This final report reviews the scientific activities led within the context of the research project Adap’Terr “Adaptation to climate change: the challenges of an integrated approach for territories?”.
It is composed of two volumes:

– A synthesis volume presents the main results of theoretical research and case studies;
– A second volume reports the results of the surveys conducted on the regions of Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne, on the cities of Montreal and Lyon, and on the movements ofTransitions Towns in England and Slowcitta in Italy.

The synthesis volume presents the main results and is organized into three parts. The first part clarifies some questions raised by the local action for climate protection to planning, in order to develop a conceptual framework, capable of analyzing local initiatives facing the “climate problem”.

The second part describes the context of the implementation of local public policies, and specifies some aspects of the institutionalization of climate policies in France: their dynamics, the regulatory context, the required methods of quantification of greenhouse gas emissions, and the context in which the regional plans on climate, air and energy (SRCAE) were developed (which is discussed in detail in both regional case studies).

The third part presents the main results of case studies surveys. The analysis of policymaking processes and policies contents enables to point out a series of teachings on multilevel governance and the integrated nature of climate policies, namely the two main  assumptions of the project.