Working Together for a Climate-Resilient Future
On October 30, 2025, more than 100 professionals gathered in Utrecht, the Netherlands, for the Interreg & Climate Adaptation event—a day full of inspiration, collaboration, and fresh ideas to tackle climate change and urban resilience challenges. Among the participants, two partners of the MultiRoofs project were present: the Municipality of Rotterdam and Rooftop Revolution, both actively contributing to innovative rooftop solutions and sustainable urban development.
Learning and Collaborating Across Borders in Europe
Experts from the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium), including researchers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and government representatives, came together to answer one key question: How can we use the European Interreg program to build cross-border cooperation for a climate-resilient future?
From Challenges to Partnerships
The event opened with a call to action: look beyond what we already do and focus on what we can achieve together. In other words, we should move beyond isolated initiatives and focus on scalable European collaboration. Presentations highlighted the importance of aligning scientific knowledge, public policy, and real-world practice, and showcased successful Interreg projects such as Cool Neighbourhoods, TREASURE, andSmart Carbon Farming. These initiatives address urban heat stress, plastic pollution reduction, and agricultural soil restoration, demonstrating how climate adaptation solutions can be applied across regions.
Ideas Market: Creating New Connections
During the interactive ideas market, participants exchanged best practices, shared innovative solutions and formed the first “Climate Pacts”: concrete collaborations that will drive real change. This dynamic networking session sparked new cross-borders collaborations and actionable plans for the future.
A Shared Ambition
The event demonstrated the strength of the Interreg community and the shared ambition to accelerate long-term transformation, rather than launching yet another pilot project. As the moderator concluded: “Climate and biodiversity challenges don’t stop at borders, and neither should our collaboration.”
With the Municipality of Rotterdam and Rooftop Revolution actively involved as MultiRoofs partners, this event marked an important step toward innovative, cross-border solutions for climate adaptation in the Netherlands, Belgium and beyond. Together, we are building a future that is climate-resilient, sustainable, and ready for the challenges ahead facing European cities.
