This special Research Topic presents results from the project ≪Unpacking climate impact chains: A new generation of action- and user-oriented climate change risk assessments≫ (UNCHAIN) consisting of 11 local cases in seven European countries (cf. Figure 1). The overall objective of the UNCHAIN project was to improve climate change risk assessment frameworks aimed at informed decision-making and adaptation action. The research approach was based on the existing concepts of Impact Chain (Fritzsche et al., 2014) and insights from practices on the co-production of knowledge (Dannevig and Aall, 2015).