Valencian Collaboration Space (Spain): towards multi-level governance in support of the EU Missions

Recent evidence from the IPCC (2022) highlights the urgency of addressing climate change and its impacts. In València, climate adaptation is now gaining prominence after years of mitigation being the primary focus of climate policy and implementation. València is encountering challenges that are commonly shared across the Mediterranean basin. The Regional Government has already assessed the main risks and impacts of climate change in the Region of València. Anticipated temperature increases, water scarcity, droughts, and other risks are expected to negatively affect ecosystems, human health, and key economic sectors. València City Council (often cited as Valencia city in the text) has an updated climate risk assessment, considering the immediate catchment area and sensitive ecosystems. It experiences climate-related impacts such as heatwaves, droughts, flooding, sea level rise, and coastal erosion. Both the Regional Government and València City Council have made progress in addressing these impacts through advancing climate risk assessments, raising public awareness campaigns and putting forward adaptation solutions involving sustainable water management and using nature In València, the authorities are striving for an integrated approach to comprehensively achieve their climate objectives. This entails fostering synergies between adaptation and mitigation, integrating adaptation goals into sector-specific policies, aligning regional and local adaptation initiatives, and increasing local awareness. Implementing this approach requires the establishment of effective mechanisms for vertical coordination, cooperation, and multi-stakeholder engagement, including government agencies, community organizations, universities, businesses, and civil society. However, establishing a multi-level governance framework to support the long-term process of climate change adaptation is a complex task that requires sufficient time and effort.

The Regional Government and València City Council have actively participated in the climate-related EU Missions to advance their approach. València city initially joined the EU Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities in 2022 in becoming climate neutral by 2030. Following the selection of the region in the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change , València city also signed the Charter . This step solidified the necessary collaboration between the region and the city in jointly addressing climate adaptation planning and implementation, while also ensuring the delivery of mitigation co-benefits. The objectives of this multi-level collaboration space include: Improving resilience to the impacts of climate change, Supporting the integration and mainstreaming of climate adaptation into municipal and regional planning, Supporting regional actors in acquiring the necessary skills to effectively plan for and implement climate adaptation, Aligning the regional and urban strategies and policies to bring about transformational change, identifying and utilizing synergies and determining joint tasks within the frameworks of the Climate-Neutral Cities & Climate Adaptation Missions, Citizens’ engagement is a key focus.

