European cities join forces for just climate adaptation under new EU-funded project JUST4CARE
MADRID, Spain — November 5, 2025. Cities across Europe are coming together to make climate adaptation fairer and more inclusive with the launch of JUST4CARE, an initiative funded by Horizon Europe under the EU Mission on Climate Adaptation. Coordinated by the Basque Center for Climate Change (BC3), the three-year project brings together 16 partners from 7 countries to develop innovative solutions in four pilot cities: Madrid, Ankara (Çankaya), Budapest, and Zagreb. REC, Çankaya Municipality, and Bursa Uludağ University from Türkiye are participating in the project.
JUST4CARE aims to transform climate adaptation practices by integrating principles of justice, equity, and resilience into urban and regional planning. Through inclusive and innovative approaches, the project addresses the needs of historically-excluded groups, who are disproportionately affected by climate change in European cities.
Solutions will be co-created and tested with local communities and stakeholders in the pilot cities, ensuring active citizen participation and the implementation of justice-oriented policies. AI-driven models will support the integration of climate justice principles into risk assessments and promote the replication of effective solutions across cities and regions.
Speaking on behalf of REC at the opening meeting, Chair of the Board Rifat Ünal Sayman underlined that REC will lead the development of a comprehensive evaluation framework and a Just Climate Resilience Atlas featuring around 250 examples, enabling cities to assess how fair and equitable their adaptation actions truly are. Sayman emphasized that the methodological foundation created under WP2 will serve not only the pilot cities Madrid, Budapest, Zagreb and Ankara (Çankaya), but also all European cities seeking to measure justice, make the needs of vulnerable groups visible, and scale effective and applicable solutions.
In addition to the four pilot cities, JUST4CARE involves a panel of replicator cities that will follow the project’s progress, share insights, and explore the adaptation of successful solutions to their own local contexts, ensuring broader impact across Europe.
Get to know the JUST4CARE community:
Press contact:
Mehmet Ayvaz
Email: mehmetayvaz@rec.org.tr