Impact Pathway: An Open-Source Decision-Support Tool for Climate Adaptation Planning

Climate Engine is proud to highlight a success story that demonstrates how applied research, digital innovation, and multi-stakeholder collaboration can support practical climate adaptation planning.

Climate Engine supported the development and real-world testing of Impact Pathway, an open-source web-based decision-support tool developed by a team at Savonia University of Applied Sciences. The first pilot version was completed in June 2026.

Impact Pathway integrates scenario analysis, portfolio analysis, and adaptive pathway analysis into a single framework. The tool enables organisations to evaluate alternative futures, prioritise combinations of actions, and assess how well plans perform under disruptions, uncertainty, and changing climate conditions. According to Savonia University of Applied Sciences, the tool was developed to help decision-makers structure alternatives, identify interdependencies, evaluate combined effects of actions, and assess decisions across different futures.

By bringing these functions into one browser-based interface, Impact Pathway replaces workflows that previously required several separate software applications. This makes the planning process more accessible, transparent, and efficient for organisations dealing with complex climate-related risks.

Climate Engine’s Contribution

Climate Engine provided the project framework, collaboration structure, and real-world testing environment that supported the transition of Impact Pathway from an Excel-based prototype into a functional web application.

As part of Climate Engine, the tool was applied in a real case with Pohjolan Matka Ltd., a Finnish transport company operating more than 200 buses and covering over 8 million kilometres annually. Through three structured workshops, the tool was used to strengthen preparedness for extreme weather events by identifying priority actions, evaluating synergies between measures, and stress-testing plans against different disruption scenarios.

The workshops involved experts from the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of North Savo, the Finnish Road Safety Council, Humak University of Applied Sciences, and Savonia University of Applied Sciences. This multi-stakeholder process demonstrated the value of combining research expertise, public-sector knowledge, safety expertise, and private-sector operational experience.

Climate Engine also contributed directly to the tool’s redesign. Feedback from Climate Engine workshops shaped the move to a web-based architecture, the linearisation of the optimisation model, and the addition of the Adaptive module. These improvements responded to usability challenges identified during practical testing and helped make the tool more suitable for real organisational planning.

Outcomes and Impact

The project delivered a functional, open-source web application for climate adaptation planning. The tool is publicly accessible online and provides a tested methodology that combines scenario, portfolio, and adaptive pathway analysis in one framework.

For Pohjolan Matka Ltd., the process produced a concrete extreme weather preparedness plan with prioritised actions, identified synergies, and stress-tested adaptive pathways. The application demonstrated direct relevance to climate resilience in the transport sector and offers strong transferability to other sectors facing weather-related operational risks.

The work also brought together a private company, two universities of applied sciences, a government agency, and a national safety organisation in a single structured collaboration. This demonstrates Climate Engine’s role in enabling practical, cross-sector innovation for climate adaptation.

The company’s CEO confirmed the practical value of the process, noting that the workshops produced a concrete action plan, clarified priorities, introduced new perspectives on safety as a competitive advantage, and required only modest resources from the company.

Supporting Materials

Impact Pathway tool: https://impact-pathway-web-pilot.onrender.com/static/login.html

Full methodological article: https://www.savonia.fi/en/articles-pro/impact-pathway-a-tool-for-evaluating-alternative-futures-action-portfolios-and-adaptive-pathways/

Advancing Practical Climate Adaptation

This success story illustrates how Climate Engine supports the development of practical tools that help organisations make better decisions under uncertainty.

By combining open-source digital development, participatory workshops, and real-world testing with a transport company, Impact Pathway demonstrates how climate adaptation planning can become more structured, accessible, and actionable. The tool provides a promising model for organisations seeking to prepare for future disruptions, improve resilience, and translate climate risk awareness into concrete implementation pathways.