The project initially evaluated recent climate change scenarios, leading to predictions on the weather conditions in the future. Naturally, these may result in changes of the hydrological balance of the inland waterway network, being either associated with less ice formation and more balanced waterway conditions over the year or extreme situations such as prolonged low water periods or floods, depending on the region considered. The next step of the project is to evaluate the effect of these changes on the costs and reliability associated with inland waterway transport and other transport, which might lead to changes in transport flows. These calculations form the basis of a baseline scenario, assuming little or no deviation in policy related to inland waterway transport or other transport modes. In parallel with the evaluation of the service quality of the baseline scenario, proper adaptation strategies for coping with possible climate change effects on inland waterway transport are identified and assessed.

It is expected that these measures will improve the service quality of inland waterway transport even in the case of a changing climate. Final results contain projections of service quality, flows on the inland waterway network under climate change conditions, as well as cost-benefit assessments of possible adaptation strategies. The project provides essential information for decision makers and guidelines for future research on climate change and inland waterway transport.