Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ERA4CS (European Research Area for Climate Services)

Teaser

Within the European Research Area (ERA), the ERA4CS Consortium is aiming to boost, research for Climate Services (CS), including climate adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk management, allowing regions, cities and key economic sectors to develop opportunities and...

Summary

Within the European Research Area (ERA), the ERA4CS Consortium is aiming to boost, research for Climate Services (CS), including climate adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk management, allowing regions, cities and key economic sectors to develop opportunities and strengthen Europe’s leadership.

CS are seen by our consortium as driven by user demands to provide knowledge to face impacts of climate variability and change, as well as guidance both to researchers and decision‐makers in policy and business. ERA4CS focuses on the development of a “climate information translation” layer bridging “user communities” and “climate science system”. It implies the development of tools, methods, standards and quality control for reliable, qualified and tailored information required by the various field actors for smart decisions.

ERA4CS will boost the JPI Climate initiative by mobilizing more deeply, within EU Member States and Associated Countries, by involving both the research performing organizations (RPOs) and the research funding organizations (RFOs), the distinct national climate services and the various disciplines of academia, including Humanities and Social Sciences.

First activities started in 2016 with the launch of a large scale Joint Transnational Call for research proposals with cash and institutional funding from at least 16 countries and co-fund support of the European Commission (under Grant Agreement reference 690462).

Finally, ERA4CS additional activities will initiate a strong partnership between JPI Climate and others key European and international initiatives (as Copernicus, KIC-Climate, JPIs, WMO/GFCS, Future Earth, Belmont Forum…) in order to work towards a common vision and a multiyear implementation strategy, including better co-alignment of national programs and activities up to 2020 and beyond.

Within the European Research Area (ERA), the ERA4CS Consortium is aiming to boost, research for Climate Services (CS), including climate adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk management, allowing regions, cities and key economic sectors to develop opportunities and strengthen Europe’s leadership.

Work performed

ERA4CS in the first reporting period (M1-18) implemented and completed a number of activities that integrate the efforts of some of the major European and international players (programme owners and/or managers) in research for Climate Services
A major milestone was achieved during this reporting period in the form of the preparation and implementation of a co-funded joint transnational call for proposals on the topic of Researching and Advancing Climate Services Development by (A) Advanced co-development with users, (B) Institutional integration. The 2016 joint call held under ERA4CS resulted in the selection of 26 transnational collaborative research projects. The funding of the 26 co-funded projects involves 12 Research Funding Organisations (RFOs) and 26 Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) from the 17 different countries participating in the call, including the EC participation. The total funding invested in the projects amounts to 63,140,793 € including the EC contribution.
In parallel with the call, ERA4CS additional activities are dedicated to assess and develop JPI Climate activities contributing to research for Climate Services.
First, an ex-post evaluation of JPI Climate activities and a mapping of other initiatives at national, European and international levels has aggregated and updated the information related to research for Climate Services (D7.1, D7.2 & D7.3).
Based on the above mentioned findings, and using additional evidence gathered from dedicated workshops, webinars, desk research and key informant interviews, ERA4CS carried out a critical analysis and produced a set of recommendations to inform the development of a joint vision and implementation strategy on research and innovation for climate services in Europe and beyond (D7.4).
The next step is to develop a joint vision between ERA4CS partners and the Members States involved in JPI Climate, in conjunction with other relevant initiatives in Europe or worldwide, to forge a common implementation strategy up to 2020.
A set of workshops co-organised with JPI Climate Action Groups are scheduled leading to a larger Scoping Forum in Spring 2018:
1. workshop of the Action Group on social sciences and humanities (October)
2. workshop of the Action Group on next generation climate science in Europe (September/October)
3. workshop on carbon neutrality (October)

Within the European Research Area (ERA), the ERA4CS Consortium is aiming to boost, research for Climate Services (CS), including climate adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk management, allowing regions, cities and key economic sectors to develop opportunities and strengthen Europe’s leadership.

Final results

Research for climate services (including adaptation services) requires inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches to improve usable knowledge and at the same time foster dialogue, trust building and cooperation between the various actors and stakeholders. Within this broad context, ERA4CS will contribute specially to the following:
-Facilitate climate-smart public and private decision-making, thereby reducing the impact of climate related hazards and promoting climate-proof management of European resources
-Strengthen European integration through more effective exchange and transfer of climate-related knowledge across the EU
-Support to the development and widening of the JPI Climate
-Scientific support to the development of Copernicus operational activities and ClimateAdapt platform
-European contribution to the Global Framework for Climate Services (WMO/GFCS), the Future Earth Programme and relevant actions launched by the Belmont Forum
-Support to the implementation of the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change and the European research and innovation Roadmap for Climate Services

Within the European Research Area (ERA), the ERA4CS Consortium is aiming to boost, research for Climate Services (CS), including climate adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk management, allowing regions, cities and key economic sectors to develop opportunities and strengthen Europe’s leadership.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.era4cs.eu.