ISIpedia, the open climate-impacts encyclopedia: First activities and future milestones

Effectively preparing for the long-term challenges posed by future climate changes requires for decision-makers to have access to relevant climate impact assessments, that are based on the best available science and communicated in a clear and consistent manner. The ISIpedia project, which is part of the ERA-NET consortium ERA4CS and kicked off in October 2017, addresses the co-production of climate-impacts knowledge in a collaboration between its potential end-users and scientists involved in the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (www.isimip.org). Its end-product will be an online climate-services portal delivering subcontinental to national-level, state-of-the-art climate impact assessments with broad sector coverage - the ISIpedia. It will offer tailored access to synthesised climate-impact information based on the multi-model climate-impact simulations from ISIMIP. ISIpedia is targeted at climate adaptation planners (e.g. involved in National Adaptation Plans, NAPs) and practitioners, regional knowledge hubs, trans- and interdisciplinary scientists including climate economists, and regional climate experts from the private sector, such as (re-)insurance companies. The first phase of ISIpedia focuses on identifying and initiating exchanges with its potential users, in particular to benefit from their inputs for the selection of the focus topic for the next round of ISIMIP climate-impact simulations, as well as for the first development stage of the ISIpedia portal. The co-development of societally- and user-relevant impacts indicators based on the (bio-)physical projections generated within ISIMIP is also part of this broader task. In this presentation we will firstly present the lessons learnt from the ISIpedia kick-off workshop, which brought together ISIMIP modellers and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds. We will also describe the planning, implementation and first results of the ISIpedia stakeholder survey, due to be launched in February 2018. We will then outline future plans for stakeholder workshops in the two focus regions of the project (Eastern Europe and Western Africa), in which the co-development of impact indicators will be intensively pursued. Furthermore, we will introduce a pre-alpha version of the ISIpedia online portal and present ideas for further developing its design, functionalities and assessment content.