Make room for rain.
Stormwater, storage, infiltration, drainage, groundwater and urban water systems — linked to the way neighbourhoods are actually designed and managed.
Urban climate adaptation — from strategy to implementation
Climate plans do
not cool streets.
Action does.
We help cities turn climate ambition into visible change in practice — across water, heat, soil, green space, the public realm and private space.
FROM INTENT TO ACTION
Think ahead. Act today. Start what matters. · Think ahead. Act today. Start what matters. · Think ahead. Act today. Start what matters. · Think ahead. Act today. Start what matters. ·
The challenge
Everyone has a vision for 2050. The hard part is what happens tomorrow!
Ambitions are easy to formulate. Transformation is harder. ACT2050 works in the space between long-term intent and practical execution — from policy and public space to residents, schools, businesses and civic organisations.
Our difference
We do not hand over an action plan and walk away.We can lead all the way into delivery. From strategy to programme, from programme to projects and — where the city wants us to — from design and preparation to procurement, delivery agreements and implementation on the ground.
01 / Design
Make it deliverable.
Move from strategy into design, phasing, preparation, budgets, ownership and a realistic route to implementation.
02 / Organise
Set delivery up.
Coordinate with local delivery partners, prepare technical and permitting steps where needed, organise procurement or selection, and define clear delivery agreements.
03 / Lead
Take it to the ground.
If the city already has a preferred contractor, we work directly with them. If not, we source a suitable local partner. Where required, we lead the delivery process on the city’s behalf through implementation and handover.
Climate adaptation in practice
Water.
Heat.
Soil.
People.
Cool the city.
Shade, tree canopy, materials, cool routes and green-blue networks that reduce heat stress where people experience it.
Start below ground.
Healthy soil, rootable volume, subsidence, water retention and underground infrastructure as conditions for climate-resilient public and private space.
Reach beyond city-owned land.
A climate-resilient city cannot be delivered on public land alone. We develop participation programmes that enable residents, schools, businesses and civic organisations to become part of the solution.
Down to delivery level
Not advice about implementation. Implementation organised.
The depth depends on what the client needs. Sometimes strategic direction is enough. Sometimes we go much further: develop the design, organise technical preparation, coordinate with asset managers and utility processes, select market partners, support procurement and lead delivery.
Existing contractor
We plug into local delivery.
If a city already works with a preferred public-realm, landscape or civil contractor, we organise delivery together with that party.
No contractor yet
We find the partner who can build it.
We source locally or regionally, assess fit and organise the route towards appointment within the city’s procurement framework.
Preparation
From design to delivery-ready.
Where needed we organise technical development, cost estimates, phasing, site checks, utility coordination and other pre-construction steps.
Procurement
Lead the route to appointment.
Depending on mandate and local rules, we can prepare, support and content-lead contractor selection or procurement.
Delivery
Manage what happens on the ground.
We steer progress, quality, decisions and coordination — working with the people who actually build the intervention.
Handover
Done means working.
The assignment does not stop at approval or documentation. We help get to a completed intervention that can be managed, used and seen.
Beyond the public realm
The climate challenge does not stop at the edge of city-owned land.
Even with unlimited public budgets, cities cannot become climate-resilient through public-space projects alone. Much of the urban fabric belongs to residents, schools, businesses and civic organisations. Reaching that space requires a different skill: participation that leads to action.
01 / Reach
Make it personal.
Translate abstract climate goals into opportunities people can recognise in their street, school, workplace or organisation.
02 / Activate
Lower the barrier.
Neighbourhood programmes, school projects and practical support make participation easy, relevant and attractive.
03 / Scale
Turn participation into delivery.
Participation is not a communications layer added afterwards. It is an implementation strategy for delivering adaptation on land the city does not own.
Who we are
Not a bunch of consultants. A field team of practitioners.
ACT2050 has a core team of six practitioners with current experience across climate adaptation, government, water, soil, landscape, participation, delivery and urban development. We build every assignment around the expertise it needs, drawing additional specialists from our wider network.
In practice
Government
People who know how cities actually work.
Policy, governance, political decision-making, budgets, procurement and municipal delivery.
Technical expertise
Water, soil and climate specialists.
People who understand the systems behind flooding, drought, heat, groundwater and soil.
Spatial practice
Landscape, design and development.
Landscape architects, spatial experts, urban-development professionals and public-space practitioners.
Delivery & implementation
The people who turn plans into projects.
Project leaders, public-space professionals, tree managers, green-space specialists and delivery experts who know how to move from design and preparation into execution.
Flexible by design
The right team for the assignment.
We build the team around the challenge and add targeted expertise from our network when the assignment requires it.
Participation
People are part of the delivery model.
Experience with neighbourhood participation, residents, schools, businesses and civic organisations — especially where climate adaptation depends on people taking action themselves.
What we believe
A climate strategy has no value until something changes on the ground.
ACT2050