Adopting a user-oriented approach to make climate information more accessible across Europe

The ClimVis Europe pilot project identifies a significant gap between the production of complex climate data and its usability for non-expert decision-makers and educators in Europe. Through surveys and focus groups across six countries, the project found that existing tools often exclude users due to a lack of native-language options—particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia—and a failure to link real-time extreme weather events with long-term climate trends. The findings advocate for the co-development of intuitive, multilinguistic tools that provide necessary context to support climate risk reduction and adaptation strategies.

• There is a critical need for climate information to be presented more effectively to support adaptation and reduce risks, specifically requiring easy access, native-language availability, and the ability to connect real-time weather with long-term trends.
• Existing European climate tools suffer from two primary deficiencies: they are predominantly available only in English and they lack the context needed to link current extreme weather with historical or future trends.
• A survey of 390 users across six countries revealed a strong preference for native-language access, with 95% preferring it and 88% currently using it; Polish participants showed particularly low willingness to use English (18%).
• Users across different sectors identified precipitation (averages, droughts, and heavy precipitation) and temperatures (averages and heat waves) as the most relevant climate parameters.
• Evaluation of three sample tools showed that while the Global Climate Monitor was the most accessible and clear, the World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal was the most stimulating and novel, and the Copernicus Climate Information Portal was perceived as the most complex and least clear for end-users.
• There is a pronounced 'West-East divide' in the availability of national climate information tools, with well-established systems in Germany and Sweden but few native-language tools in Russia and Eastern Europe.

APA

Hoy, A., Swartling, Å. G., & Leander, E. (2022). Adopting a user-oriented approach to make climate information more accessible across Europe. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/adopting-a-user-oriented-approach-to-make-climate-information-more-accessible-across-europe.pdf

Chicago

Hoy, Andreas, Åsa Gerger Swartling, and Elin Leander. Adopting a user-oriented approach to make climate information more accessible across Europe. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/adopting-a-user-oriented-approach-to-make-climate-information-more-accessible-across-europe.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hoy |first1=Andreas |last2=Swartling |first2=Åsa Gerger |last3=Leander |first3=Elin |title=Adopting a user-oriented approach to make climate information more accessible across Europe |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=March 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/adopting-a-user-oriented-approach-to-make-climate-information-more-accessible-across-europe.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hoy2022adopting, author = {Hoy, Andreas and Swartling, Åsa Gerger and Leander, Elin}, title = {{Adopting a user-oriented approach to make climate information more accessible across Europe}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/adopting-a-user-oriented-approach-to-make-climate-information-more-accessible-across-europe.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }