By Marta Terrado

Project partners presented the approaches used in Climateurope2 to expand the current European climate services community of practice and ensure its equity.

Climateurope2 researchers participated in the 6th edition of the European Climate Change Adaptation (ECCA) conference, taking place in Dublin, Ireland. 

The project had a prominent place in the stand of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), where video testimonials of various experts in the climate services field were continuously displayed. The stand also hosted the announcement of the next Climateurope2 webstival to encourage conference participants to subscribe for event’s updates.

Showcase of Climateurope2 at the CINEA stand during ECCA


Standardisation of climate services

A session on “Standardisation of climate services to better support climate adaptation” was held on the 21st of June 2023, organised by project partners from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and Tecnalia in Spain, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in Norway, and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). 

The session was chaired by Jorge Paz and Saioa Zorita, researchers at Tecnalia and partners in the project. The 45-min session focused on the role of standards as a means for climate service governance supporting climate adaptation and was underpinned by various questions presented by four panellists. First, Chris Hewitt from the WMO and former coordinator of the Climateurope project, provided an overview of existing guidance on climate services and on the standards climate service providers are adhering to. Nicola Golding from the UK Met Office spoke about the extent to which standards can enable the uptake of climate services and support adaptation. After that, Murray Dale from JBA Consulting discussed how standards can enable the growth of the climate services market. Finally, Marta Terrado from BSC reflected on what climate services users demand that standards should be contributing to.

The session on Climateurope2 standards was attended by around 40 participants. Discussions delved into topics ranging from how standards can support climate services to concerns of standadisation being a barrier for innovation.

Jorge Paz (Tecnalia) presenting during the session of standards.


Communities of practice

Another session, titled “Communities of Practice: Engagement Strategies”, was also held on the 21st of June 2023. The session was organised together with the European-funded project ASPECT (Facilitating seamless climate adaptation) and in collaboration with the TRUST project (Tools for raising and understanding trust in systems science through citizen engagement).

The 45-minute session was co-chaired by Marta Terrado from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, a partner in the Climateurope2 project and one of the coordinators of the ASPECT project. Marta provided an overview of the strategies employed to engage with various stakeholder groups in order to promote the uptake of solutions enhancing resilience to climate change. She also had a pivotal role in the organisation of the ECCA conference, as co-lead of the thematic topic on Preparing for more frequent and severe climate extremes.

Marjana Brkic (Centre for the Promotion of Science; left) and Marta Terrado (BSC; right), chairing the discussion.

During the session attended by over 60 participants, Marjana Brkic from the Centre for the Promotion of Science, introduced the approach used in the Climateurope2 project for engaging with the climate services community, which encompasses:

  • Developing and nurturing a network of interested stakeholders building on the legacy of the former Climateurope project
  • Using innovative approaches and formats to engage with the climate services community, through festivals, webstivals, and business breakfasts
  • Adopting an effective communication strategy based on co-creation with the world of arts, through art and science calls, and roadshows

Communities of Practice parallel session, taking place at ECCA 2023.

The audience was encouraged to join the Climateurope2 network to be informed about the project activities and other events of relevance for the climate services and standards communities.

Strategies to retain engagement were also discussed, such as regularly assessing and adapting the approaches used based on feedback to ensure that user needs are met, and users are kept engaged in the long run.

Marjana Brkic (Centre for the Promotion of Science) presenting during the session on communities of practice.