Congratulations Maurizio! 4 million Swedish kronor in reseach grants

4 million Swedish Kronor in grant to EU Horizon 2020 project on Climate services
Maurizio Mazzoleni’s EU Horizon 2020 project I-CISK has been selected for funding with an unprecedented score of 15.00 (out of 15)! The project is coordinated by IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, (the largest international graduate water education facility in the world), and involves 13 partner organisations from 10 European countries, and received a total of 5 million EUR of which 391,000 EUR (about 4 million SEK) will go to our department. Maurizio Mazzoleni from Air, Water and Landscape Sciences will be leading one of the work packages. Along with his team, he will develop new models including social and behavioural factors into climate services.

Maurizio, what is climate services?
- The World Meteorological Organization defines climate service as a "decision aide derived from climate information that assists individuals and organizations in society to make improved ex-ante decision-making". Climate services have a crucial role in empowering citizens, stakeholders and decision-makers in taking climate-smart decisions that are informed by a solid scientific evidence base. The I-CISK project will innovate existing climate services by integrating the local data and knowledge, perceptions and preferences of users with research based scientific knowledge. I-CISK will develop next-generation climate services that follow a social and behaviourally informed approach for co-producing climate services that meet the climate information needs of citizens, decision makers and stakeholders at the spatial and temporal scale relevant to them. Thus, I-CISK will contribute towards a sustainable European economy, lifestyle, environmental protection and resource use, resilient to climate change and compatible with achieving climate neutrality.

What does it mean that you will develop models?
- Understanding the feedbacks between climate change and adaptation actions is of pivotal importance to achieving a resilient future. The I-CISK project will improve this understanding by developing empirical and modelling frameworks to unravel the interplays and feedbacks between climate change, CS, and adaptation actions at different spatial-temporal scales. We will show how adaptation actions based on climate change information can lead to different planning decisions, unintended consequences, possible lock-ins considins, and consequently different climate-resilience pathways achieving a zero-emission pathway by 2050. Citizens and decision-makers will be actively engaged to improve their understanding on climate change impacts and the interplays with the human-climate system by means of participatory modelling, planning, and decision-making activities.

How long will the project run?
- The project will run for 4 years. Uppsala University will lead the work package on Assessment of the human-climate feedbacks at different spatial-temporal scales. Moreover, we will also contribute in other work packages focused on i) understanding the socio-economic behaviours of users and contribute in developing participatory and serious gaming frameworks; and on ii) contributing in developing optimal approaches for integrating local knowledge with climate services for operational services.

For more informaiton email: maurizio.mazzoleni@geo.uu.se