Designing a Climate Service for Planning Climate Actions in Vulnerable Countries

International audienceThe next generation of climate services needs not only tailoring to specific user needs butto provide, in addition, access to key information in a usable way that satisfies the needs of differentusers’ profiles; especially web-based services. Here, we present the outcomes from developingsuch a new interactive prototype. The service provides data for robust climate analysis to underpindecision-making when planning measures to compensate for climate impact. The goal is to facilitatethe communication on climate information between climate modelling communities and adaptationor mitigation initiatives from vulnerable countries that are applying for funds from the Green ClimateFund (GCF). A participatory process was ensured during four workshops in four pilot countries,with an audience of national and international experts. During this process it was made clear thatin all countries there is a strong need for knowledge in climate science, while in most countriesthere was also an increasing need of capacity in hydrological modelling and water management.The active interaction during the workshops was found necessary to facilitate the dialogue betweenservice developers and users. Understanding the users, transparency on potentials and limitations ofclimate services together with capacity development in climate science and methods were requiredcomponents in the development of the service