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Please see Appendix I for a Glossary of Acronyms Used in this document.

Workshop Report:
Session 5
Setting Priorities: Observations, Research, Decision Support

In this final session [session 5], the objectives were to report on the Session 4 breakouts, and to discuss workshop findings and recommendations.  For the discussion, a panel was convened with moderator William H. Hooke, American Meteorological Society, and panelists Susan Avery, University of Colorado, Antonio J. Busalacchi, University of Maryland, Anthony C. Janetos, Heinz Center, and Aristides Patrinos, Department of Energy. 

The panel addressed four cross-cutting questions:

• Needs:  What information do we need to better support decision makers and refine CCSP’s future decision support priorities? What are the most promising areas for future application of climate science?
• Current knowledge:  Given the answers to question 1, what types of research and observations would provide the greatest benefit to decision makers?
• Communication:  How can we better communicate knowledge to decision makers, and how can we more effectively maintain a continuing dialogue? What activities might CCSP contemplate in order to better connect the whole of the research enterprise to the public interest?
• Capacity:  What types of capacity do we most need to strengthen to build trust with and provide effective support to decision makers?  (e.g., observations, data/information systems, nodes linking existing resources at a variety of spatial scales, training for use of climate and environmental data in decision support, analytic methods, tools, etc.)

Dr. Hooke asked the panel to take stock of the last two and a half days in considering guidance on priority setting for advancing research and its application.

Dr. Avery recommended several areas of need within the Program. 

• It is essential that programs connect the supply of information and new knowledge with its specific demand.  This is a process that requires on-going interaction.
• There is a need for continual development of enabling technologies, such as GIS visualization, query-based data bases, etc.
• The Program should review the flow of information to ensure it is generating and inspiring solutions and changes, such as application to adaptation strategies, and the extent to which the information is incorporated into operational decisions.
• More emphasis should be placed on activities that bridge across science, economics, and humanities, as well as sustaining partnerships and inspiring innovation and organizational learning.
• Take stock of current knowledge.  Are research needs being funded, and do they have high enough priority in the agencies?
• Use multiple approaches to identify and describe what is known versus what remains unknown -- where degrees of freedom are defined, where models can be developed, and where climate can be characterized. 
• Improve and develop a variety of approaches for communications.
• Develop partnerships.  They require time, effort, and trust.  A commitment to a range of sustained communications is essential to the CCSP effort.
• Build capacity to engage a broad set of partners.  Early adapters and pioneers are critical to the overall effort.  CCSP should focus on its unique role in the context of what others are doing in related areas.   Its role should be influenced by expected outcomes that the Program hopes to influence in the context of a broad set of public goods that represent an investment in solutions.

Dr. Busalacchi emphasized that for this community, the mantra should be regional, regional, regional—place-based science. His recommendations were:

• Integration: Work toward a research agenda that doesn’t divide by time scale. Our scientific inquiries should be fully integrated, from climate variability through climate change and back toward extreme events.
• Data management and information activities such as PCMDI and NIDIS provide an important opportunity for integration.
• CCSP needs to consider the process for identifying emerging public policy issues that require the attention of science. 
• Develop a plan for transition from research to applications.
• Develop an assessment of our ability to predict climate on seasonal to interannual timescales. 
• CCSP needs to consider a strategy for forcings beyond greenhouse gases, including aerosols, air quality, and land use/land cover change. 
• Improve communication across all disciplines to link science to decision options. This includes engaging user communities at all stages to understand their needs and how information products are used. 
• Build additional capacity for scientific integration and decision support.   This includes regional assessments in parallel with the existing 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products.  
• Programs such as NOAA’s Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment (RISA) Program, should become national and should be more than a NOAA program.
• Use constituent-driven strategies where stakeholders are engaged enough to weigh in on a consistent basis on funding priorities.
• Change from using a top-down strategy, as this has not worked in government.

Dr. Janetos began by referring to the CCSP decision support efforts as a “natural and logical outgrowth of one of the most innovative parts of the CCSP plan.”  His recommendations emphasized the process of supporting decision makers:

• Support for decision-making throughout the Program requires constant dialogue.  CCSP has to identify who the beneficiaries are, who the operational agents are, and who actually provides data and observations.
• Program managers need to engage beyond the federal level.  All kinds of decisions are being made and will be made; only some are about policy.  Some are about capital and private economic activities.
• Implement structures in the Program that routinely provide a voice for people from a variety of perspectives.  There are institutions that can do this – engage them.  Enhance the effectiveness and credibility of federal science programs.
• Invest judiciously with regard to the rest of the world.  One half of the world’s budget for global change research resides in the CCSP.
• On the subject of uncertainty, “Say what you know.” The elaboration of uncertainty is the foundation of scientific curiosity.  Some uncertainty is tolerable and some is not depending on the decision.   It’s most important to be clear and to acknowledge what the boundaries are.
• The inertia in the physical system means that we will be adapting for a very long time.  What can the science in the CCSP do to make adaptation more effective?
• CCSP needs to follow up on how the information it produces is used. This will be critical to the health of the decision support effort within the CCSP.
• Public perceptions of the issue are changing.  There are documented effects now.  It is important for the CCSP to understand that decision-making with respect to climate is not something that is far off in the future, but is happening now, and it is equally important to be engaged for the long term.

Dr. Patrinos recommended what he called, “an additional dimension” in the form of closer connections between the climate science community and disciplines in other departments and agencies. The climate science community should clearly justify what it is doing in terms of service to society.

Dr. Mahoney closed by addressing some of the issues raised during the workshop.  He noted that the panelists made some very provocative recommendations, and that these recommendations will be considered in the development of the Program’s future directions.  He emphasized the need for the Program to focus on interactions between science and “action.”   The program will attempt to direct energy to user interactions, as well as continue to advance better observations and basic science. 

Dr. Mahoney noted that a survey would be sent to participants requesting their feedback on the workshop and the Program’s decision support activities.  Results from the survey will be used to help guide current and future CCSP programs.  A brief summary of the survey results can be found in Appendix III.

Given the current national financial situation, the Program is being asked to make hard choices, but the Program will continue to push for progress and strive to provide this nation with the most credible climate information possible.