Conceptualizing feedbacks between climate services and adaptation actions across various European contexts.

The success of climate adaptation actions relies on the availability and quality of information, especially in climate-sensitive sectors such as tourism, agriculture, and river management. Over the years, researchers have highlighted how climate services providing such key information should focus on end-user needs to bridge the usefulness-usability gap. Thus, overcoming this dichotomy will enable the effective use of climate services in adaptation initiatives, especially at the local scale. In this study, we present the basis for a conceptual framework identifying the balancing and reinforcing feedbacks in a coupled human-climate system, with a focus on hydrological risks, i.e. floods and droughts. The analysis is based on system dynamics conceptualization and builds upon data from various living labs (i.e. case studies) across Europe. The framework is presented as a causal-loop diagram and emerging behaviors of the system are described using system archetypes. The proposed framework highlights the importance of understanding feedbacks between climate information and adaptation options when designing user-centered climate services. Moreover, it sheds a light on usefulness of system dynamics as a tool for informing the planning of effective adaptation actions while building resilience.