Who?
BVSC is working in partnership with the University of Birmingham, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), on WM-ADAPT, a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded project exploring how communities, services and infrastructure can adapt to the impacts of climate change. The project brings together climate scientists, policymakers, infrastructure organisations and community partners across the West Midlands.
Why?
Climate change is already affecting the region. Recent years have seen more frequent heatwaves, flooding and extreme weather, which can impact homes, neighbourhoods, transport systems and public services. WM-ADAPT aims to develop a better understanding of these risks and support practical action to help the West Midlands become more resilient in the future.
The project is closely linked to the West Midlands Combined Authority’s regional work on climate adaptation, helping to ensure that research evidence and community perspectives can inform policy and decision-making across the region.
How?
Community perspectives on climate adaptation
A key part of WM-ADAPT is understanding how communities experience climate change and what support they need to adapt.
BVSC is working with UoB on the community research element of the project, ensuring that local knowledge and lived experience are central to the research. This work explores how climate risks affect everyday life in neighbourhoods, how people respond to those risks, and what actions might help communities prepare for future challenges.
Climate Adaptation World Cafés
As part of this work, BVSC has delivered a series of 16 Wild Weather World Cafés across the West Midlands- participatory discussions sessions designed to encourage open conversation and shared learning.
In total, these events brought together 280 residents to talk about how climate change affects their communities and what action could help them adapt.
These conversations are helping to build a regional picture of community perspectives on climate adaptation, which can inform future planning and policy.
Community researchers
The World Cafés were supported by community researchers recruited and trained by BVSC.
Community researchers are local residents who receive training in research methods and facilitation. They help lead discussions, capture insights from participants and ensure the sessions are inclusive and accessible.
Because they are rooted in their communities, community researchers can help create trusted spaces where people feel comfortable sharing their experiences and ideas.
From conversations to action, next steps
The insights gathered through the World Cafés will help inform the next stage of the project: Rapid Adaptation Pathway Assessments (RAPAS). These collaborative workshops will explore practical solutions for adapting neighbourhoods to climate change.
Together, this work will help develop place-based climate adaptation pathways and contribute to a regional roadmap for climate resilience.
Read the reports
Below you can find reports from each of the World Café events. Each contains a brief profile of the ward and its inhabitants, as well as a summary of discussions, covering lived experience of extreme weather events, responses to them, and local residents views and priorities of what needs protecting in their neighbourhoods in future from extreme weather.
Coming Soon: Handbook for Cultivating Climate Conversations
We are currently developing a Cultivating Climate Conversations handbook, based on the WM-Adapt Wild Weather Cafés. This will provide community organisations with a practical, step-by-step guide to running their own cafés, including a full walkthrough and top tips.
We hope to share the handbook by June, so please check back soon. In the meantime, feel free to get in touch at wmadapt@bvsc.org if you have any questions.
Reports
Ward boundaries and names in World Café Summary Report titles are subject to change based on political decisions and Local Plans. However, these are accurate as of March 2026.
Bilston North and South_FINAL.pdf (661.8 KB)
Brierley Hill and Wordsley South Final.pdf (736.7 KB)
Castle Vale_FINAL.pdf (676.9 KB)
Foleshill and Longford report_FINAL.pdf (658.2 KB)
Graiseley_FINAL.pdf (606.1 KB)
Kinghurst and Fordbridge and Chelmsley Wood_FINAL (1).pdf (864.8 KB)
Lyndon and Elmdon_FINAL.pdf (719.7 KB)
Pleck_FINAL.pdf (611.5 KB)
Radford_FINAL.pdf (713.3 KB)
Smethwick_FINAL (2).pdf (698.7 KB)
St Michaels_FINAL.pdf (654.4 KB)
St Thomas’s_FINAL.pdf (682.2 KB)
Sutton walmley minworth_FINAL.pdf (610.0 KB)
Tipton Green_FINAL.pdf (721.1 KB)
Ward End _FINAL.pdf (773.8 KB)
Willenhall South_FINAL.pdf (588.9 KB)