The 4th European Climate Change Adaptation Conference (ECCA, www.ecca2019.eu) was held from 28–31 May  2019 in Lisbon. At this biennial conference, results from projects receiving funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme were presented.

This year, Dr. Carina Zang (ICWRGC, www.waterandchange.org) presented first results from the ongoing project CO-MICC in form of a poster together with colleagues from Goethe University, Frankfurt. The poster shows how the planned knowledge portal on climate change impacts on global water availability is co-developed with stakeholders and implemented.

The CO-MICC Mid-Term project meeting was held at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. CO-MICC team members from all partner institutions took part in this event to bring up recent findings and set the way forward from here for the next part of the journey. Meeting face to face with vivid and highly productive discussions on topics of current relevance – such as the selection of indicators for the planned knowledge portal – made this event a major landmark for the project.

The aim of the first stakeholder workshop in the Ebro focus region was to gain information on the needs and perceptions of stakeholders in adaptation planning with regard to the possibilities of multi-model based information.

Held at the Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro, stakeholders from several government agencies and different research institutions took part along with a representative of the local irrigation community. After introducing the information to be generated by the multi-model ensemble in this project, we discussed the potential use and ways of presenting this information, including the co-construction of Bayesian network structures. As a key vector of showcasing this information, a first draft of the planned data portal was presented and discussed.

Due to the diverse backgrounds of the stakeholders involved, the discussions gave insight into various perspectives and problems they are facing in the wake of climate change impacts on water availability.

The first Workshop of the CO-MICC stakeholder dialogue with stakeholders from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia (MAT) took place in Le Mans in November 2018. The main aims were to gain an understanding of the possibilities of multi-model information and gathering information on the needs and perceptions of stakeholders in adaptation planning in MAT countries.

The first Workshop for the co-development of methods to utilize multi-model information on freshwater related hazards took place in the University of Le Mans in November 2018.

Several stakeholders from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia (MAT) participated in this first workshop. One of the key aims was to gain an understanding of the possibilities of multi-model information. Together with the stakeholders, researchers from the CO-MICC team gathered information on the needs and perceptions of stakeholders in adaptation planning in MAT countries. First ideas for the design of the planned CO-MICC knowledge portal were presented and discussed.

Co-construction of Bayesian network structures was introduced to the stakeholders on the second day. In the CO-MICC project, this will be used as a basis to explore adaptation planning at the country scale.

Together with the software designers from Kisters, the first designs for the planned data portal were discussed which will be presented during the first workshops

The CO-MICC team interviewed experts related to climate change and water resources in the Ebro basin and the surrounding area. The interviews focused on perceived risks, use of climate data and adaptation strategies. The outcomes of these interviews will be used to prepare the first stakeholder workshop in the focus region.

Travelling through various cities in the Ebro Basin and to Madrid, two scientists from the CO-MICC team interviewed key stakeholders in September 2018. Most of the interviewed stakeholders were employees of public authorities in the water and agriculture sector or of public research institutions experienced in working in the Ebro basin. In addition, forest managers as well as the national meteorological institution were interviewed.

When asked about experienced and perceived problems related to climate change impacts on water availability, many stakeholders mentioned political problems, land use changes and related water use conflicts, sediment transport, floods, and droughts.    

Another part of the interview focused on the current use of model data and climate change indicators by the corresponding institution. These results will be used to tailor specific user surfaces for the planned knowledge portal in CO-MICC.

All stakeholders were very interested in the project and willing to participate in the upcoming workshops.

Model representatives of all 4 global hydrological models convened in Frankfurt the whole day of 24 August, 2018. They discussed the current results of the historical time period simulations. In addition, the simulation protocol was finalized (Milestone M1), and decisions for the implementation of the future time period simulations to be conducted next, were made.