Advancing the Climate Action Decision Support Tool: A Collaborative Journey through Co-Design Workshops

The first week of March marked a significant stride in climate action collaboration within the Climate-4-CAST project. The Tool Co-Design Workshops, conducted online on March 5 and 8, brought together project partners and associated organisations to further co-develop the Climate Action Decision Support Tool framework, a key output of the project.

Unveiling the Tool Basics

Led by the project partners from the City of Tampere and Kausal Ltd., and with external support from Futurice Ltd., the workshops hosted 38 participants from 17 organisations across the Baltic Sea Region.  It served as a melting pot of ideas, with representatives from the whole Climate-4-CAST partnership and the project associated organisations engaging in fruitful discussions on the Tool framework. They explored its objectives, functionalities, user needs, data requirements, and stakeholder engagement. Participants engaged also in use case exercises, crafting user stories that encapsulated key stakeholders, data limitations, and impact goals. This collaborative effort laid the groundwork for the further development of the Tool design schematic.

Forging Collaboration with the Associated Organisations

The first workshop not only advanced the project efforts for the Tool development but also set the stage for collaboration between the project partners and the associated organisations of Climate-4-CAST, comprising local public authorities from the Baltic Sea Region. This promising start sets the stage for close collaboration also in the future, starting with a technical testing of the Tool offered to the associated organisations in March-April 2024.

Delving into the Tool Functionalities and the Piloting Action Plans

The momentum continued on the second workshop day, with participants from the project partners exploring the Tool functionalities and requirements for the piloting in the partner cities. Feedback from the Climate-4-CAST pilot cities played a crucial role in further refining the Tool design schematic to ensure alignment with the diverse city needs and interests. Discussions also focused on overarching governance factors and local framework conditions, aiming to develop the action plans for the piloting, and the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the pilot evaluation, emphasizing the importance of a tailored approach to the pilot implementation.

Next steps: A Spring of Fruitful Activities

The active week of workshops set the stage for an eventful period ahead. Over the coming months, the Tool framework will be finalised and set ready for the next project phase: the piloting and evaluating.

Insights from the workshops’ discussions will be integrated into Tool design and operational frameworks, driving project progress. Ongoing collaboration will continue within the partnership through the technical Tool testing sessions, online exchanges and through workshops and discussions held during the next project consortium meeting in Aarhus in late April.

Text: Hanna Meriläinen, Project Manager, City of Tampere

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