Making climate information accessible to all: the challenge of ClearClimate

Wednesday 17 January 2024

Home » Higher Education and Research » Making climate information accessible to all: the challenge of ClearClimate

During COP28, almost 200 countries reached an agreement that marks the beginning of the end for fossil fuels. It’s the first time a United Nations climate summit has concluded with a call to address the primary cause of the climate crisis. Because of this, the presidency of COP28 in Dubai labels this agreement as historic.

However, climate experts remain uncertain about the actual direction this agreement will take and the pace at which it will be carried out in the real world.

The impacts of climate change are diverse and widespread, affecting various regions and populations in distinct ways across the globe. Particularly in Southeast Europe, significant consequences are being felt. Extreme heatwaves, prolonged droughts, and more frequent floods are putting immense strain on resources and local communities.

The importance of Climate Information Services (CIS) becomes increasingly evident in this context. Providing accurate forecasts, data, and detailed information about climate change is crucial to enable governments, businesses, and citizens to make informed decisions and adopt measures suitable for mitigating and adapting to the ongoing and future impacts of climate change. This can help reduce risks and better protect people and the environment.

To date, however, climate services are unable to adequately reach end users and support adaptation planning. This has led to calls for a shift from science-led climate services to user-led and science-informed services. Furthermore, such services have proven insufficient in terms of inclusive development, as their capacity to enable the adaptation of vulnerable people and communities is called into question.

To address the key identified gaps and major barriers to CIS adoption, ClearClimate project is building an international, interdisciplinary and cross-sector network of organizations to enhance scholarly capacities to deliver more effective CIS. The project focuses on user-centered design, behavioral science, and advanced computational techniques for tailored CIS solutions. The project fosters collaboration between academia, industry and civil society organisations, offering hands-on challenges to researchers. Key areas include climate change, data visualization, decision sciences, communication, accessibility, eye-tracking, visual attention models, and eXplainable AI (XAI). Through training, dissemination, and public engagement, ClearClimate aims to drive innovation, creating a network of skilled researchers across sectors to strengthen Europe’s global Research and Innovation (R&I) presence in tackling climate challenges and fostering sustainable solutions.

The ClearClimate project (Horizon MCSA Staff Exchange) was officially launched in Novi Sad, Serbia, on December 18-19, marking the beginning of a four-year endeavour. CESIE will actively participate in secondments, training sessions, and citizen engagement activities, bringing expertise in social innovation and communication tailored to people’s needs.

About the project

ClearClimate – Engaging approaches and services for meaningful climate actions is a project funded by European Research Executive Agency (REA), Horizon Europe, MSCA Staff Exchanges 2022.

Partners

For further information

Read more about the project, visit the web site https://clear-climate.com/ and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin.

Contact Caterina Impastato: caterina.impastato@cesie.org.

The growing role of digital tools in combating human trafficking – The Falkor Training for Law Enforcement Agencies

The growing role of digital tools in combating human trafficking – The Falkor Training for Law Enforcement Agencies

ASIT aims to strengthen law enforcement’s digital investigative capabilities to combat human trafficking in the digital age. Falkor Training, an intensive program on the use of advanced tools for data analysis and OSINT investigations, was held in January 2025. This course is part of a broader effort to improve international cooperation and develop effective strategies against cross-border criminal networks.

CESIE ETS