Climate change presents a pressing challenge to regional development, impacting economies, environments, and societies across the globe. Europe, with its diverse regions and commitment to sustainability, serves as a unique case study for exploring the integration of climate change strategies into regional policy and planning. The purpose of this study is to analyze the integration of climate change strategies into policy and planning for regional development in Europe, especially in Greece. Data was collected from 270 environmental experts across Greece using a questionnaire. The results highlight the significance of regional economic growth (gross regional product), infrastructure quality, educational attainment, and a conducive business environment as key measures of regional development. Opportunities arising from climate change strategy integration are explored, revealing economic benefits, environmental opportunities, social enhancements, and technological advancements. These opportunities not only mitigate climate change’s adverse impacts but also foster innovation, economic growth, and community resilience. Successful integration can position regions as global leaders in sustainability and innovation. Correlation and regression analyses reveal that opportunities for integration and common climate change strategies positively influence regional development, while barriers exhibit a counterintuitive positive relationship. However, several barriers hinder integration efforts, including institutional fragmentation, resource constraints, conflicting political and economic priorities, and insufficient stakeholder engagement. This study sheds light on the intricate relationship between climate change, policy integration, and regional development in Greece. It supports the potential for regions to drive sustainability and innovation while navigating the challenges of climate change, ultimately contributing to a more resilient and prosperous future.

Despite being relatively rare, Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones, also known as Medicanes, induce significant impacts on coastal Mediterranean areas. Under climate change, it is possible that these effects will increase in frequency and severity. Currently, there is only a broad understanding of the types and mechanisms of these impacts. This work studied Medicane Ianos (September 2020) and its effects on the Ionian Islands, in Greece, by developing a database of distinct impact elements based on field surveys and public records. Through this archive, the study explored the range of Ianos’ impacts to develop a systematic categorization. Results showed different types of effects induced on the natural and the built environment that can be grouped into 3 categories and 39 sub-categories in inland and coastal areas, indicating an extensive diversity of impacts, ranging from flooding and geomorphic effects to damages in various facilities, vehicles and infrastructure. The systematic description of the typology of Medicanes’ effects presented in this study is a contribution to a better understanding of their consequences as means to improve our ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from them, a necessary stepping stone in improving the overall preparedness of both the general public and relevant authorities.

On 30 October 2020, an Mw = 7.0 earthquake struck the eastern Aegean Sea. It triggered earthquake environmental effects (EEEs) on Samos Island detected by field surveys, relevant questionnaires, and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) analysis. The primary EEEs detected in the field comprise coseismic uplift imprinted on rocky coasts and port facilities around Samos and coseismic surface ruptures in northern Samos. The secondary EEEs were mainly observed in northern Samos and include slope failures, liquefaction, hydrological anomalies, and ground cracks. With the contribution of the InSAR, subsidence was detected and slope movements were also identified in inaccessible areas. Moreover, the type of the surface deformation detected by InSAR is qualitatively identical to field observations. As regards the EEE distribution, effects were generated in all fault blocks. By applying the Environmental Seismic Intensity (ESI-07) scale, the maximum intensities were observed in northern Samos. Based on the results from the applied methods, it is suggested that the northern and northwestern parts of Samos constitute an almost 30-km-long coseismic deformation zone characterized by extensive primary and secondary EEEs. The surface projection of the causative offshore northern Samos fault points to this zone, indicating a depth–surface connection and revealing a significant role in the rupture propagation.

The Mediterranean tsunami warning system is based on national monitoring centers (Tsunami Service Providers, TSPs) and operates under the IOC/UNESCO umbrella. For the first time we evaluate in depth the system’s performance for improving its operational effectiveness in conditions of extremely narrow time frames due to the near-field tsunami sources. At time 10 (± 2) min from the origin time, t_o, of the 2 May 2020 (M_w6.6) earthquake in Crete, the Greek, Italian and Turkish TSPs sent alerts to civil protection subscribers. A small tsunami (amplitude ~16 cm a.m.s.l.) of magnitude M_t6.8, arriving at south Crete in ~17 min from t_o, was documented from tide-gauge records and macroscopic observations. The analysis of the upstream alert messages showed that the tsunami alert efficiency is not adequate, since (1) earthquake parameters of low accuracy were used for the initial message, (2) alerts were issued after some forecasted wave arrival times had expired, (3) alert messages are characterized by various discrepancies and uncertainties. Our calculations showed that the upstream component improves if the alert time is shortened by a few minutes and the initial earthquake parameters are more accurate. Very late procedures were noted in the Greek civil protection downstream component, thus rendering response actions useless. In Israel, a bit more time was available to the authorities for decision making. A drastic improvement of the downstream component is needed to achieve timely alerting for local authorities and communities.

This work focuses on the spatial evolution of urban flooding phenomena in Athens metropolitan area, in Greece. The study examines the locations of flood-related damages and fatalities in Athens in 1880–2010, in comparison with the city’s evolution, to identify possible changes in their spatial distribution. GIS software was used to develop a spatio-temporal database storing information on the location and timing of these flood-related incidents. The database was then used to determine and quantify spatio-temporal changes of flooding in the city. Results showed a gradual migration of areas subject to flooding from the central to the western part of Athens and finally to the northwestern and southern suburbs. This migration was accompanied by a significant increase of incidents in the newly built parts of the city and a simultaneous decrease at the oldest parts, following closely the city’s spatial expansion over the study period. In addition, the study was able to identify and delineate particular parts of the city that experienced an increasing trend of flood incidents during the last decades and should be given priority in future flood risk mitigation actions.

Flash floods have been the cause of some of the most devastating events worldwide. The wide diversity of the effects, as well as the variety in the severity of the impacts, lead to major obstacles in obtaining a realistic understanding of the damages caused by a flood event, thus hampering at the same time our ability to predict future impacts. In assessing flood impacts and their severity, most existing methods use a qualitative characterization (e.g., major, catastrophic, etc.) or view the impacts from a single viewpoint or discipline (e.g., economic losses). In this study, we apply the Flash Flood Impact Severity Scale (FFISS) to assess, map, and classify the impacts of two flash floods from the Lilas River in Greece in 2009 and 2020. This application aims to discuss the different severity levels in terms of how one flood can affect the impacts of the next event. The methodology encompasses comprehensive field research, including the collection of ground-based and aerial observations utilizing UAV technology to document the impacts. These observations are subsequently georeferenced, followed by application of the Flash Flood Impact Severity Scale (FFISS) and generation of detailed maps to assess and evaluate the severity of the impacts associated with the two flood events. The results show that despite the higher water stage of the second flood, the impacts in previously hit areas indicate lower severity values, attributed to the gradual adaptation of the community and its infrastructure, as well as significant local widening of the river channel. On the contrary, high severity remains an issue in newly flooded areas during the second event. Overall, the application of the FFISS can show the spatial patterns of severity impacts, providing insights into the nature of floods locally but also indicating a potential reduction in the overall risk in the post-flood period.