Project references

The dissemination and sector-tailored communication of research results and the (early) incorporation of decision makers from politics, economy, and society at large are important components of research conducted by the Austrian Climate Research Program (ACRP) and other programs for the promotion of research. These aims coincide with the responsibilities and the orientation of the CCCA and its facilities.

CCCA services that can beneficial to ACRP projects are listed and described in the following. These services also provide an opportunity for CCCA members to support the CCCA facilities.

It is very important for us to point out that the CCCA itself does NOT conduct any research projects. We assist our member institutions and their researchers in disseminating their respective research results and lend support in finding project partners and coordinating projects prior to their start. Researchers are also more than welcome to approach us with a project idea. We are here to support you in realising those idea!

In recent years, the CCCA has conducted numerous successful projects with its partners from the research network. We would like to present some of them to outline the CCCA’s manifold services:

The “Austrian Panel on Climate Change” (APCC) was modelled on the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In the context of the APCC, renowned experts from the Austrian climate research community provide regular reports on the current state of research regarding how climate change has affected and will affect Austria.

APCC reports serve to collect, summarise and assess the current state of science and research on clearly defined issues (Special Report) or on climate change in general (Progress Reports).

The process of developing a Science Plan dates to the beginnings of the CCCA and was initiated in November 2011 with a project of the former Ministry of Science and Research and by establishing a CCCA working group.

Since then, the development of the Science Plan has been a topic at the annual CCCA General Assemblies (see General Assemblies Minutes 2011-2016), where the development has been presented, documented, and discussed with the representatives of the CCCA members. A detailed history of the Science Plan is available on the CCCA website.

To make the development of the Science Plan as participative and transparent as possible, the individual formative stages offered various opportunities for participation: From February 2012 to May 2013, Austrian climate researchers could participate (e.g. via workshops) in the process based on which the Science Plan’s common goals, research areas, and process steps were developed. In April and May 2016, a public comment procedure enabled everyone interested in the topic to become involved.

One of future generations’ grand challenges will be having to deal with climate change and its consequences. Today’s children and adolescents will be facing the respective individual and societal challenges throughout their lives. Preparing them is therefore pivotal.

k.i.d.Z.21-Austria has the following goals ...

• to make young people more conscious and aware of climate change and its impacts,
• to strengthen young people’s adaptability and their capacity for action,
• to prepare those upon whose shoulders future societies will rest for the social, economic, and ecological challenges of the 21^st century.

To achieve these goals, we would like ...

• to promote the k.i.d.Z.21 concept in Austrian schools and continuously further develop it,
• to offer teacher training to support educators’ in their role as multipliers,
• to contribute to firmly embedding education for sustainable development in the Austrian school curricula.

There is a common agreement in the Austrian scientific community that the effects of climate change have a strong impact on the Austrian regions and municipalities that will further increase in the future. Extreme temperatures, heavy precipitation and droughts are making headlines and imply new challenges. In addition to extreme weather events, locally occurring creeping changes can be observed, such as an early onset of vegetation green-up, the retreat of glaciers, or the immigration of new species, all caused by the increase in average temperatures. In order to meet these climate change-related challenges, as well as to seize the opportunities that arise, it is necessary to act with foresight now.

Against this backdrop, the Climate and Energy Fund initiated the Model Regions for the Adaptation to Climate Change (KLAR!) program in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism in autumn 2016. The aim is to give regions and municipalities the opportunity to prepare for climate change, to apply adaptation measures so as to minimise negative climate change impacts, and to seize the opportunities that arise.

The interdisciplinary COIN (Cost of Inaction – Assessing Costs of Climate Change for Austria) project evaluates the economic effects of climate change on Austria. This is done by way of a scenario-based analysis of possible climate change impacts within and across twelve key sectors in combination with an assessment of socio-economic developments. Scenarios are plausible alternative future situations whose analysis allows to estimate bandwidths between negative and positive impacts and to identify critical constellations. The COIN project’s main scenario is based on the assumption of the 2°C global warming limit for the 2050 time horizon. This assumption presupposes stricter than currently observed climate policies. The analyses presented here already take account of individual adjustments and only show the currently quantifiable section of all possible impacts. Further research is necessary, especially concerning the impacts that according to the current state of research cannot yet be quantified.