In june 2017, we attended the kickoff meeting of CLARA, a European H2020 project which aims at developing a set of leading edge climate services. Along this 3-years long program, we will coordinate tasks and work on post-processing methodologies to bias-adjust decadal predictions from the CMIP5 experiment.
The CLARA (Climate forecast enabled knowledge Assets) innovation action is strategically designed to develop and enhance leading-edge climate services, leveraging the advanced seasonal forecasts and sectorial information systems provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The initiative aims to sustain and enhance the marketability and value of these climate services.
The core objectives of CLARA are manifold. Firstly, it seeks to facilitate the development of new climate services and enhance existing ones by drawing upon recent seasonal to decadal projections made available through C3S. This involves analyzing and demonstrating the economic and social value that these enhanced climate services provide, emphasizing the direct and indirect benefits they offer to various end-users and customers. Such benefits include reduced risk, more efficient resource management, and improved resilience to climate variability and change.
Additionally, CLARA is committed to fostering a collaborative environment where service developers, purveyors, and end-users engage in co-design, co-development, co-assessment, and co-delivery of climate services. This participatory approach ensures that the services are user-centric and meet the diverse needs of stakeholders. Moreover, the action aims to contribute significantly to advancing European innovation, competitiveness, and market performance in the realm of climate services, emphasizing the design and implementation of innovative, business, and market-oriented activities.
The anticipated results from CLARA are comprehensive. The project intends to consolidate a shared understanding of climate innovation and explore the depth and breadth of key concepts employed in the field. A Multi-User Forum will be established to enable service purveyors, public agencies, authorities, and other users to contribute actively to the project's design and implementation. This forum is instrumental in ensuring that the services developed are aligned with users' needs and expectations.
In pursuing these objectives, CLARA will design and facilitate methods to capture users' perceptions and requirements, ensuring that the developed climate services are both relevant and effective. The project will co-develop new and facilitate the enhancement of existing innovative climate services, making extensive use of the seasonal and decadal forecasts provided by the C3S. Furthermore, a methodological framework and toolkit will be developed, tested, and deployed to assess the economic value that the Clara-enabled services unleash. This assessment is crucial for understanding the impact of these services and for informing and shaping their business models. Lastly, CLARA aims to gather market intelligence that is vital for understanding the climate services landscape, identifying opportunities for innovation, and informing strategic decisions. Through these concerted efforts, CLARA is set to make a significant contribution to the field of climate services, enhancing their development, delivery, and impact.
