The ARCC inaugural event was held on 5th May 2009 at Austin Court in Birmingham. The event was attended by 80 people representing the 14 ARCC projects as well as representatives from UKCIP, LWEC and EPSRC.
The objective of this meeting was to bring people together from the 14 ARCC projects as a network for the first time. This was intended to enable those attending to learn more about the other projects and to identify those with which they may share common interests (approaches, outputs, data requirements and expected outputs, and case studies) and thereby allowing them to build working relationships. It also provided an opportunity to introduce the ARCC Coordination Network (ACN) and to share views about associated requirements and expectations.
Following an introduction to the day from Roger Street (UKCIP), the event began with a presentation by Andrew Watkinson of Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) (pdf, 14.9 MB) on the structure and objectives of LWEC. Alex Nickson, Strategy Manager: Climate Change Adaptation and Water for the GLA, then gave a presentation to represent a stakeholder’s interest in related Climate Change adaptation and key research needs (pdf, 1 MB).
These presentations were then followed by parallel introductory sessions for each of the 14 projects. All projects were well represented by stakeholders and by researchers.
Each of these sessions began with a brief introduction to the main aims and objectives of the projects by the lead researchers. This was followed by an introduction of the individuals representing the various work packages and then the project stakeholder representatives gave a 10 minute presentation on their respective interests and perceived roles within the project. The stakeholders were encouraged to provide some insight into their reasons for being part of the research, expressing the benefits that they perceived to be of greatest importance. The stakeholders who attended this inaugural meeting were only a small number of those involved across the 14 projects, however, it was quite evident during this meeting that there is a great diversity of individuals and institutions involved, and with that a wide range of interests, levels of involvement, requirements and expectations.
The posters for the 14 ARCC projects that were presented as part of this inaugural meeting are available here.
Some of the key points arising from the meeting:
Links between ARCC projects
One of the main objectives of the event was to identify, or expand upon existing, themes and potential synergies and opportunities among the research projects. As a result of the breakout sessions a number of potential links were identified. Some examples of those specifically identified are:
- Copse, Proclimation, Low Carbon Futures and Prometheus – are producing data and other supportive information that can be used to inform the use of UKCP09 within the built environment and guidance on building design.
- CREW and LUCID – both focusing on London as a case study area and both looking at extremes.
- SCORCHIO and LUCID – both looking at the Urban Heat Island effect.
- Low Carbon Futures, BIOPICC and D2RHECC – all looking at ventilation.
- SNACC and CREW - similar work packages and desired outcomes
Data Issues
A number of the research projects indicated that they could see potential benefits arising by having access to data that had resulted from other projects. It was noted that as projects were in different stages of their lifecycles it may be possible for some of the recently initiated research projects to use outputs from those research projects that were already underway.
Following on from the above point, the issues and opportunities associated with sharing data were raised. These will require further discussion within the ACN Data Management group, in order to look at the potential conflict between Intellectual Property concerns versus sharing information for the benefit of all. The principles behind the ACN are fundamentally that as much as possible within the ACN the research resulting should be fairly transparent and that while intellectual property is to be respected, the different research and stakeholder groups should be provided the opportunity to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by working as part of a network of research projects.
There is a need to involve other research projects funded under other research programmes, directly and indirectly, to keep abreast of the work ongoing in the wider research and stakeholder communities. This involvement and exposure areseen as essential as they will provide opportunities for the ARCC research projects themselves to remain relevant, maximise their efficacy and enhance their exposure to this wider research community and linked end-user communities.
UKCP09
There was discussion regarding the release date of the UK Climate Projections (UKCP09). This discussion related to the fact that all of the ARCC research projects had an interest in using the projections data and, particularly in the case of those projects already underway, timing of the availability of this critical data would affect their timetables and scope of the planned research.
The preference to deal with deterministic data rather than probabilistic data was discussed. It was noted that those using UKCP09 generally like to deal with a limited set of numbers (and in most cases a single projected future as that what has been provided in the past – UKCIP02). It was also noted by some that there was a reluctance to complicating things by using probabilistic data despite the recognition that it was necessary for more effective (and sustainable) adaptation and likely the way in the future.
Related to the above point, the challenge of the identifying appropriate uses of UKCP09 was raised. There was a call from the research projects to have advice on what UKCP09 data sets and products will be available and how they can and should not use them.
Stakeholder involvement
The issue of stakeholder involvement was discussed. The need for the right stakeholders to be involved in each of the projects was recognised as vital. As a result of the deliberations at this inaugural meeting some stakeholders identified other ARCC projects that they were interested in, and some of the projects have identified gaps in their stakeholder involvement.
Policy context
There was some discussion regarding the policy context in which the work was occurring. The point was raised that practitioners and researchers need to be more aware of the wider context within which their research was occurring. There was a need identified to have a one-off event designed to provide that context.
Wrap up and ACN summary
It was reiterated that one of the main objectives of the event was to reinforce or expand upon potential synergies and opportunities among the projects’ researchers and stakeholders identified by the general descriptions. It is in these spaces where the potential added value of being part of the ARCC Coordination Network portfolio should be developed.
Feedback from stakeholders has confirmed that they utilise the internet as a primary resource for getting more information. This should be utilised within the ARCC research projects and the ARCC Coordination Network (websites and online forums).
The point was made that this needed to be ‘everyone’s’ network rather than just UKCIP’s, the stakeholders or the researchers network. Efforts should be expended early in the process to make this happen.
There were issues and opportunities that arose from this inaugural meeting that will benefit from further discussions, in some cases within smaller targeted groups. It was suggested that targeted task groups could be formed where necessary to explore these issues and opportunities further.
The agenda of the meeting is available here (pdf, 48 KB).
