Monitoring & Assessment: Climate Change Publications

Climate Ireland Adaptation Network Working Group 1: Technical definitions underpinning resilience

Summary: The Climate Ireland Adaptation Network is a practitioner network aimed at sharing expertise and creating learning opportunities around adaptation in Ireland as well as improving the consistency of adaptation implementation. The four working groups were established to enable participants to share their views, practices, and perspectives around four key challenges for adaptation in Ireland. A primary goal of the CIAN working groups was to enhance communication between stakeholders, build stronger links across Ireland’s adaptation community, and provide a forum to discuss adaptation topics and identify practitioner needs and knowledge gaps. The final reports represent the consensus from discussions of members of the relevant working groups.

Published: 2026

ISBN: ISBN 978-1-80009-390-4 June / 2026 / Website

Pages: 24

Filesize: 2,090 KB

Format: pdf

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Working Group 1: Technical definitions underpinning resilience

Authors: Alan O'Connor, Annalisa Setti, AnnMaree Manley, Caitriona De Paor, Christopher Phillips, Colm O Looney, Conor Murphy, Cormac McKay, Dervala Leahy, Fintan McGrath, John Fingleton, Jonathan Chambers, Jordan Delmar, Kevin McCormick, Liz Wakefield, Lorcan Connolly, Marta Carrasco, Patrick Barrett, Paul McBride, Ronan Walsh, Suzanne Jackson, Ted McCormack, Tim Kavanagh

Working Group 1 explored the definitions and concepts that underpin climate resilience to support consistent planning and decision‑making across sectors. This report concludes that Ireland’s resilience planning must be supported by a better shared understanding of future scenarios, and the setting of trajectories for climate. Defined trajectories provide a common basis for decision-making, investment, and long-term planning, ensuring that resilience strategies are aligned with scientific scenarios and future risks. The working group calls for a national resilience goal which incorporates reference trajectories into national frameworks, sectoral plans, and local authority strategies. Building on this foundation, resilience should then be supported by clear definitions, measurable objectives, and inclusive frameworks that reflect justice, vulnerability, and community capacity.