Regional Climate Services Workshop 2011 a Great Success

PCIC's recently held Regional Climate Services Workshop 2011 was a great success thanks to the active engagement of almost 100 participants, some coming from as far away as the Netherlands and Germany.

Titled "Exploring Regional Climate Services: Meeting Stakeholder Needs for Practical Climate Information" the workshop was held at the University of Victoria November 21-23, 2011. Its purpose was to stimulate discussion among climate scientists, climate service providers, communicators and regional climate stakeholders on the various ways in which climate information is communicated. Particular focus was placed on the role played by regional climate service providers like PCIC in mediating the transfer of knowledge from climate researchers to stakeholders.

More than 90 participants gathered to hear keynote addresses by leading climate scientists Hans von Storch, Francis Zwiers and Andrew Weaver, and more than 30 presentations distributed over the workshop's five session themes:

• The Stakeholder Perspective
• Regional Climate Service Providers
• Communicating Regional Climate Science
• The Role of Mass Media
• Regional Focus: The BC Perspective

In addition to the talks workshop attendees took part in a collective authorship exercise whereby each was assigned to one of five writing groups tasked with exploring a workshop session theme. These groups were most active during the five pre-planned 'breakout' sessions placed strategically between sets of plenary talks. The purpose of these groups was to initiate the development of a draft workshop paper on regional climate service delivery for eventual submission to a peer-reviewed publication. Workshop organizers are currently reviewing and collating the material produced by the workshop and expect to further develop it into a working draft in the coming weeks.

The workshop was jointly organized by PCIC and the Institute for Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht in Germany, with co-sponsors the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, the University of Victoria and KlimaCampus Hamburg.

For more information on the workshop, including presentation slides and participant information, visit PCIC's regional climate services workshop page.