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, certainly the situation in the cities is now much more complicated, in social, economic, and financial terms alike. Nevertheless, environmental problems remain at the forefront, if one wants to seriously work towards preparing local communities to face the problems of climate change (Laukkonen, Blanco, Lenhart, Keiner, Cavric Kinuthia-Njenga 2009).