Stakeholder evaluation of the co-production process of climate services. Experiences from two case studies in Larvik (Norway) and Flensburg (Germany)

Abstract

Climate services (CS) are generally recognized as potentially effective tools to communicate climate-related risks to the general public, end-users and other stakeholders. However, empirical evidence indicates that there often is a gap in understanding between the producers of the CS and those that are meant to use them. It is therefore crucial to place the stakeholders in the centre of the process of CS-production to identify their actual needs. Facilitating iterative and collaborative processes that allow stakeholders to provide feedback bridges the process-content gap. This leads to an improvement of each step in the production of CS, and ultimately, helps building engaged communities.One way of minimising the gap between providers and users of CS, is to incorporate evaluations in the co-production process. Our paper presents the evaluation of the co-production of CS at two case study sites, Larvik, Norway and Flensburg, Germany. The study illustrates how the stakeholders are involved in the development of the CS and specifically the use of questionnaires for evaluating the CS as well as the co-production process of developing these CS in the case study sites.These results indicate that the Living Lab workshops, and the active use of questionnaires followed by evaluation, facilitates a more iterative process of developing CS by better involving stakeholders within the co-production of CS. Adequately addressing stakeholder needs and the usability of CS are also essential within the CS co-production process as these aspects give an indication to the uptake of CS to support climate adaptation planning outcomes and longer-term longevity that support climate adaptation policy and ultimately societal impacts.

Keywords

• Climate services
• Stakeholders
• Living Labs
• Questionnaire evaluations