The newly elected board of the Austrian climate research network Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA) wants to further strengthen CCCA's role as the central point of contact for climate change issues in Austria. All findings from climate research are to be optimally prepared to meet the needs of public and private institutions as well as citizens.

At the beginning of March, the board of the Austrian climate research network Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA) was newly elected. CCCA is an association made up of Austria's most important research institutions, with the aim of providing society and policymakers with scientifically sound information on climate-related topics. The new chairman of CCCA is Gerhard Wotawa, who is responsible for the "Data, Methods and Models" division at the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG).

A unique institution in Europe

Wotawa sees great potential in CCCA as a pooling of resources from a wide variety of Austrian research institutions: "This alliance of now 28 national university and non-university research institutions is unique in Europe. We can very efficiently ensure that research findings from different fields are well prepared, widely available, and easy to use. This is becoming ever more important, as climate change issues have long since moved beyond the natural sciences and now affect numerous other fields, such as the social and economic sciences. An important task of CCCA is also to support Austria, on the basis of scientific facts, in achieving the goals of the Paris climate protection agreement."

Currently in progress: report on climate change and health

CCCA sees itself as a partner to public administration at all levels (federal, state, and municipal) as well as to Austrian citizens. Particularly on topics where many different institutions would otherwise need to be consulted, CCCA offers a central point of contact for enquiries of all kinds. CCCA wants to enable policymakers and public administrators to make fact-based and evidence-based decisions drawing on the work of its members. The assessment reports and special reports of the Austrian Panel on Climate Change (APCC) serve this purpose, for example. A comprehensive report on "Climate Change and Health" is currently in preparation.

Further development into a central climate information centre

Over the coming years, the CCCA Service Centre and the CCCA Data Centre are to be developed into a unique information centre for climate-related issues. This encompasses everything from pooling the available infrastructure for researchers, providing information on research opportunities and partnerships, and making the necessary data available, through to the preparation and dissemination of research findings. "An important task of CCCA is also to further strengthen the position of Austrian climate research, in order to secure the long-term funding of high-quality research and to remain a relevant part of national and international projects," says Gerhard Wotawa.

Focus on public communication

Public communication of the complex topic of climate change and its impacts also plays a central role in the new CCCA board's 2021 strategy plan, says Wotawa: "Climate change affects everyone, so the public should be well informed about established findings as well as uncertainties. CCCA is planning new communication activities and formats to this end. A corresponding focus is also featured at the "K3 – The New Conference on Climate Communication" from 25 to 26 September 2017 in the city of Salzburg.

Securing funding beyond 2019

CCCA's funding from 2014 to 2018 came from structural funds provided by universities. The board's goal is to redevelop the organisation's structures and sustain them beyond 2019, says the newly elected CCCA chairman Gerhard Wotawa: "The Climate Change Centre Austria, as the network of the Austrian climate research community, has developed brilliantly since its founding in 2011. Not least through its three operational units — the secretariat, the Service Centre, and the Data Centre — it has become a model for similar activities across Europe. Our goal is to position CCCA, through consistent further development towards user orientation, as an indispensable voice for climate research in Austria well into the next decade."

The new board of the Climate Change Centre Austria

Chairman
Gerhard Wotawa, Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG)

Deputy Chairman
Daniela Hohenwallner, alpS
Herbert Formayer, Universität für Bodenkultur Wien (BOKU)
Helmut Haberl, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt (AAU)

Secretary
Elisabeth Rigler, Umweltbundesamt (UBA)

Deputy Secretary
Robert Jandl, Federal Research Centre for Forests (BFW)

Treasurer
Rupert Baumgartner, University of Graz

Deputy Treasurer
Reinhard Mechler, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

CCCA was founded in 2011 and consists of 28 Austrian research institutions. In recent years, CCCA has, amongst other things, established a central data platform for climate data, published a comprehensive report on climate change in Austria, and organises the annual "Austrian Climate Day", an interdisciplinary conference with more than 500 participants.