Lignano Sabbiadoro Nurtures a Climate-Resilient Community

Nestled along the North Adriatic coast, Lignano Sabbiadoro is taking bold steps to transform into a climate-resilient community thanks to the MISSION CE CLIMATE project.

Renowned as a busy summer tourist destination, the city is facing increasing environmental challenges. Rising sea levels and extreme precipitation have led to frequent flooding and coastal erosion, while higher temperatures have resulted in more heatwaves and tropical nights. These threats not only endanger the natural environment but also raise safety and economic concerns for the community.

In response, the local administration has initiated a comprehensive climate governance process to enhance stakeholder and citizen engagement. This collaborative approach aims to accelerate the city’s transition to a climate-ready future. By fostering cross-sectoral, coordinated, and participatory strategies, Lignano Sabbiadoro seeks to co-design and co-implement resilient pathways.

Strategic Actions for Climate Governance

Building on its Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) and detailed risk and vulnerability assessments, Lignano Sabbiadoro has outlined several key interventions:

• Establishing community labs to foster knowledge-sharing and collaboration.
• Mobilising funds to support climate action projects.
• Monitoring and evaluating progress through robust systems.
• Promoting environmental awareness to drive behavioural change.

Regenerating Porto Casoni: A Participatory Success

As an initial step, the Municipality launched a participatory process to reimagine and regenerate Porto Casoni, a small harbour facing risks from sea-level rise and erosion. In a city of fewer than 7,000 residents, over 70 participants—including representatives from 16 associations and private businesses—joined the consultation process.

This collaborative effort allowed local stakeholders to voice their needs and contribute ideas to enhance the harbour’s safety and usability. Emphasising dialogue, inclusiveness, and co-creation, the process strengthened trust between the local government and the community, culminating in the City Council’s approval of the Porto Casoni Master Plan.

The consultation revealed a strong desire among residents to play a more active role in climate-related decisions, laying the groundwork for future, large-scale resilience-building initiatives.

Developing a Green Management Plan

Another ongoing initiative is the development of a Green Management Plan, integrating citizen participation to design sustainable public spaces. This plan focuses on mitigating high temperatures, heatwaves, flash floods, and the urban heat island effect through thoughtful greening projects. By creating tree-lined avenues, green spaces, gardens—including rooftop gardens—and preserving biodiversity, the city aims to enhance ecosystem services and air quality.

These goals will be achieved through awareness campaigns, detailed planning, and a robust monitoring system to ensure long-term impact.

A Celebration of Sustainability

In June 2025, the city will host a Sustainability Festival to celebrate its progress towards a climate-resilient future. This event will showcase best practices, share experiences, and inspire other communities to take climate action.

This best practice is extracted from our publication ‘Sustainable Regions in Action‘. Discover more best practices here!