In collaboration with the European Commission’s Directorate General for International Partnerships, KADI co-organised a side event at the GEO Week and ministerial summit which took place in Cape Town, South Africa from 6-10th November 2023. The theme of the side event was ‘Co-creating climate services from data to knowledge in Africa’.
The event addressed the importance of partnership and co-creation in the climate services landscape. Establishing strong partnerships which lead to co-design of tailored solutions is, in many cases, the efficient way forward to also ensure ownership of the solutions. Following a policy-driven initial flash talk by the moderator, the panel discussed the importance of data, information (model) and service both in the context of adaptation and mitigation, building on the EU flagship initiatives Regional Centres of Excellence in Africa. The session then moved to showcase a concrete example, the KADI project which develops co-designed services to address climate-related challenges in Africa, with a dedicated focus on strategic pilots (i.e.cities). Based on the presentations and feedback from the session, the following key messages were highlighted.
- Climate services need innovative ground observations.
- There is a strong need for knowledge exchange and communication which includes and targets decision-makers;
- The role of citizens and the private sector is crucial for developing relevant climate services.
- Africa does not need data. Africa needs collaboration and partnerships to make use of already existing data. Most of the data collection and usage are not connected or aware of the existence of others. To promote transferability to similar contexts or there is a need to increase support for data sharing and collaboration.
KADI also sent a quote that features on the event website. The quote was related to co-design of climate services and tailored to support African policy-makers as well as linking in-situ with remote sensing in Africa.