Transdisciplinary co-production of climate services: a focus on process
Anna Steynor, Jessica Lee, Amy Davison
Abstract
In recent years there has been a shift away from the implementation of climate services as, primarily, a science focused activity, to one which embraces the value of transdisciplinary co-production, broadening the scope of admissible knowledge in the design of climate services. Using this shift in thinking as a basis for project design, we outline a case study of transdisciplinary co-production of climate services with the City of Cape Town municipality that explores the value of the transdisciplinary process. Through the mechanism of an embedded researcher, the study set out to improve the understanding of different ways that climate terminology is used by policy and decision makers within the City. This understanding was used as a basis for co-producing climate learning tools that expose the differential understanding of climate terminology in cross-sectoral decision-making groups at the City. While the project was successful in developing co-produced learning tools, we argue that the learning, understanding and trust relationships developed as a result of the transdisciplinary co-production process could be considered more valuable than the learning tools themselves. Therefore, we stress the need for a greater focus and value to be placed on the process elements of transdisciplinary co-production going forward.