Background Within the EU, southern Europe, and the Mediterranean basin in particular, will be most affected by global climate change. Strategies and plans for adaption to climate change are developed at national and regional level in the EU. Italy launched its National Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change (SNAC) in 2014, and officially adopted it in June 2015. Italy's regions are characterised by different landscapes, geographical features and climate. Two of those regions, Lombardy and Sardinia, are representative at both national and EU level, with problems typical of other regions. Thus an analysis of their vulnerability to climate change and the mainstreaming of adaptation measures in these regions could be useful to guide other regions and countries in developing their adaptation plans. Objectives The LIFE MASTER ADAPT project aims to identify and test innovative tools of multi-level governance, to support regions and local authorities in defining and developing adaptation strategies and policies. In particular, the project aims to build on existing developments in Lombardy to create a scalable methodology to optimise the targeting and integration of regional policies in different sectors with respect to climate change adaptation (CCA). In order to be effective, regional policies need to be developed at the local level, combining and integrating top-down and bottom-up approaches. The project aims to address the needs of groups of towns or cities that share the same vulnerabilities and whose administrations have a similar capacity to respond to climate change, but which are missing a common methodology for mainstreaming adaptation. The project will define and test new models of governance, which may enable the integration of regional and local adaptation policies and measures. The main objectives are: To develop and supply a common methodology to support regions in identifying the principal vulnerabilities and priorities for action in line with Italy’s national adaptation strategy; To prepare and equip the regions with a methodology for optimising the mainstreaming of adaptation in other regional policy areas as well as the multi-level governance of adaptation policies in the context of sub-regional and local authorities; To establish guidelines for the governance of adaptation in urban areas; and To supply guidance for the integration of the two main volunteer initiatives linked with the Covenant of Mayors, with a focus on the two selected territorial types characterizing the project. Expected results: The project expects to deliver the following results: A report on climate analysis and vulnerability assessment results in Sardinia and selected other areas; Guidelines and standardised procedures for climate analysis and vulnerability assessment at regional and local level; Creation of a network of regions and municipalities sharing adaptation practices from around the EU; Policy guidance for setting adaptation targets and planning at regional and sub-regional levels; Creation of matrices of general and specific targets of the Adaptation Strategies developed for Sardinia and north of Milan; two municipalities in Sardinia, three municipalities in Puglia, and the cities of Venice and Cagliari; Development of an effective and reproducible method for mainstreaming adaptation and for multi-level governance in the definition of regional adaptation strategies; Guidelines for implementing mainstreaming in groups of towns and cities; Implementation of the guidelines in selected municipalities in Lombardy, Sardinia and Venice; At least 15 mayors signing up to the Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy initiatives; Test cases of vertical regional mainstreaming for one sector in Lombardy and one in Sardinia; Enhancement of at least 40 climate change adaptation measures in participating territories, including flood risk measures in Lombardy, water efficiency and extreme weather monitoring measures in Sardinia and measures to improve water management, increase green connectivity and reduce coastal erosion in Venice; Cooperation agreements with the Austrian Environment Agency, Apulia Region, Trento Province and selected municipalities in Sardinia and Lombardy to transfer the project’s results; Training and involvement of at least 250 selected decision-makers; and Organisation of at least 30 regional and local meetings, one national event, and six workshops and panels at EU level. Participation in one international event, five EU conferences and five national conferences.