Article
BAMOS
Mar 2019
The Earth Systems and Climate
Change Hub
A national partnership for delivering climate change science to underpin Australian policy and
management decisions
Sonia Bluhm
NESP Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub
Email: [email protected]
The Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub, part of the Australia
Government’s National Environmental Science Program, has
worked since its inception in 2015 to build a collaborative
community among its partner organisations: the Bureau of
Meteorology, CSIRO and Australian universities including the
University of NSW, ANU, Monash University, the University of
Melbourne and the University of Tasmania.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Hub, it builds on
its predecessor the Australian Climate Change Science Program
which was the longest running government-funded climate
change science research program, running continuously for 27
years from 1989 to 2016. The Hub is committed to contributing
to a world-leading climate change and Earth systems science
capability, and using our understanding of Australia’s past,
present and future climate to provide underpinning climate
change information for Australia. Our research is helping to
address the major challenges that the changing climate poses
for Australia, encompassing water, food, natural resources
and our environment, coasts, natural disasters and increasing
greenhouse gases.
From the outset, a key focus of the Hub has been on stakeholder
engagement and ensuring the Hub’s science and information
is accessible, useable and relevant to key Australia sectors,
governments and industries. Such activities have ranged from
building our engagement with the big business end of town
(such as the Reserve Bank of Australia, the big banks, the
insurance sector etc.) to working with local governments to
understand their climate risks and the challenges they face in
using climate change science in their planning and on-ground
management activities.
In determining how best to engage with target stakeholders
and information users, the Hub has identified two priority areas
where it can maximise the value of its science: provision of
credible science-based climate change information services (i.e.
tailored projections and globally consistent scenarios for both
mean and extreme conditions) and training and guidance to
enhance awareness, understanding and application of climate
change data and information. To do this the Hub is working
directly with various stakeholders from across governments,
private sector and Indigenous community groups to facilitate
end-user applications and associated path-to-impact. The
Hub strongly draws on the expertise of its partner agencies to
ensure the information and advice provided is comprehensive
and representative of the broader climate change science
community.
Researchers and knowledge brokers from the Hub will attend
this year’s AMOS conference in Darwin. We are holding a
breakfast session to discuss our research, and our climate
change research will be represented in the many presentations,
abstracts and posters from our researchers throughout the
conference. Our short brochure Meeting Australia’s climate
challenges provides a snapshot of some of the highlights from
the Hub to date, or you can head to our website at http://
nespclimate.com.au/ for more information.
We look forward to seeing you at the AMOS conference in June.
The Hub has adopted a co-production and knowledge exchange
approach to stakeholder engagement to not only ensure our
research is understood and used by Australian stakeholders,
but that stakeholder information needs are captured and used
to shape our future research directions.
Image provided by Sonia Bluhm.
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