In València, a multi-level ‘collaboration space’ is being formed to establish vertical coordination between the city and the regional government, alongside multi-stakeholder cooperation. While still under development, this adaptation governance framework aspires to enable all local actors to pursue synergies and join efforts to address climate challenges and implement the climate-related EU missions. Adaptation to climate change requires action at various levels of government. M ulti-level networks and collaborative mechanisms are essential for achieving effective multi-level governance. These elements offer support to local governments in the design and implementation of local adaptation strategies and actions ( EEA, 2022 ). By the end of 2022, it was decided that defining a strong multi-level governance framework in Valencia was necessary to coordinate actions, pursue synergies, and lead the collaborative deployment of the EU Missions. That would require the creation and management of new multi-level governance arrangements, beyond those already active. Work started by contracting a specialized technical assistance support service to guide and support the whole process. The organizational structure proposed by the technical assistance is set out in two levels. The first one involves vertical coordination between the Regional Government, València city and associated agencies being in charge of steering and driving local climate policy making and implementation. It mainly comprises a Core Group that remains consistent throughout the planning and decision-making process, providing guidance and direction. Additionally, there is a supporting team consisting of representatives from institutions and boards who participate in specific initiatives as required. The Regional Government provides the enabling institutional framework, allocates resources, and coordinates and overviews adaptation actions undertaken by the local authorities falling within its jurisdiction, such as València city. Since 2013, the Commission for the Coordination of Climate Change Policies has been acting as an institutional coordination body to support policy-making within the region. The Valencian Climate Change Agency is also being established, as an independent advisory board, which will have several roles, including advising and monitoring on climate action. Finally, through the ‘Policy Support Facility’ under the Covenant of Mayors , the region is offering funding and technical assistance to all municipalities and help implement adaptation actions. València City, along with its local climate and energy institutions, such as València Clima I Energia and Las Naves has established various local governance structures to support climate action. The second level draws inspiration from the governance structure of the "València 2030 Climate Mission," a local initiative aimed at addressing climate challenges. This initiative served as a foundation for the city’s involvement in the EU Missions. Mission Alliance embraces the concept of the "Quintuple Helix framework”, which represents the collaboration of the private sector, public sector, academia, civil society, citizens, and the media. The Alliance seeks to create numerous transformative initiatives, including public policies, entrepreneurial innovations, and personal actions, that have a systemic impact on addressing the climate crisis. This collaboration space plays a crucial role in facilitating leadership, promoting a just social transition, realigning regulatory and financial frameworks, and effectively managing available resources. It also supports rapid learning, fosters alliances and networks, facilitates social communication, encourages the development of new innovative and technological capabilities, and promotes capacity building. Building on a long history of multi-level collaboration The Regional Government and València City Council have a successful history of establishing collaborative governance structures to tackle various issues including addressing climate change and energy-related goals. The establishment of the 'collaboration space' builds upon past coordination, partnerships, and ad-hoc governance structures at both regional and local levels. This collaborative approach has been effectively employed in various initiatives that include the European Green Capital 2024, and the Horizon 2020 funded projects ARCH (Advancing Resilience of Historic Areas against Climate-related and other Hazards) and TOMORROW (TOwards Multi-stakehOldeRs transition ROadmaps With citizens at the centre). The "València 2030 Climate Mission" is advanced through a multi-level coordination approach that fosters collaboration among a variety of stakeholders and embraces distributed leadership, exemplified by the Mission Alliance. In tandem with the city’s intention to join the EU Mission on Adaptation in 2022, the local mission expanded to include synergistic adaptation-mitigation planning. It integrates adaptation policies and actions into the development strategy and sectoral plans, aligning with regional and national government strategies. The local mission is linked to the València 2030 Urban Strategy and through that to the local public policy sphere, promoting systemic innovation and urban transformation. The Collaboration Space is also featured in the Climate City Contract, a binding agreement signed by València city within the framework of the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. Finally, upon joint decision, the Climate City Contract has been ratified by the Regional Government. Multi-level governance structure in action: New governance body to ensure resilience of L’ Horta de València The Valencian authorities successfully pursued collaborative governance in the past. L’Horta de Valencia is a 28km 2 historic agricultural site near the city. It is a designated ‘Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System’ by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and encompasses Spain's largest lagoon, Albufera. L'Horta is governed by 40 local authorities including València. It serves as a strategic climate action site, showcasing the benefits of combining mitigation and adaptation efforts. It promotes local and sustainable food systems for emissions reduction and utilizes its potential for carbon storage. In terms of adaptation, L'Horta's integration into the peri-urban green infrastructure network provides ecosystem-based services, mitigating the heat island effect and preventing floods. The Valencian authorities implemented a new legislative framework to establish the Consell de L'Horta, a governance body that includes the Regional Government, Province, and municipalities, including València. This framework aims to support the multifunctional role of L'Horta and provides oversight for its management.

The project's costs primarily consist of a technical assistance contract to support the establishment of the collaborative space. Additionally, there are expenses related to staff, representation, and meetings. Assessing or quantifying the monetary benefits of the process is currently challenging as the enhanced governance is expected to have a cross-cutting influence on future climate action, which currently is difficult to assess . The costs associated with the Mission on Adaptation workshop included staff, materials, speakers, catering, and promotion, totalling €16,317.24, with staff costs amounting to €1,017.43. NextGenerationEU Funds have been used in this process, as well as own funds of the participating entities .

Success Factors The creation of the multi-level collaborative space relies on established partnerships, networks, and collaborative processes that have been developed over time. This culture of collaborative administration and trust has inspired the multi-level governance concept. Also, these authorities have maintained excellent communication despite working on interconnected initiatives with different timelines. For instance, while the Regional Government was still planning on the climate shelter regulations, València city was implementing its own network of climate shelters. Through collaboration and effective communication, both parties minimized the challenges and maximized the efficient use of resources. The presence of supportive administration and political leadership has been essential in establishing the new governance framework. The collaboration of multidisciplinary working groups allowed for a deeper analysis of the whole range of synergies and conflicts between actions across the different work areas of both authorities. Contracting a technical assistance support service provided specialized support in the design of the collaborative space as well as on the development of the whole process. Limiting Factors The introduction of the multi-level collaborative space encountered obstacles during its implementation. Firstly, effectively communicating both EU Missions to the civil society proved to be challenging due to the complexities inherent in communicating climate objectives. Certain messages were difficult to convey accurately, particularly to citizens who are generally unfamiliar with this field. Additionally, while stakeholder mapping had already been done, the main challenge was getting them actively involved in climate action, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation. Furthermore, being part of the first group to develop these systemic transitions meant there were no existing success stories to learn from. The need for local staff to achieve the climate transition was highlighted in recent campaigns and studies. Breaking down organizational silos and advancing towards faster and more innovative administrative procedures was another challenge.