Challenges and Future Trends in Integrating Adaptation to Climate Change and Green Infrastructure in Planning Practice

In recent years, institutions and the scientific community have shown a growing interest in climate change, which has become relevant and worrying, as people’s lifestyles—as well as ecosystem balance—are affected by increasingly frequent floods and droughts.

In 2013, the European Commission adopted—and in 2021, updated—the strategy on adaptation to climate change (ACC), which aims to make European Member States more climate-resilient. This concept implies an increased capacity of human and natural systems to address severe and unexpected climate events while minimizing damage or maximizing benefits. The adequate promotion of sustainable ACC practice relies on efficient landscape and spatial planning systems. Spatial planning and green infrastructures (GIs) are recognized as key to facilitate ACC in various anthropized settings.

The Special Issue aims to collect contributions concerning ACC and GIs in the context of regional or subregional landscape and spatial planning, with a focus on the rural dimension. It will provide an international audience with an overall picture of the current innovations in research on ACC and GI planning, design, and guidelines to make rural landscapes more climate-resilient.

Authors are invited to submit original research articles concerning innovative approaches for (though not exclusively) the governance of ACC and GIs in rural contexts; ACC and GIs in rural landscapes; ACC and GIs in marginal areas (e.g., areas characterized by limited accessibility to essential services, affected by depopulation, etc.); ACC and GI guidelines; ACC and GI planning and design; and the integration of ACC and GIs in planning tools.