This project was the second phase of CDKN support for CORDEX-Africa. The previous project focused on strengthening capacity of African climate scientists in western, eastern and southern Africa to analyse and interpret climate data for their respective regions. The CORDEX programme was instituted by the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) to develop downscaled regional climate change projections at user-relevant scales, for all terrestrial regions of the world. CORDEX-Africa is spearheaded by the Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG) at the University of Cape Town, in partnership with START, WCRP, CDKN, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), the Swedish Meteorological-Hydrological Institute (SMHI), and the UNDP’s Africa Adaptation Programme.

The objectives of the project were to:

• Advance skills and knowledge for interpreting and applying climate data and information to decision-making needs
• Enhance understanding of case study-based learning approaches to integration of climate information into decision making
• Strengthen guidance, training, and e-learning activities on climate data use by integrating the guidance exemplars into existing or planned CORDEX-Africa activities

This project has further advanced outreach and capacity building efforts by developing guidance materials that have allowed climate model data to be used across disciplines and decision-making contexts. In developing a methodology for the guidance exemplars, START and CSAG are using a place-based approach. The approach focuses on climate sensitivities in rapidly urbanising peri-urban areas. It includes examination of food production, water resource management infrastructure and flood risk management. The exemplars are designed to encompass a set of actionable steps embedded in guiding principles for properly using climate data. They aretransferable across sectors and locations.  As such, the exemplars act as a ‘best-practice’ reference for expansion into other vulnerable areas.

A workshop was held in Tanzania in February 2013 to initiate the exemplar development process with interdisciplinary teams from five cities that included technical experts in agriculture, water resource management, land-use planning, and meteorology/climatology. The exemplars were developed over the proceeding two months culminating in a second workshop in June 2013 to consolidate learning and extract transferable lessons. After this, the guidance exemplars were integrated into e-learning materials.

CDKN Funding: £84 000