The HSC-led consortium has been awarded €6.9 million for a project aimed at climate resilience in multiple African countries
‘Climares: Co-Creating Knowledge ∞ Action Chains’ will seek to provide usable and actionable climate data to support early action and adaptation
This new HSC-led project will work with various communities across several African countries that face diverse climate threats and uncertainties, affecting small farmers, fisherfolk, urban outdoor workers, pastoralists and displaced people. The project will approach the following questions: What are their specific weather-information needs? How does climate change impact these groups, and how can communities, stakeholders and resource providers collaborate to mobilize for early adaptation?
‘Climares’ investigates the climate risks facing vulnerable populations across different climates, governance frameworks and socioeconomic conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal and Uganda. The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through the Research on Routes by Consortia (ORC) programme under the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA).
HSC Director Dorothea Hilhorst is the Principle Investigator for the project, with Senior Researcher Sonja Fransen and Deputy Director Rodrigo Mena Fluhmann also joining the leadership team. 11 PhD researchers will also be recruited to work on the project via the ‘Climares Academy’.
Partner universities in the Netherlands include Wageningen University & Research, Leiden University, the University of Amsterdam, The Hague University of Applied Science, IHE Delft, Maastricht University, the University of Twente and the KNMI. International partner universities include Cadi Ayyad University (Morocco), Cheikh Anta Diop University (Senegal), Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique), Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II (Morocco), ISDR Bukavu (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Makerere University (Uganda).
The project is also developed in cooperation with NGO’s, knowledge networks, social enterprises, and agencies to ensure take-up via “Knowledge ∞ Action Chains”.
About Climares
Instruments like weather stations and satellite imaging are improving climate data availability in Africa, yet translating this data into meaningful information for at-risk communities remains a challenge. Understanding how changing and often unpredictable weather events impact livelihoods is crucial for preparing these communities for climate change. With early action and adaptation, local resilience can be strengthened.
However, climate change complicates existing risks, making effective responses more challenging. Climares targets specific groups—smallholders, fisherfolk, urban outdoor workers, pastoralists, and displaced people—to collaboratively understand and address these risks. Using participatory digital and face-to-face research methods, co-created climate storylines, and advocacy efforts, Climares strives to make weather and climate data both accurate and actionable.
Building Knowledge ∞ Action Chains
Climares is also establishing Knowledge ∞ Action (K∞A) chains, which connect vulnerable groups with weather, climate and disaster experts, as well as other key stakeholders. This inclusive knowledge network aims to foster climate resilience for vulnerable populations worldwide. By implementing 11 K∞A chains, Climares will analyze factors that either facilitate or hinder these collaborations, creating a model that can be adapted for climate resilience efforts in other regions.
Hidden
The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through the Research on Routes by Consortia (ORC) programme under the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA).