Assessing the value of climate services for the wine sector

Climate services involve the production, translation and use of climate information to support users’ decisions towards adapting to climate variability and change. However, the value of climate services to end-users is only truly realised when the information provided by such services is used to support and inform users’ decision-making processes (Bruno Soares et al. 2018). Capturing and assessing the value and benefits of climate services constitutes a critical area of research in the field of climate services and can be informed by a range of epistemological and methodological approaches. 
In this paper, we present the assessment of the socio-economic value and benefits of a climate service developed specifically for the wine sector and implemented under the auspices of the H2020 MED-GOLD project. The assessment was conducted with the end-users during a two-month period where they actively interacted with the climate service and the information it provides. Participatory mixed-methods consisting of a workshop, continuous feedback through survey, and interviews were applied to pursue this assessment.
Our paper describes the process and methods through which the climate service was assessed with the end-users. It then highlights key findings from the study such as typologies of value and benefits yielded by the end-users; usability of information provided by the service across operational and strategic decision-making processes; and key factors influencing use of climate information and the realisation of value. 
In doing so, our paper contributes to current knowledge on what constitutes value to end-users in the wine sector and helps unpack some of the complexity between climate information provision, use and the realisation of its value to end-users. It also contributes to wider ongoing discussions on how to effectively assess the value and benefits of climate services to end-users and how to facilitate the realisation of such value, as well as its assessment, in future climate services initiatives.