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Milestones

  • Highland Adapts Was Formally Established in 2021

    The Highland Adapts partnership was by nine founding partner organisations committed to working together to drive transformational action towards a prosperous, climate-ready Highland. These organisations agreed to distribute power throughout the partnership, recognising that diverse partners should be involved in Highland Adapts. Knowledge sharing and collaboration are key to everything we do.

  • We Hit the Ground Running

    Since 2021, Highland Adapts has been developing a community of practitioners in the Highlands and supporting their work. We coordinate several thematic groups, including the Highland Community Climate Advocates, Highland Public Sector Gathering, Highland Adapts Core Group, and more.

  • We Made a Plan

    The UK Government publishes a Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) every five years. This document is useful for decision-making at a high-level, but we quickly realised that we needed more specific information about risks and opportunities in the Highland region. This is why we decided to create the first Highland Climate Risk and Opportunity Assessment. In addition to incorporating relevant climate data, statistics, and projections, we think that this assessment should include the lived experiences of the people in our region. Enter: the Highland Weather & Climate Story Map.

  • It's Time to Share Your Stories

    Your experiences of different weather events and climate changes can provide valuable insights into our region's future risks and opportunities. We created this online resource to collect stories from individuals, families, communities, business owners, and land managers. We hope you will contribute.

  • What's next? The First Highland Climate Risk and Opportunity Assessment Will Be Published Later This Year

    The Highland Climate Risk and Opportunity Assessment will collate key information relevant to regional and local decision-making, enabling you to identify priorities for further action at the community level. For example, the assessment will consider: (1) Risks to mental health and well-being from extreme weather events; (2) Risks to people and communities from wildfires; (3) Risks to service provision from extreme weather; (4) Risks to the Highland economy from impacts on key industries; and (5) Risks to people and communities from flooding. The assessment will also identify areas for undertaking additional analysis.

  • The Work Continues

    The assessment will not prescribe specific adaptation actions for stakeholders to address the risks and opportunities that are identified. Additional work will be required to generate and prioritise these actions at community, sector, and organisational levels. This may include developing community, sector, and organisation-specific adaptation plans. Adaptation is an iterative process, meaning we will keep revisiting our work to better understand how the climate is changing and how we can best adapt.