A collaborative environment to embrace deep uncertainties in decision making on climate risks
Project state
closed
Project start
November 2021
Funding duration
27 months
Universities involved
UZH, ZHAW
Practice partner
City of Zurich, City of Winterthur, Swiss Re
Funding amount DIZH
CHF 239'000
DSS_Embrace aimed to enhance the capacity of practitioners based in the Canton of Zurich in managing climate risks by developing a Decision-Making under Deep Uncertainty (DMDU) framework. Using exploratory modelling and analysis (EMA), DSS_Embrace should allow users to assess and evaluate climate change adaptation actions across various scenarios of climate futures. A web application was developed as part of the project to inform on the impact of heat extremes in Zurich and the potential of adaptation options to alleviate such impacts. The web application has been informed by a workshop with practitioners which took place at the beginning of the project. Ex-post evaluation was done through the use of an online survey.
DSS_Embrace was finally integrated into the Swiss Inseri’s Open Data Project. Furthermore, the DSS_Embrace engaged with dissemination and communication activities through peer review publications, participation in the conferences (e.g., DMDU society meeting and European Geoscience Union), publications of tools on websites (SSCS website), and bilateral exchange with practitioners and policy makers on DMDU approaches and methods. As part of the project, we also developed the chatbot ChatClimate, which leverages advancements in large language models (LLM) with climate knowledge.
Publications
- Muñoz R, Vaghefi S.A., Sharma A., Muccione V. Reducing water security risk: a framework for policy assessment using exploratory modeling and analysis. (2024) Climate Risk Management, 45, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2024.100635
- Muccione V, Ewen T, Vaghefi S.A. A scoping Review on Climate Change Education. Plos Climate (in review). Pre-print at: https://doi.org/10.31223/X5MQ1M
- Vaghefi, S.A., Stammbach, D., Muccione, V. et al. ChatClimate: Grounding conversational AI in climate science. Commun Earth Environ 4, 480 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01084-x
- Vaghefi S, Muccione V, Neukom R, Huggel C, Salzmann N. (2022) Future Trends in Compound Heat Extremes in Swiss Cities – an Assessment Considering Deep Uncertainty and Climate Adaptation Options. Climate Extremes. (2022) http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4100358
- V. Muccione and S. