Ten ways to support climate change adaptation planning and decision-making
This brief provides targeted recommendations for co-designing actionable and user-focused climate services. By this, the authors mean processes in which climate researchers and consultants work collaboratively with planners and other practitioners to develop climate information that supports adaptation planning and decision-making. The authors focus specifically on various means to enhance this collaboration.
Thus, this brief addresses subject matters -vocabulary choice, relationship building and political agendas, for example- that may seem far afield from the natural focus of people in research-driven, science careers. This brief aims to give people with climate expertise needed tools to help generate and target science that can inform more effective policies, make efficient use of limited funds, and reduce the vulnerability of people and places to the impacts of climate change.
In brief, the key recommendations provided, are (p. 2-5):
- Help practitioners articulate their needs, and challenge predefined solutions;
- Thoroughly assess the planning and decision-making contexts;
- Discuss output and time horizons early in the process;
- Involve facilitators in the co-design process;
- Adjust communication to the target audience;
- Combine different formats, including visualizations, to present the information;
- Align climate services with existing planning tools and processes;
- Discuss resolution of data;
- Address uncertainty;
- Ensure transparency and traceability.