Local authorities launch tender for climate adaptation plans
A cross-municipal contract for climate adaptation plans highlights how local authorities are turning to consultants to map future resilience priorities.
A cross-municipal contract for climate adaptation plans highlights how local authorities are turning to consultants to map future resilience priorities.
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On 24th December 2025, Lietuvos Respublikos aplinkos ministerija issued a contract notice for consultancy services to prepare climate change adaptation plans for eight municipalities. The Climate Change Adaptation Plans contract sets a six‑month deadline for draft plans and requires final versions in electronic format by the end of the engagement, with the option to extend under defined conditions. The work sits within a wider European shift towards local, plan‑led climate resilience supported by external experts.
The notice is concise but clear on the core ask: a single supplier is required to prepare climate change adaptation plans for eight Lithuanian municipalities. The municipalities are not named and the detailed scope of each plan is not described, leaving room for the chosen supplier and the ministry to shape the final work programme together.
Timing is central to the brief. Draft plans must be delivered within six months of the contract start, and final versions submitted in electronic format by the end of the contract. The contract may be extended under certain conditions, although these conditions are not set out in the notice.
At headline level, the requirements can be summarised as:
For suppliers, the multi‑municipal character of the commission implies the need to manage several planning processes in parallel and to produce consistent documentation across different local contexts. The emphasis on electronic deliverables also highlights the expectation that the plans will be readily shareable and usable within municipal administrations.
In September 2025, Cork City Council published a notice for Climate Change Risk Assessment Services, seeking an updated climate change risk assessment to support Cork City's Climate Action Plan and to align with Climate Risk and Vulnerability requirements. This demonstrates how local adaptation work is increasingly anchored in systematic assessments of risk and vulnerability.
Also in September 2025, Bundesinsitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR) im Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung (BBR) sought Climate Change Adaptation Support to strengthen the way climate change impacts are considered in state and regional spatial planning. That contract includes developing and testing a climate risk analysis methodology across three planning regions, underlining the importance of robust methods for translating climate data into planning decisions.
At EU level, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) issued a July 2025 notice for Mission Support for Climate Adaptation. The services span coordination of the Adaptation to Climate Change Mission, support for local authorities on climate projects, monitoring and reporting for the European Commission, communication assistance, an annual forum and on‑the‑ground support for regional events.
Taken together, these examples suggest a layered system: local authorities commission risk assessments and plans, while national and European bodies commission methodology, coordination and learning platforms. The Lithuanian adaptation plan contract sits in the local planning tier, but within a landscape shaped by these wider efforts.
The support role of higher‑level administrations is also clear in other recent notices. In October 2025, MINISTRSTVO ZA OKOLJE, PODNEBJE IN ENERGIJO in Slovenia launched Climate Change Adaptation Consultation, covering training and support activities for municipalities and regions to enhance adaptation and resilience through strategic planning, project development and expert guidance. In December 2025, Land Hessen tendered Energy Transition Services in Hesse, seeking services to promote municipal climate protection and adaptation projects and the use of renewable raw materials.
Planning at national scale can be just as complex. Riigi Tugiteenuste Keskus in Estonia published a July 2025 notice for Consulting Services for Nature Restoration, looking for a process manager‑partner to coordinate preparation of a national nature restoration plan in line with EU regulations, involving extensive consultation and expert group management. Although that contract focuses on nature restoration rather than climate adaptation, it mirrors the Lithuanian brief in its reliance on external process management and technical expertise to steer a multi‑stakeholder planning exercise.
Within the Baltic region, a series of recent procurements illustrate how municipalities are commissioning targeted studies that sit alongside broader adaptation aims. In July 2025, Klaipėdos miesto savivaldybės administracija sought Energy Efficiency Study Services to prepare a study on enhancing energy efficiency in the quarters of Klaipėda. A few days later, Šiaulių apskaitos centras advertised services for the Šiauliai City Air Quality Program for 2025‑2030, focused on developing an environmental air quality management programme.
Water management features strongly in this picture. In October 2025, Kauno rajono savivaldybės administracija launched a tender for Stormwater Drainage Infrastructure Services, covering changes to the special plan for stormwater drainage infrastructure in Kaunas District Municipality. At the end of December 2025, Jūrmalas valstspilsētas administrācija issued a Prior Information Notice for a Climate Change Adaptation Project, centred on reconstructing the melioration system in Asari and Vaivari to adapt the Jurmala City Municipality to climate change.
Elsewhere, municipalities are moving from planning documents to specific works. In November 2025, Miasto Kalisz procured Rainwater Management and Infrastructure Upgrade works at the city hall parking area, including a retention tank, irrigation systems, greenery and photovoltaic systems. And across several Polish forest districts, including Państwowe Gospodarstwo Leśnie Nadleśnictwo Prudnik and Skarb Państwa PGL LP Nadleśnictwo Kolumna, a run of notices in 2025 and early 2026 has covered detailed design and cost documentation, environmental inventories, permits and geodetic work for water retention reservoirs and other projects aimed at adapting forests and forestry to climate change and preventing erosion. Examples include Design and Documentation for Water Retention in the Prudnik Forest District and Project Documentation for Forest Adaptation in the Kolumna Forest District.
Before commissioning large‑scale works, many authorities are commissioning assessments of existing assets and vulnerabilities. A November 2025 notice from Kuntien Hankintapalvelut KuHa Oy for a Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Assessment in the Tampere urban area requires a team including a project manager, biologist, water expert and landscape architect to evaluate current green infrastructure and its future needs for climate change adaptation. This blend of ecological, hydrological and spatial design expertise signals the type of multi‑disciplinary input that complex adaptation strategies increasingly draw upon.
Against this backdrop, the Lithuanian adaptation plans contract stands out for its breadth: rather than a single‑issue study or a discrete construction project, it calls for comprehensive adaptation plans across eight municipalities. Experience from other countries suggests that such plans often act as a bridge between high‑level climate objectives and a later wave of targeted procurements on energy efficiency, air quality, water management, nature restoration and public‑space design.
The immediate next step for Lietuvos Respublikos aplinkos ministerija is to appoint a supplier capable of coordinating work with eight municipalities and delivering credible draft plans within six months. Because the notice does not specify analytical tools, sectoral coverage or engagement methods, the competition may surface contrasting approaches drawn from recent projects across Europe, from risk‑focused assessments to infrastructure‑oriented studies.
Once the contract is awarded and work begins, observers will be watching whether the ministry makes use of the extension option, and how far the resulting plans lead to follow‑on procurements. The pattern seen in Cork, Hesse, Tampere, Jurmala, Kalisz and the Polish forest districts is that early risk assessments and strategic plans are soon followed by more detailed design and construction work.
For Lithuania's municipalities, the Climate Change Adaptation Plans contract marks a step towards embedding climate considerations in local planning on a coordinated basis. How those plans translate into specific projects, and how they interact with parallel initiatives supported by national and European bodies, will determine their lasting impact on public‑sector investment and community resilience.
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