Prospects for development of a climate service system in Ukraine

Adaptation to climate change and mitigation of its consequences is one of the goals of sustainable development. Therefore, one of the main priorities of national hydrometeorological services is elaboration of climate service systems at the national level. The global framework for climate services established in 2009 provided a powerful impulse for development of such services in many countries including Ukraine.

It is for establishment of the national climate services in Ukraine that the Erasmus+ ClimEd (Multilevel Local, Nation- and Regionwide Education and Training in Climate Services, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation; http://climed.network) project was initiated and supported by the European Union. One of the ClimEd main objectives is to determine a competence base for development of climate educational courses on climate with the content that meets the expectations and requirements of both the national and international legislation and the needs of climate-dependent sectors of Ukrainian economy.

To determine the requirements of various sectors of the economy for climate information as well as to comprehend the nature and extent of its use in their daily and planned activities, 297 respondents were interviewed. The surveys covered 7 sectors of the economy such as healthcare, urban management, water management, energy, agriculture, civil engineering and architecture, nature conservation. Several international transdisciplinary discussion panels, the international scientific and practical conference “Climate Services: Science and Education” and the 2^nd All-Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Congress were held. These allowed to adapt the surveys’ results to national and international standards in the field of the climate education. To learn and follow the best European Universities educational practices, three trainings were held (see details at http://climed.network/events/climed-trainings). Moreover, 48 representatives of the Hydrometeorological Service of Ukraine were also interviewed as well as meetings with discussions were held with the heads of Ukrainian regional hydrometeorological centers. This allowed to assess the needs for modernisation the Ukrainian National Meteorological Service. In principle, all these obtained results can be updated annually and used for future continuous modernisation of the climate related educational system and for its effective response to demands of the modern labour market.

Although the ClimEd project has been temporarily suspended (Feb 2022 - Aug 2023), development of educational and teaching materials will be resumed starting autumn 2023. Such materials are crucially important for: continual and comprehensive professional training of specialists in the field of climate services, inter- and transdisciplinary training of specialists in climate-dependent sectors of the economy, and decision-makers in the field of climate change and climate adaptation.