Partnership in Action: Building a Shared Climate Risk Response for North Wales
The North Wales Climate Change Risk Assessment (NWCCRA) is a practical example of the North Wales Insight Partnership in action, showing how collaboration, shared evidence and local insight can drive better long-term decisions across public services.
Why a shared climate risk response is needed
Climate change presents complex, interconnected risks that no single organisation can fully address alone. Through the Insight Partnership, North Wales Public Services Boards, local authorities, Natural Resources Wales and regional partners are working together to develop a coordinated, evidence-based understanding of climate risk across the region.
Bringing together evidence, expertise and local knowledge
The NWCCRA brings together multiple forms of insight. Service-level data, professional expertise and national climate science are combined with local knowledge to ensure risks and action plans reflect real operational pressures and community contexts. PhD researchers are embedded alongside local authority Climate Change Lead Officers, supported by Climate Change Managers and Natural Resources Wales specialists, creating a shared learning process rather than a one-off report.
What this collaborative model enables
This collaborative model avoids duplication, builds local ownership and creates consistency across North Wales, while still allowing place-based priorities to emerge. It enables partners to move from fragmented assessments to a shared foundation for climate adaptation, investment planning and service transformation.
Aligning with the Well-being of Future Generations Act
Crucially, the approach reflects the five ways of working under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, focusing on prevention, long-term thinking, integration, collaboration and involvement. By aligning evidence and action across organisations, the NWCCRA strengthens the region’s ability to respond to climate risks in ways that also reduce inequalities and support wellbeing.
Turning insight into collective action
As part of the growing work captured through Agenda Cymru, the NWCCRA demonstrates how the North Wales Insight Partnership acts as enabling infrastructure: turning insight into shared understanding, and shared understanding into collective action for a more resilient North Wales.