DERRY City and Strabane District Council’s CLIMATE Programme Manager, Cathy Burns, has met with the President of Iceland Guðni Th. Jóhannesson (pictured above) during the final meeting of an innovative CLIMATE Project taking place between Council and other countries including Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Faroe Islands and Rep of Ireland.
The Council officer presented the president with a gift on behalf of the Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Councillor Michaela Boyle, as an acknowledgement of the work Iceland has carried out in conjunction with Council to develop an action plan to mitigate against the worst effects of climate change.
The CLIMATE project – Collaborative Learning Initiative Managing and Adapting to the Environment (CLIMATE) – will tackle climate change on local and regional levels through using models of best practice to develop climate adaptation plans for implementation in the City and District.
This €1.3m project is part funded by the ERDF Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014-2020 and Derry City and Strabane District Council is the lead partner.
Speaking after the meeting Cathy Burns explained more about the project. “As a local authority we have a dedicated taskforce aimed at making us more resilient to climate change.
“This includes improving our green infrastructure, helping communities become more prepared in terms of emergency planning and ensuring that climate adaptation is included in our community planning.
“We are fortunate to have been involved in a transnational CLIMATE Programme to develop a climate adaptation plan sharing knowledge and learning with other countries including Iceland and are honoured to have been given the opportunity to meet their president to express our gratitude.”
The CLIMATE project involves partners and stakeholders from four different regions; Northern Ireland, Sweden, Rep. of Ireland and the Faroe Islands, in addition to Associate Partners from Finland, Scotland, Norway and Iceland.
For further information go to www.derrystrabane.com/climate
