A co-production methodology for high-quality climate services: An example from the health sector.

Appropriate co-production of climate services with a wide range of knowledge- and stakeholders, as well as optimal networking and the creation of lasting partnerships, has been identified as crucial for the success of climate services solutions. This requires the involvement of both providers and end users, enabling a multi-way knowledge exchange and continuous joint learning. Continuous engagement with diverse actors, including stakeholders, climate scientists, science communicators, social scientists and user experience experts, facilitates the production of quality, fit-for-purpose and reliable knowledge for climate risk management and the improvement of adaptive capacities (Bojovic et al. 2021).

This poster explains the application of the knowledge co-production framework for climate services developed by the Knowledge Integration Team (KIT) of the Earth System Services group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). It addresses the crucial role of participation, collaboration and communication in achieving successful co-production between climate service providers and users. Using an example from the health sector and illustrated through a cartoon, the poster explains what climate services are. Our approach not only enables user empowerment (who, in the case of this narrative, are health practitioners) but also encourages transformative learning for all involved in the process. 

The creation of high-quality climate services is fostered by the development of ‘standards’ for climate services. These standards should ensure relevance, credibility, legitimacy and authority, thus creating a two-way trust between the provider and the end user. Due to the complexity of climate services, to address their standardisation, Baldissera Pacchetti, M & St. Clair, A.L. (2023) proposes to break them into some high-level components, such as decision context, coproduction, knowledge systems and delivery mode. In terms of delivery, different products and services will be created to serve and accompany a variety of end users with specific needs. 

When considering health practitioners, Early Warning Advisory Systems as a delivery product support early actions to protect the region from existing and emerging climate-related health threats and help target effective interventions, if needed. Climate change together with other environmental and socio-economic changes influences the activity of vectors capable of transmitting infectious diseases in Europe. This poster will introduce the process of co-creating a seasonal indicator platform linking seasonal climate predictions with new climate change and eco-epidemiology indicators for different vector-borne diseases. This provides an example of good co-production practices connecting providers and end users through a more integrated OneHealth approach, and facilitating the uptake of climate services by society. 

 

References:

Baldissera Pacchetti, M & St. Clair, A.L. (2023), Framework to support the equitable standardisation of climate services, D1.2 of the Climateurope2 project

Bojovic, D., Clair, A. L. S., Christel, I., Terrado, M., Stanzel, P., Gonzalez, P., & Palin, E. J. (2021). Engagement, involvement and empowerment: Three realms of a coproduction framework for climate services. Global Environmental Change, 68, 102271.