CLARA developed a portfolio of advanced climate services that make use of the Copernicus Climate Change Service platform for seasonal forecasts and sectorial information systems. The CLARA team developed these climate services to improve policymaking in five climate adaptation areas: disaster risk reduction, water resource management, agriculture and food security, renewable energy and public health.
• Economic assessment of flood risk, FLOODMAGE
• Reservoir Operation Assessment Tool. ROAT
• Water supply assessment tool, AQUA
• Parma river basin Water Assessment, PWA
• Water Requirements for Irrigation, WRI
• Climate smart irrigation tool, IRRICLIME
• Smart Climate Hydropower, SCHT
• Small Hydropower Management Tool, SHYMAT
• Solar energy Assessment and Planning tool, SEAP
• Hydro GWh Prediction, HYDRO GWH
• Air pollution and public health, AIRCLOUD
• Air Quality in future Climate, AQCLI
• Post-processed Decadal Climate Predictions, PPDP
• The tailored tool for climate analysis, CLIME
User involvement ensures that scientific knowledge is accessible and actionable, and products are relevant for the decision-making problem. A co-generation approach allows for incorporating users’ needs, facilitates continuous service improvements, reduces the risk of service failure and eventually results in a more positive users’ attitude towards the service. However, engaging and maintaining collaboration among researchers, developers and users might prove to be difficult. A Multi-User Forum (MUF) was established as a vehicle for broad consultation, dialog, external review, and collaboration with a range of users’ organisations and networks with a shared interest in climate (seasonal and decadal) forecast-enabled services. The MUF was established at an early stage of the project's implementation and the recruitment based on an open call for expression of interests.
For each service we analyse the economic and wider social value generated in terms of reduced risks, increased efficiencies and resilience. Local user panels engage additional 30-40 users who participate in co-designing and co-evaluation of the services. Carefully designed value proposition was critically important for demonstrating business viability. Extended marketing intelligence and coaching services provided within the project made it possible to formulate appropriate revenue and financial models and hence ensure viability of the service provision. Furthermore, we analysed the barriers to the uptake and use of climate service, creating good conditions for marketability of CLARA and other climate services.
