Preparing society for extreme weather: insights from Belgian initiatives to create actionable information for stakeholders

Climate change, primarily through extreme weather events, significantly impacts various societal sectors such as health, industry and agriculture, and it is expected that these impacts will further increase in the coming decades. Despite the abundance of knowledge and data on climate change, translating this information into actionable insights for stakeholders preparing for climate change proves challenging. Communication breakdowns often arise between scientists and stakeholders due to differing terminology, understanding of climate science and expectations.

In this presentation, we aim to showcase recent Belgian initiatives focused on effectively communicating climate risks to stakeholders. One notable initiative, triggered by the ongoing CORDEX.be II project to provide high-resolution climate information for Belgium, involves recreating historical heatwaves at future global warming levels based on long-term climatological datasets. Subsequent discussions with diverse sectors, including health authorities, event organizers, and the energy sector, were tailored to each sector's specific needs. For instance, we used the operational Belgian heat and health plan thresholds to visualize the occurrence of warning and alarm phases across various levels of global warming. In this way we effectively concretize the implications of climate change for health stakeholders in a comprehensible form. As a second case, we will present our ongoing collaboration with cities to monitor urban greening projects within their public spaces. Through this collaboration, we gather quantitative data on heat stress at the microscale, e.g. under a tree canopy or next to a water element. This approach allows cities and citizens to grasp the effectiveness of these measures, assisting in the formulation of future plans. The purpose of the presentation is to share our insights and inspire colleagues facing comparable challenges when engaging with stakeholders.