 "Arilje Landscape")
© Nataša Milivojević
About the region
Arilje is a municipality in western Serbia that has a population of around 17 000 people.
Main climate risks
floods
The city of Arilje has been hit several times by severe floods caused by heavy rainfall in recent years. For example, in 2023 between 30 and 80 litres per square meters caused heavy flash floods [4]. In general, in Serbia there has been a 100% increase in heavy precipitation events between 2001-2020 compared to the baseline period of 1961-1990 [5]. This trend is expected to continue, stressing adaptation needs.
 "Flood in Arilje")
© Nataša Milivojević
 "Flood impact on crops and infrastucture")
© Nataša Milivojević
wildfires
The Arilje municipality, located in the region of Zlatibor, has large areas covered with forests which are exposed to forest fires [1]. Currently there are more than 50% chances of experiencing fire weather [2] and this is projected to increase with climate change [3].
droughts
During summer months precipitation has decreased between 10%-20% in Serbia and this trend is expected to continue as climate change further evolves [5]. For a city such as Arilje this will exacerbate water scarcity issues and challenge the large agricultural production of the city and the region.
Focus during Pathways2Resilience
During P2R Arilje aims to create a strategy for climate adaptation through extensive involvement of local community stakeholders, as well as know-how from external expert which they seek to cooperate with through P2R. Arilje will also actively work to incorporate the objectives and approaches promoted by the EU mission and P2R into their future strategy for addressing the impact of climate change and enhancing regional resilience.
Interesting highlights
The municipality of Arilje has made a significant step forward in adapting to climate change through the construction of a biomass heating plant, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The installed capacity of 2 MW is sufficient to heat the municipality's public buildings, and existing capacities support an expansion to 10 MW, which would be enough to heat the entire city center.
Regional Resilience Journey
Arilje has low preparedness for all three steps of the RRJ.
Arilje has highest capacities in Behavioural Change and Capabilities and Skills.
Key community systems priority areas
water-management
Key enabling conditions priority areas
knowledge-data
finances-resources
governance-engagement-collaboration