Innovating Climate services through Integrating Scientific and local Knowledge (I-CISK)

Description:

Climate services offer information about climate change in terms of impacts and possible adaptation measures. They are crucial for climate-smart decisions based on solid scientific evidence, compatible with sustainable European economy, lifestyle, environmental protection and resource use, resiliency to climate change and, ultimately, climate neutrality. However, there are challenges that can prevent climate services from achieving their full value, such as the failure to incorporate the social and behavioural factors and the local knowledge and customs of climate services users. Other factors hindering the effectiveness of climate services include the still poorly developed understanding of the multi-temporal and multi-scalar dimensions of climate-related impacts and actions; the translation of data into actionable information; consideration of reinforcing or balancing feedback loops associated with users’ decisions; and the lack of trans-disciplinary approaches across the full climate services' value chain.

I-CISK aims to tackle these challenges by means of a human-centred framework for the co-production of next-generation climate services, covering the full value chain of climate services and taking the downstream part of the value chain as a starting point.

The I-CISK framework involves a sequence of iterative steps. It starts by co-exploring user needs, co-identifying relevant local knowledge, perceptions and concerns and co-identifying climatic parameters and thresholds, relevant spatial and temporal scales of climate information, as well as behavioural factors, drivers, and barriers that influence the uptake of climate information. This leads to the co-design of tailored climate services. Subsequently, climate information products are co-created seamlessly across time scales using methods and tools for the transformation, visualisation and quality assurance of scientific data. This co-created climate information product is implemented and delivered in an operational Climate Services Information System, making the co-produced services available to users. This process is cyclical, as operational CS need to be flexible to adapt to changing needs of users.

I-CISK also explores the potential positive and negative effects of identified adaptation options in the decision-making processes, with the aim of understanding bi-directional multiple feedbacks between the human and the climate system and preventing maladaptations.

Project information

Lead

STICHTING IHE DELFT INSTITUTE FOR WATER EDUCATION

Partners

European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (Uk)

Sveriges Meteorologiska och Hydrologiska Institut (Sweden)

Stichting Vu-Vumc (The Netherlands)

Centro de Investigacion Ecologica y Aplicaciones Forestales (Spain)

Uppsala Universitet (Sweden)

Het Nederlandse Rode Kruis (The Netherlands)

Gecosistema Srl (Italy)

Caucasus Environmental NGO Network Association (Georgia)

Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain)

52 North Spatial Information Research Gmbh (Germany)

Ideas Science Kft (Hungary)

Emvis Symvouloi Michanikoi Anonymi Etaireia (Greece)

Source of funding

H2020-EU.3.5. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials