CLIPC final demonstration and evaluation workshop for users

To set the scene, the CLIPC demonstration and evaluation workshop started off with an inspiring panel discussion on the development of user-oriented climate information portals. The discussion was facilitated by Annemarie Groot (Wageningen Environmental Research). The panel members Daniela Jacob (Climate Service Center Germany), André Jol (European Environment Agency), Maria Noguer (University of Reading, project manager of C3S SECTEUR project) and Lars Bärring (SMHI/CLIPC) shared experiences and ideas on success factors, pitfalls and challenges in actively involving diverse users in developing climate information portals. Portals will not replace expert’s consultancies. Without personal guidance for end users like policy makers and private companies there is a risk of misuse of climate information, was one of the conclusions of the panel members.

In breakout sessions the participants discussed and tested diverse features and functionalities of the CLIPC portal including application of standards, assessment and visualisation of uncertainty, the data processing service MY CLIPC and different use cases as a way to discover the CLIPC impact indicators toolkit. In general, participants were impressed by the achievements realised. A unique aspect of CLIPC is the expert-based qualitative uncertainty information of impact indicators for which a quantitative analysis is not always possible. The way information about the confidence users may have in the various data sets and indicators is communicated was highly appreciated. The participants were also impressed by the speed of handling big data sets. Use cases were seen as valuable for less experienced users. More guidance in accessing and processing data as well as in using the novel functionality of comparing and combining indicators would be required when CLIPC portal will be further developed into a fully operational system.

In the closing session Rob Swart (Wageningen Environmental Research) facilitated a panel discussion involving Claus Kondrup (DG Climate, Adaptation), Jean-Noel Thepaut (ECMWF, C3S), Janette Bessembinder (KNMI, JPI Climate CS), Mikolaj Piniewski (Warsaw University of Life Sciences / PIK), Ana Bucher (World Bank) and Ghislain Dubois (TEC / PROCLIM). The panel members discussed the main challenges for the future generation of climate services and opportunities to consolidate CLIPC accomplishments. The discussion suggested that many of the CLIPC features are not just interesting for Europe, but also for the development of effective climate services in the rest of the world. Climate services has large potential to support the implementation of European climate policies, but sustained efforts are required to translate the large amount of available data into information useful for policy analysis and decision-making.