On-campus

Summer School Climate Information for Adaptation

Are you dealing with complex climate change adaptation challenges in your daily work? And do you want to understand and learn how to use climate data, models and scenario’s for supporting decision-making on climate change adaptation issues? In this summer school professionals and PhD students will learn together in a mixed classroom, across multiple areas in climate change and its adaptation.

Organised by Wageningen Academy
Duration 5 days

The Summer School will be scheduled again in 2025.

Why follow this Summer School?

It will give you a broad understanding of how climate data are used for specific climate change adaptation issues. You will be able to identify where to find climate data and what types of data are available. You will learn how climate data are analysed and how to do a time series analysis of climate data. And you will understand how climate data supports decision-making in adaptation, and you will be able to assess and communicate uncertainty towards clients or relevant stakeholders.

Is this Summer School for you?

This Summer School is designed for professionals dealing with complex climate change adaptation challenges in different sectors. For example, agriculture & food security, water management, forestry, wildfires, health, transport & energy, or climate change adaptation. Are you an expert in your field, a project leader, a data scientist, a young professional or a policymaker? Then this summer school is for you.

Our approach

This summer school is a co-creation space for better understanding and collaboration among researchers and professionals in (cross-boundary) learning. You will work in a multidisciplinary team to develop a specific case study proposed by one of the team members. Via case-based learning, you will have insight into several examples of climate change impact and adaptation across different sectors. Before, during and after the summer school you will support specific research into education on climate information for adaptation.

Learning activities include lectures, introducing new concepts and knowledge, and group discussions around case studies and tutorials to guide you in the use of climate data to support climate adaptation. Tutorials follow a two-level approach, to address the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the learners:

  • Introductory level: searching and understanding time series for specific point in a case study (use of excel)
  • Programming level: searching and processing climate data for a specific case study (use of Python)

In the middle of the week, you will participate in a scientific-professional symposium with internationally renowned experts. Experts will be announced after their confirmation.

Programme & topics

This programme consists of an attractive mix of lectures, tutorials, case studies and group work. The following topics will be covered in the 2023 edition:

Online live session – Thursday 8 June | 10.30-11.30 (CEST)

  • Opening of the course
  • Approach climate information services
  • Case study examples and assignment
  • Closing and questions

Day 1 - Monday 3 July

  • Introduction
  • Case study: presentations and group formation
  • Adaptation planning and management for water and agriculture
  • Data resources introduction: observations, reanalysis, and models
  • Data discovery: data production chain and choosing the right data

Day 2 - Tuesday 4 July

  • User engagement and participatory approaches for adaptation
  • Designing a practical engagement for the symposium
  • Bias correction and downscaling
  • Data processing: data production chain and processing data (Group work)

Day 3 - Wednesday 5 July

Scientific and Professional Symposium

Day 4 - Thursday 6 July

  • Reflection on the symposium
  • Climate models for climate scenarios and SSPs (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways)
  • Uncertainty, robustness and confidence
  • Uncertainty, design and communication visuals and products
  • Data processing: towards the design of outcomes (Group work)

Day 5 - Friday 7 July

  • Case study (Group work)
  • Presentations of case studies
  • End of the summer school

Practical information

Price
The price is € 600 per person and covers tuition, course materials, lunch, one dinner and refreshments.

Are you a PHD student? PHD students participate for a PhD course fee of € 340,-. Please register via graduate school WIMEK

Participants
Between 20 and 50 participants.

Stay informed

Questions? Contact Wageningen Academy.