Citizens as main characters in urban adaptation. People’s experience and contribution in the development of Decision Support Systems

Climate Change (CC) is increasingly manifesting tangible effects on the environment in which we live, particularly within urban settings. Heat peaks, extreme weather events, periods of drought, followed by intense precipitation and flooding, are increasingly and significantly impacting the lives of citizens. In the face of this transformation, society is called upon to take action, with research playing a prominent role. The international scientific community has been actively engaged for decades in studying mitigation and adaptation strategies to support and guide decision-making processes and urban planning. However, citizen involvement remains relatively limited (Cruz et al., 2023), leading to a disconnection between the knowledge produced and the theoretical possibilities of action on one hand, and real-world practices on the other. This inclusion and impact effectiveness gap has also been acknowledged by the European scientific community, which is moving forward a stronger integration of citizens science and participatory processes within the application for urban resilience and adaptation paths.