Setting up a regional core of expertise in the Andean Region

Weather, water and climate (hereafter “WWC”) information and knowledge is critical to support decisions-makers at multiple levels to design adaptation actions in order to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience to hydro-climatic hazards. Access to WWC information is important in the Andean region of South America, as its climatic and environmental characteristics make it especially vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate variability and change. However, the production, access and dissemination of WWC services and information is insufficient in the region. Consequently, strengthening the capacity of the responsible institutions to provide WWC services is an urgent need. A sustainable approach to capacity development should take place along the entire value chain of WWC services. This ensures that users have timely access to information that responds to their needs in support of their decision-making process.

To meet the need to improve both the capacity to provide relevant and timely WWC services and its use to inform decision-making, risk management, and the design of adaptation interventions, two complementary development projects – ENANDES and BRAVA – are being developed jointly in the region. ENANDES is ongoing since 2021 and includes three national meteorological and hydrological services (NMHS) (IDEAM Colombia, SENAMHI Peru and DMC Chile) and the WMO Regional Climate Centre for Western South America (CIIFEN), BRAVA, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, includes three additional NMHSs (INAMHI Ecuador, SENAMHI Bolivia and SMN Argentina) and other WMO regional centers (the Regional Climate Centre for Southern South America, and Regional Training Centers in Peru and Argentina). This institutional complexity, together with the diversity of activities involved in the two initiatives, will require a highly innovative coordination, as well as agile ways of transferring knowledge and experience among the involved partners.

One of the main challenges of the ENANDES / BRAVA initiatives is to build a South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) to facilitate and intensify regional cooperation and to foster exchange of knowledge and experiences to finally enable mutual development. The mechanism envisioned within the initiatives to establish sustainable SSTC is the so-called “regional core of expertise” (NUREX). The NUREX will be a virtual entity in which all involved partners actively participate. It will serve as an intermediary or “broker” to manage, reconcile and balance technical knowledge needs and capacities among all partners. Our contribution will present the NUREX concept, its set-up, governance and mechanisms that enable the beneficiary NMHSs to effectively collaborate. However, as the development of such an entity is still in its early stages, we believe it will benefit greatly from the discussions and exchange of experiences at EMS2022.