Regional Climate Services Workshop 2011

Workshop Objectives and Format

The primary objectives of this workshop were twofold:

To bring together climate stakeholders, regional climate service providers, climate scientists and the media to discuss communication approaches, scientific tools, stakeholder needs and the role of mass media in shaping perspectives on climate variability and change.

To collectively author a draft manuscript that describes the factors and prerequisites that influence the effective delivery of regional climate services, informed by the various presentations and participant experiences.

The workshop was divided into five half-day sessions. Three or four invited speakers opened each session followed by a selection of contributed papers. After the speaking portion of the session, participants broke out into writing groups to prepare draft text.

Workshop participants were divided into five groups, one group corresponding to the five workshop session topics. Each group met five times as the workshop evolved. Each writing group had two participants whose responsibility was to “hold the pen” for their group. Each group produced ~3 pages of draft text on their topic as input to the paper (currently being drafted).

Keynote Addresses

Day 1 - Hans von Storch, a German climate scientist and Director of the Institute for Coastal Research, Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht (Germany) presented Climate Service in a Postnormal Context".

Day 2 - Andrew Weaver, Canadian climate scientist and University of Victoria professor, presented "Climate Science Communication and the North American Media".

Day 3 - Canadian climate scientist, statistician and Director of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium Francis Zwiers presented the final keynote address "On the Attributes and Challenges of Regional Climate Services".

Session 1 - The Stakeholder Perspective

• Kindy Gosal (Columbia Basin Trust) "Communities Adapting to Climate Change Initiative (CACCI)"
• Grit Martinez (Ecologic) and Dennis Bray (HZG) "The Perceptions of Political Decision Makers on Climate Change and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Baltic Sea"
• Pam Kertland (Natural Resources Canada) "Insights from Surveys of Canadian Decision Makers"
• Ellen Pond (University of British Columbia) "Case Study: Sea Level Rise Adaptation in Delta (BC Regional Adaptation Collaborative)"
• Marlow Pellatt (Parks Canada) "Protected Areas and Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation Activities in Canada's National Parks"
• Johanna Wolf (Memorial University of Newfoundland) "Engagement with Aboriginal Communities in North Eastern Canada: Ideas for Climate Service Providers"
• Peter Chapman (Shareholder Association for Research and Education) and Dave Rodenhuis (PCIC) "Investor Needs for Regional Climate Services"

Session 2 - Regional Climate Service Providers

• Albert Klein-Tank (KNMI) "European Climate Data and Information Products for Monitoring and Assessment Needs"
• Pierre Baril (Ouranos) "Ouranos Approach in Integrated Climate Change and Adaptation Research"
• Amy Snover (Climate Impacts Group) "Not Just 'Useful to' but 'Used by': Lessons from 15 Years at the Intersection of Climate Science and Decision Making"
• Insa Meinke (HZG) "Regional Climate Service -- Experiences from the North German Climate Office"
• Hans Schipper (KIT, South German Climate Office) "About Telling, Listening and Acting: Experiences of the South German Climate Office"
• Andreas Marx (UFZ, Mid German Climate Office) "Dialogue with Regional Stakeholders: Information Exchange, Needs and Conflicts"
• Phillip Pasteris (Ch2M Hill) "Best Practices for Assessing Climate Risk from Extreme Rainfall Events for Design of Stormwater Facilities"

Session 3 - Communicating Regional Climate Service

• Dave Sauchyn (Prairie Adaptation Regional Climate Science) "Managing the Message in a Variable Climate: Communicating Climate Science in Canada's Western Interior"
• Werner Krauss (HZG) "Making Climate Public: The View from Anthropology"
• Charles Lin (Environment Canada) "Environment Canada's Climate Science Supporting Adaptation in Canada"
• Stewart Cohen (Environment Canada) "Avoiding 'Lost in Translation': Enabling Shared Learning in Climate Change Adaptation"
• Ewa Jackson (ICLEI Canada) "Translating Climate Science: Communicating Climate Change to Local Governments"
• Stephen Tyler and Sarah Opitz-Stapleton (Institute for Social and Environmental Transition) "Dealing with Data Deficits in Planning for Climate Adaptation"

Session 4 - The Role of Mass Media

• Susan Hassol (Climate Communication) "Helping the Media Help Us to Tell the Climate Change Story"
• Mike Schäfer (KlimaCampus Hamburg) "The Role of the Mass Media in Climate Communication"
• Reiner Grundmann (Aston University) "Climate Change in the Print Media: A Comparative Perspective"

Session 5 - Regional Focus: The BC Perspective

• Tom Pedersen (PICS) "Responding to the CO₂ Challenge Via Grid Integration in Western Canada"
• Stephanie Smith (BC Hydro) "From Vulnerability to Adaptation: BC Hydro's Approach to Assessing Risks from Climate Change"
• Marc Nelitz (ESSA Technologies Ltd.) "Evaluating the Vulnerability of Freshwater Climate Change and Identifying Regional Adaptation Strategies"
• Kim Hyatt (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) "Responses to Physics, Phytoplankton, Fish and Folks to Climate Variation and Change Events"
• Tongli Wang (Centre for Forest Conservation Genetics, UBC) "Development of Climate Bases Seed Transfer System for British Columbia"

Sponsor Information