Next ISI-MIP workshop // New cross-sectoral papers // Funding for ISI-MIP modelling work // Twitter


Posted on Nov. 10, 2015

Thank you to all those who attended the paper-writing workshop a few weeks ago in Zurich.  We hope you had a productive and enjoyable time.  We had the impression that a lot of good progress was made on the papers, as well as many good discussions in general.

We'd like to share with you a few key things that were discussed during the workshop.

1. Next ISI-MIP workshop

We are already thinking about the next ISI-MIP workshop!  The aim of this next workshop would be to discuss completed papers based on the ISI-MIP2.1a validation runs, and to discuss plans going forwarded for future simulation rounds (ISI-MIP2.1b and ISI-MIP2.2).  We envisage the workshop to be a project-wide affair, some time at the beginning of summer, 2016 (early June). 

At this stage, we are interested to hear about any other meetings that you may be hosting or attending, with which the ISI-MIP workshop could coordinate, in order to reduce travel, save time and hopefully promote interesting science discussions!  A few weeks ago in Zurich the ISI-MIP workshop followed on from the land-use (LUMIP) workshop, which provided a great opportunity to exchange ideas and look for opportunities to coordinate and collaborate.

2. New cross-sectoral papers

We are delighted that ideas for two new cross-sectoral papers emerged from the workshop looking at:

  • Cross-sectoral impacts in Africa.  Those interested in contributing to this paper should contact Ann van Griensven (ann.vangriensven@gmail.com). 
  • Key features of the historical climate data sets with respect to the most important variable impacts variables from each sector.  This paper is being led by Hyungjun Kim (hjkim@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp). In particular, Hyungjun has requested that each sector name the three most commonly-analysed impact variables.  These variables would then be used to analyse the differences in impacts based on different driving data sets.

3. Funding for ISI-MIP modelling work

Over the past few years the coordination team has been exploring and lobbying for opportunities to acquire funding for ISI-MIP simulation work, and in particular for model improvements based on the current round of evaluation and validation runs.  Whilst nothing is confirmed, there are two positive developments we'd like to share with you:

  • The Joint Programming Initiative - Climate (JPI-Climate, a European Union initiative, that attempts to coordinate research funding on climate-related topics across EU countries) has been informed about ISI-MIP, and there is support from several of the member countries to fund ISI-MIP modelling activities.  This would most likely be within the upcoming ERA-NET call on climate services, and may involve submitting one large proposal for ISI-MIP, which would cover the modelling work being done by teams within Europe.
  • The Belmont Forum (a body with a similar intent as JPI-Climate, but with global membership) are also aware of ISI-MIP, and early-stage discussions are taking place about the possibility of a call targeted directly at ISI-MIP modelling activities.  In this case, it is likely that each modelling group would submit a separate application for funding, under the umbrella of a more directed call.

We will keep you informed about progress on these fronts, and any other funding opportunities we hear about, which may be appropriate for ISI-MIP activities.

4. Twitter

And finally, just in case you missed it, we have started to tweet!  We are using the handle @ISIMIPImpacts and would like to use this channel to communicate news and papers/studies/datasets etc. which may be of interest to the ISI-MIP community and beyond.  Please feel free to suggest items to be tweeted by emailing isimip@pik-potsdam.de.