Contributed project tabsOverviewThe EPICC project (https://www.pik-potsdam.de/epicc) is an opportunity for the three partner countries (Tanzania, Peru and India) to bridge the gap between climate science and its application in policy, business and societal decisions, particularly in the fields of agriculture, hydrology and water resources, and migration issues. The project aims to identify, on a collaborative basis, how sound climate models and related tools as well as climate information can be tailored to national and local needs. The project encompasses five Outputs (I-V), i.e. Capacity Building, Knowledge Transfer and Visualization (I), Climate (II), Hydrology and Water Resources (III), Agriculture (IV) and Migration (V). The outputs from these work packages are being developed according to the needs and priorities of the partner countries. In this sense, EPICC is adaptive to the demands and builds climate capacities of partners on the ground. The project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is leading the execution of the project together with its project partners, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), based in New Delhi, and the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD; German Meteorological Service), based in Hamburg. Pillar: Capacity DevelopmentResearch, Modeling and PredictionBenefits: The project will build scientific capacity in the target countries to assess and better understand climate-related environmental changes and socio-economic impacts and to develop relevant adaptation strategies. It will enable national and local governments, companies and civil society to effectively plan and execute adaptation mechanisms, thus reducing the vulnerability of communities, societies, economies and their value chains to climate change, including extreme weather events as well as reducing economic and noneconomic losses and damages. Improved insights into the dependencies of socio-economic development on climate change and climate variability. Policies, development goals and infrastructure measures become “climate proof”. A deeper understanding of the effort required to provide an infrastructure for weather and climate monitoring, for agricultural experiments, for the collection of practical data from agricultural holdings, for level monitoring on rivers and for logging the reservoir control system. Improving food security, reducing poverty, securing livelihoods, e.g. by providing basic data for insurance (to identify the weather-related share of crop damage) and improved migration management. Better governance in dealing with climate change and extreme weather events and in climate adaptation strategies. Improved anticipatory structures for managing migration at national and urban levels. Opportunities to upscale and mainstream the results for application in other countries, i.e. monsoon forecast in India and in other regions of South Asia. Activities: establishing cooperation with national and local governmental and nongovernmental institutions as well as scientific institutes synthesis and integration of available and newly generated climate data and information data-tailoring to identified target groups and their information needs participation and presentations at (inter-)national conferences, knowledge exchanges, networking meetings, seminars, lectures, etc. yearly organization of workshops in the partner countries organization of climate capacity trainings for and with the partner countries conducting user studies in India analyzing interactive and visual climate capacities developing and contributing to cross-sectoral web-platforms on climate change organizing guest stays by experts from partner institutions at PIK recruitment of PhD students from the partner countries to be trained at PIK developing regional climate scenarios and projections observing, processing and visualizing of climate data dissemination of project results via various local and national media publishing joint research papers, reports and other materials on the results of the project identifying relevant partner organizations and final users of climate information development of integrated climate impact models implementation and testing of forecasts conducting expert surveys conducting in-person interviews with local governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as research institutions, especially with regards to the migration research Objectives: to build local, regional and national capacity on climate (impact) research, application of climate information and services to expand the user-oriented climate knowledge to ensure knowledge transfer in the relevant fields. i.e. climate, agriculture, hydrology and migration to prepare regional climate scenarios and make them available in the partner countries to improve the use of medium to long-term forecasts and predictions (including those resulting from the project) and the corresponding methods in the scientific routines of the partner countries to provide longer-term forecasts of the onset and withdrawal of the Indian Summer Monsoon (the Southwest Monsoon) for the central part of India and Telangana state, i.e. approx. 40 days (+/- 5 days) in advance for the onset date and approx. 70 days (+/- 5 days) in advance for the withdrawal date. Find more information on the PIK Monsoon Page. to provide a long-term forecast of the El Niño events in Peru, i.e. pre-warning time of about one year and the possibility to identify the strength of the event to achieve dissemination of project results by local partners for adaptation planning and action to provide model-based climate risk assessments to support political decision making including adaptation planning and action to provide risk reports on climate-induced migration in the partner countries, including hot spot mapping to identify interactions of climate damage in agriculture with migration dynamics and possible conflict potential to support political decision making and sustainable planning of adaptation Implementing Partners (https://www.pik-potsdam.de/research/projects/activities/epicc/project-pa...) The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) - India Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD; German Meteorological Service) – Germany Partners in the Partner Countries Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) - Tanzania National Service for Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI) - Peru Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) – Peru Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc) - India Indian Meteorological Society (IMS) - India DST Centre of Excellence in Climate Modeling, IIT Delhi - India Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI) - Tanzania Lake Rukwa Basin Water Board - Tanzania The National Water Authority (ANA) - Peru National Agrarian University La Molina (UNALM) – Peru Tanzania Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance (TCSAA) – Tanzania Ereto Maasai Youth Organization (EMAYO) - Tanzania Hombolo Agricultural Research Institute - Tanzania University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) - Tanzania Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) - Tanzania State Climate Change Centre (SCCC) – India National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) – India Strategic Programs, Large Initiatives and Coordinated Action Enabler (SPLICE) – India Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) – India National Water Commission (NWC) – India CARE – Peru International Project Partners International Organization for Migration (IOM) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) German Environment Agency (UBA) Bread for the World - Germany World Vision - Germany Deliverables/Outcomes: Expansion, adoption and use of user-oriented climate knowledge and knowledge transfer in the corresponding areas Better capacity of target countries to adapt to short and medium-term extreme weather events and to the effects of climate change in the agriculture and water sector Reduced migratory pressure associated with short and medium-term extreme weather events and the effects of climate change in the agriculture and water sector Inputs: Approx. 17 researchers and an additional project management team of 2-5 staff members The project counts on the expertise of 12 Scientific Advisors from PIK who are experts in the relevant research areas Access to the supercomputer at PIK Risks: Technical: limitations to prediction methods, climate impact on the proposed measures; political: changing focus of project partners, institutional changes in partner countries, access to interview partners for field research. Resource requirements: The climate information and capacities established by the EPICC project, jointly with scientists and policy- and decision-makers, need to be followed up on beyond the project duration. Resources will be required, in particular in the partner countries India, Tanzania and Peru, to continuously update information on weather and climate impacts, as a basis for improved state-of-the-art climate adaptation practices. Indicators and assessment measures: Use of climate information, impact models and algorithms generated by the project by national governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as research institutions. Recognition of benefit of knowledge by political decision makers. Inclusion of new methodological approaches in the research portfolio of leading researchers in partner countries. Inclusion of scientific results of the project in the national strategies related to water or agriculture and documented in research papers. Public dissemination of the monsoon forecast via local advisory councils and newspapers. Listing of results on national or international platforms About the Project Goal: The overarching goal of this project is to co-develop user oriented climate services and information to reduce risks of and adapt to climate change in three partner countries: India, Peru and Tanzania. Scope: NationalCountries Involved: United Republic of TanzaniaIndiaPeruSector: Food Security and AgricultureWaterSubmitting Agency: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) e.V. Timeline: Year 1: January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018; Year 2: January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019; Year 3: January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020; Year 4: January 1, 2021 – August 31, 2021
