Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CoCliCo (COASTAL CLIMATE CORE SERVICES)
Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2024-02-29
What is the problem addressed by the project?
Sea-level rise is a highly specific adaptation challenge: unlike temperatures and precipitation, sea levels will not cease rising once climate change has been stabilized at a specific global warming level l (e.g. 1.5°C or 2°C, as per the Paris Agreement). On the contrary, they will continue to rise for centuries. By mitigating climate change, we can stabilise sea-level rise rates, but not sea levels themselves. Consequently, adaptation to coastal flooding and erosion will be continuously ongoing for decades and centuries. However, broad-scale climate and decision-oriented services to address this need are lacking in Europe, as in other regions of the word. CoCliCo contributes to filling this gap by developing a European climate service for adaptation to future flooding in the context of sea-level rise.
Why is the problem important to society?
The latest IPCC report has reminded us that the costs of sea-level rise impacts in Europe are projected to increase by a factor of at least 10 during the 21st century. The literature published so far suggests that protection is cost-efficient along most urbanized coasts. However, for many rural low-lying coastal areas, a choice will need to be made between protection and some relocation associated with the restoration of coastal ecosystems. Such choices have long-term social legacies, and whatever the final choice made, there will be a need for climate services to inform decision-makers about the consequences of their choices in terms of costs, people exposed, and other potential co-benefits and trade-offs (see Policy Brief produced during the 1st review period).
Overall project objectives:
The objective of CoCliCo is to improve decision making on coastal risk management and adaptation by establishing an integrated core service dedicated to coastal adaptation to sea-level rise.
The main deliverable will be an open source platform informing users on present-days and future coastal risks.
CoCliCo is organised around three pillars: user interactions (WP1), platform design (WP2) and production of new data allowing to assess coastal flood risks (WP3-6).
See Figure 1.CoCliCo_Concept.
Sea-level rise is a highly specific adaptation challenge: unlike temperatures and precipitation, sea levels will not cease rising once climate change has been stabilized at a specific global warming level l (e.g. 1.5°C or 2°C, as per the Paris Agreement). On the contrary, they will continue to rise for centuries. By mitigating climate change, we can stabilise sea-level rise rates, but not sea levels themselves. Consequently, adaptation to coastal flooding and erosion will be continuously ongoing for decades and centuries. However, broad-scale climate and decision-oriented services to address this need are lacking in Europe, as in other regions of the word. CoCliCo contributes to filling this gap by developing a European climate service for adaptation to future flooding in the context of sea-level rise.
Why is the problem important to society?
The latest IPCC report has reminded us that the costs of sea-level rise impacts in Europe are projected to increase by a factor of at least 10 during the 21st century. The literature published so far suggests that protection is cost-efficient along most urbanized coasts. However, for many rural low-lying coastal areas, a choice will need to be made between protection and some relocation associated with the restoration of coastal ecosystems. Such choices have long-term social legacies, and whatever the final choice made, there will be a need for climate services to inform decision-makers about the consequences of their choices in terms of costs, people exposed, and other potential co-benefits and trade-offs (see Policy Brief produced during the 1st review period).
Overall project objectives:
The objective of CoCliCo is to improve decision making on coastal risk management and adaptation by establishing an integrated core service dedicated to coastal adaptation to sea-level rise.
The main deliverable will be an open source platform informing users on present-days and future coastal risks.
CoCliCo is organised around three pillars: user interactions (WP1), platform design (WP2) and production of new data allowing to assess coastal flood risks (WP3-6).
See Figure 1.CoCliCo_Concept.
So far and during the second period of the reporting, the main challenges have been (1) framing of user needs and narratives and translating it into requirements for datasets (integrated scenarios) and platform functionnalities; (2) the production of a fast track platform demonstrating our ability to deliver an WebGIS service with state of the art functionnalities and interoperability features; (3) the production of geospatial datasets consistent with the integrated scenarios for the platform (Figure 2.CoCliCo progress RP2 – see WP3, 4, 5 and 6 reports).
The later aspect has been the main focus of RP2. Yet, in addition, the platform has simultaneously evolved from the "Fast track" version to the "Full track" version, to be ready to integrate geospatial datasets according to the integrated scenario (WP2). The design of the platform now aligns with CoCliCo's visual identity as well.
The main achievement during RP2 is therefore the production of new datasets. We highlight that high-quality is essential to build trust with stakeholders and ensure that they can engage with the platform. In fact, when interacting with existing platforms, typical reactions of stakeholders is to check how relevant results are for their own areas.
In terms of scientific publications, the project is starting to make an impact with approximately 20 publications mentioning CoCliCo so far, including at least 13 publications led by project partners.
Regarding communication ( WP7), several activities have taken place, and some indicators such as LinkedIn interactions demonstrate an increase of interest in CoCliCo. Five scenarios for exploitation are being proposed, including an integration of CoCliCo as a pre-service in the Copernicus Coastal Hub, which is presently considered the most desirable option. We also ensured to keep resources for the last phase of the project when communication, dissemination will be critical.
In the fall of 2023, CoCliCo joined the SCORE project initiative to establish a cluster comprising four European-funded projects sharing similar goals and activities: SCORE, PROTECT, CoCliCo, and REST-COAST. This cluster, named "ADAPT4COAST - Enhancing climate change adaptation in coastal areas," was formed under the Horizon Results Booster initiative, a significant component of EC policy and Horizon Europe aimed at clustering projects to save resources and enhance audience engagement and interest.
Regarding the project management (WP8), two plenary project meetings have been organised during RP2: one virtual (March 2023) and one in Delft at Deltares premises (October 2023). These two events have been organised in a way that ensure cross-WP interactions, with sessions focusing e.g. on the consistency of data delivery, on the core-platform and on future services. We also ensured early career scientists involvement in the project through specific sessions where they are invited to present their research. The monthly Executive Committee meetings have taken place too and other meetings were organised depending on the need of each WP. In addition, the data management plan has been updated to take into account final requirements for WP3-6 to deliver datasets to the platform. A new Teams/Sharepoint has been opened to store several Térabytes of data.
Challenges ahead?
• The delivery of updated data from WP3, WP4 and WP5 need to be done before end September 2024 at the latest: this will allow computing risks for different adaptation scenarios in Fall 2024.
• The test-based and validation of the platform requires at least the datasets delivered up to February 2024 to be integrated on the platform.
• As the platform will integrate new datasets, actions of WP1 with users and dissemination activities will be able to take off.
• Exploratory tools and future services need to be developed.
The later aspect has been the main focus of RP2. Yet, in addition, the platform has simultaneously evolved from the "Fast track" version to the "Full track" version, to be ready to integrate geospatial datasets according to the integrated scenario (WP2). The design of the platform now aligns with CoCliCo's visual identity as well.
The main achievement during RP2 is therefore the production of new datasets. We highlight that high-quality is essential to build trust with stakeholders and ensure that they can engage with the platform. In fact, when interacting with existing platforms, typical reactions of stakeholders is to check how relevant results are for their own areas.
In terms of scientific publications, the project is starting to make an impact with approximately 20 publications mentioning CoCliCo so far, including at least 13 publications led by project partners.
Regarding communication ( WP7), several activities have taken place, and some indicators such as LinkedIn interactions demonstrate an increase of interest in CoCliCo. Five scenarios for exploitation are being proposed, including an integration of CoCliCo as a pre-service in the Copernicus Coastal Hub, which is presently considered the most desirable option. We also ensured to keep resources for the last phase of the project when communication, dissemination will be critical.
In the fall of 2023, CoCliCo joined the SCORE project initiative to establish a cluster comprising four European-funded projects sharing similar goals and activities: SCORE, PROTECT, CoCliCo, and REST-COAST. This cluster, named "ADAPT4COAST - Enhancing climate change adaptation in coastal areas," was formed under the Horizon Results Booster initiative, a significant component of EC policy and Horizon Europe aimed at clustering projects to save resources and enhance audience engagement and interest.
Regarding the project management (WP8), two plenary project meetings have been organised during RP2: one virtual (March 2023) and one in Delft at Deltares premises (October 2023). These two events have been organised in a way that ensure cross-WP interactions, with sessions focusing e.g. on the consistency of data delivery, on the core-platform and on future services. We also ensured early career scientists involvement in the project through specific sessions where they are invited to present their research. The monthly Executive Committee meetings have taken place too and other meetings were organised depending on the need of each WP. In addition, the data management plan has been updated to take into account final requirements for WP3-6 to deliver datasets to the platform. A new Teams/Sharepoint has been opened to store several Térabytes of data.
Challenges ahead?
• The delivery of updated data from WP3, WP4 and WP5 need to be done before end September 2024 at the latest: this will allow computing risks for different adaptation scenarios in Fall 2024.
• The test-based and validation of the platform requires at least the datasets delivered up to February 2024 to be integrated on the platform.
• As the platform will integrate new datasets, actions of WP1 with users and dissemination activities will be able to take off.
• Exploratory tools and future services need to be developed.
A major innovation of CoCliCo at the level of the project will be to deliver a platform that not only displays areas exposed to coastal flooding, but also informs about risks and adaptation options.
The activities of CoCliCo are implemented in the view of achieving the following impacts:
- Enhanced adaptive capacity
- Reduced vulnerability to climate change
- Enhanced action on adaptation
- Strengthened scientific knowledge on climate
- Better informed climate services and decision-making
The expected environmental and societal impacts of CoCliCo relate to:
o Sustainable Development Goals: SDG-9, SDG-11, SDG-13
o Adaptation objectives of the Paris Agreement,
o Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction,
o European Green Deal and the European Adaptation Strategy.
At this stage of the project, the environmental and societal impact is limited to raising awareness across users.
The activities of CoCliCo are implemented in the view of achieving the following impacts:
- Enhanced adaptive capacity
- Reduced vulnerability to climate change
- Enhanced action on adaptation
- Strengthened scientific knowledge on climate
- Better informed climate services and decision-making
The expected environmental and societal impacts of CoCliCo relate to:
o Sustainable Development Goals: SDG-9, SDG-11, SDG-13
o Adaptation objectives of the Paris Agreement,
o Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction,
o European Green Deal and the European Adaptation Strategy.
At this stage of the project, the environmental and societal impact is limited to raising awareness across users.