Services that provide data and information about climate change, with the aim of serving as decision support for users, are referred to as climate services. This is a nationally and internationally prioritized area to support the extensive societal efforts needed to accelerate transformative change. Climate services also serve as key arenas for linking research, policy, and practice.
Despite significant investments in the development of climate services, a gap remains between existing services and their practical use and relevance for intended sectors and stakeholders. The development of climate services thus needs to go beyond simply providing more, better, or higher-resolution data. Instead, the focus needs to be on understanding users’ needs and perspectives—from data production to information use. There is also a need for knowledge about the extent to which, and in what ways, climate services can contribute to profound societal transformations—that is, their transformative potential.
Project aim
This interdisciplinary project aims to explore communication strategies, visualization methods, and data needs for a new generation of climate services that can unleash their transformative potential. The overarching research question is:
How can new insights from communication research, visualization research, and climate modelling be integrated to understand and develop the usability and transformative potential of climate services?
Research design
The project will:
- Identify the types of climate services currently available, both nationally and internationally, and analyse their transformative potential and usability.
- Co-design a new prototype of climate services for Sweden in collaboration with end-users.
- Explore and assess the prototype’s transformative potential and develop guidelines for future climate service development.
The project combines several methods—systematic literature review, interviews, workshops, and focus groups—to explore climate services primarily targeting the energy, agriculture, and urban planning sectors, all of which are significantly affected by climate change. We will specifically focus on climate services that:
- Provide decision support for the implementation and optimization of renewable energy production,
- Support agricultural stakeholders in exploring climate adaptation and emission reduction measures,
- Contribute to urban climate transformations, with a particular focus on urban heat.
Focusing on these sectors, the project will identify and develop new climate indicators and new types of climate information. We will also explore narratives as a new approach within climate services.
Research team
The project consists of an interdisciplinary research group with internationally recognized expertise in climate services, climate science and modelling, transformation studies, participatory methods, climate adaptation, and environmental communication
