"Climate Change is one of the most important issues facing the world in the 21st century and challenges all four (ecological, economical, social and cultural) dimensions of sustainable development. Europe takes a leading role in the necessary response to these challenges. Severe impacts are unavoidable and European adaptation strategies must be supported by a coherent base of knowledge on its key vulnerabilities and response options. Such a base can only be generated by European, national and regional policy-relevant research. It is CIRCLE-2 ERA-Net prime objective to contribute to those efforts by aligning and networking national and regional research funding and managing organisations as well as their respective programmes. CIRCLE-2 will support a common research agenda and share good practices on adaptation with national and European decision makers, thus contributing to the envisaged EU Clearing House on Climate Change Impacts Vulnerability and Adaptation (CCIVA). CIRCLE-2 (CSA-CA) builds on the experience of previous coordinating and support actions (i.e. CIRCLE CA and SSA) and will develop its activities through a now enlarged network of 23 countries and 3 regions. A flexible work plan will LEAD the consortium to identify common policy-relevant CCIVA research needs. Those needs will serve to DESIGN a joint research agenda and deepen the networking and cooperation activities of the consortium. CIRCLE-2 will FUND transnational joint research initiatives including joint calls for projects on CCIVA. The outcomes of these initiatives and projects will provide the consortium with an updated knowledge base on European, National and Regional CCIVA research and CIRCLE-2 will SHARE this knowledge base with decision-makers at all relevant scales. CIRCLE-2 will thus contribute to the development of both European and national Climate Change response frameworks (e.g. Adaptation Strategies) by facilitating research outputs tailor-made to common needs. International cooperation with non-European countries (e.g. developing countries) as well as the involvement of new EU Member States and candidate countries will be particularly encouraged throughout CIRCLE-2 lifetime."