**5. Conclusion: common governance challenges for adaptation to climate change in Europe**

Assessing governance strengths and weaknesses in for climate change adaptation in six European research sites, three main governance challenges can be identified.

First, a common challenge seems to lie in incorporating new climate change risks in the existing policy and governance framework, and in developing and implementing adaptation measures to deal with these new risks. The specific nature of this challenge varies across research sites. In Badalona, the policy framework is strongly oriented toward the existing problems of droughts, water scarcity and floods but the risk of CSO's is insufficiently recognized. And in Bergen, drinking water and wastewater are well managed, but no policies have been developed to deal with the increased risks posed by storm water. However, the general characteristics of this governance challenge are similar.

This challenge can be addressed by establishing a more anticipatory governance setting, which is able to look beyond contemporary problems in water management to the new risks posed by climate change. To facilitate this change, more information about the specific impacts of climate change at the regional level is needed, which should be disseminated to actors and agencies that are responsible for or work within the water system.

Second, there is a need for a more holistic governance approach. Climate change not only affects water management but a whole range of sectors and actors. Therefore, stakeholders from different sectors need to be involved in the formulation of adaptation solutions. Also, better links should be established between the different subsectors of water management (e.g., storm water and waste water in Bergen, or beach management and water quality management in Badalona) to effectively deal with climate change risks. To establish a more holistic approach, the governmental fragmentation that currently characterizes regional water management should be reduced and regional coordination should be improved to enlarge integrative capacities of water governance.

Third, the effective implementation of adaptation measures should be strengthened. To this end, institutional resources need to be organized for climate change adaptation. Policies should define adaptation targets for the treatment of different risks, and allocate responsibilities and administrative and financial resources accordingly.
