Co-construction of climate services based on a weather stations network: Application in Toulouse agglomeration local authority

Abstract

This article provides insights into the development of climate services in Toulouse, France, based on an automated weather station network for microclimatic applications, such as urban heat island monitoring. Climate services are often thought of as a unique and complete entity that can be built by providers/sellers for users/buyers using different methods and degrees of involvement and participation. In this paper, the the local authority and its technical departments, helped by the national meteorological agency and researchers, were in charge of both providing and using the climate services. Each component, from network deployment to data production and their operational application, was directed by the local authority. Providers, users, products, and solutions were built from the ground up and developed over the last 5 years using the methodology of action research. This article discusses the possibility of understanding climate services by decomposing them into smaller components organized according to the disciplines, abilities, and challenges of each component to easily identify which actors in the local authority administrative organization can most effectively address them. Each component of the climate services based on a weather station network is discussed. This paper also describes how the governance and organization of climate services are built using action research. Co-construction processes with multiple actors encompassing multi-component projects, such as climate services, mobilize multiple disciplinary fields and require project management and organization. This article shows how the different components of the climate services in Toulouse have been integrated into different urban departments taking into consideration their competencies and their associated disciplinary fields with the goal of providing reproducible methods than can be applied elsewhere. The results indicate the real interest of urban departments in climate services. Some departments assumed responsibility for entire parts of the climate services. Their involvement reveals the complexity of truly integrating climate services as a transdisciplinary department into a public structure, in this case, the local authority. Managing the involvement and participation of all the stakeholders of the climate services implies organizing them using a governing body, even if they belong to the same organization or structure.