The CLIMALERT project: Climate alert smart system for sustainable water and agriculture

Abstract

The vulnerability of sensitive European regions to hydro-meteorological extremes has increased dramatically over the past few decades. Extreme weather and climate events are increasingly happening worldwide due to ongoing climate change. As a consequence, hydro- meteorological disaster events are affecting the European economy, environment and society, with impacts on food production, food distribution infrastructure, livelihood assets and human health, in both rural and urban areas. Meanwhile, climate services have started to be developed to further anticipate the impacts of climate variability and to apply climate forecasts in different sectors, such as agriculture and water management. However, connections between climate information users and providers are still weak. The CLIMALERT project emerges to provide climate information in a format that prospective users find it easy to understand and/or incorporate into decision-making. The project main goals are: i) strengthen the link between climate research, water resources and the agriculture sector to assist the management of natural resources, enhance agricultural livelihoods and reduce underlying causes of vulnerability, ii) improve the techniques and tools currently used to incorporate weather and climate information into risk assessment and decision making in agriculture and water sectors, and, iii) contribute to assist decision- makers in the implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies. In this talk, we will present the project framework, the study areas, the engagement with stakeholders, the selection of climate and hydrological indicators, and the development of an alert system platform that aims to contribute to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities for the agriculture and water management sectors, providing economically valuable services and long-term benefits to farmers and society