Co-designing climate services for water planning

The document details a 2019 case study in Colombia's Campoalegre River Basin where the Tandem framework was used to bridge the gap between climate information providers and water planning users. Through a series of workshops and interviews, stakeholders co-defined adaptation challenges and designed the graphical interfaces of needed climate services. The process highlighted the importance of addressing power dynamics, building trust prior to implementation, and using tools like social mapping and individual questionnaires to ensure inclusive participation. The study also emphasizes the role of the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) tool in supporting robust decision-making within the Colombian POMCA planning framework.

• The Tandem framework consists of seven iterative steps designed to create sustainable and actionable climate services: identifying an adaptation challenge, engaging users, co-defining objectives, understanding institutional contexts, co-exploring data needs, appraising adaptation measures, and embedding the service in institutions.
• In the Campoalegre River Basin, stakeholders identified two primary adaptation challenges: improving land use to address vulnerabilities like floods and droughts, and enhancing climate education to foster behavioral change.
• The co-design process revealed that women in the coffee-growing sector experience distinct climate impacts; specifically, landslides or droughts affecting water infrastructure increase the time women must spend transporting water for household needs.
• Páramo ecosystems in the Andes, described as "water factories," were identified as highly vulnerable to climate change, which may alter their lower boundaries and impact their ability to retain approximately 50% of rainwater.
• The use of individual questionnaires was found to be essential for capturing the perspectives of overlooked groups, as standard workshops can be dominated by prevailing power relationships and those with more technical knowledge.
• The authors recommend that climate service providers include a preliminary stage focused on relationship building and trust generation before applying the Tandem framework to ensure more effective implementation.
• The Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) tool serves as a decision support system in the Campoalegre River Basin to integrate climate variables and human activities into the Plan de Ordenación y Manejo de Cuencas Hidrográficas (POMCA) planning process.

APA

Santos, T. F., & Swartling, Å. G. (2020). Co-designing climate services for water planning. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/co-designing-climate-services-for-water-planning-colombian-case-study.pdf

Chicago

Santos, Tania Fernanda, and Åsa Gerger Swartling. Co-designing climate services for water planning. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2020. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/co-designing-climate-services-for-water-planning-colombian-case-study.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Santos |first1=Tania Fernanda |last2=Swartling |first2=Åsa Gerger |title=Co-designing climate services for water planning |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=September 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/co-designing-climate-services-for-water-planning-colombian-case-study.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{santos2020codesigning, author = {Santos, Tania Fernanda and Swartling, Åsa Gerger}, title = {{Co-designing climate services for water planning}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/co-designing-climate-services-for-water-planning-colombian-case-study.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }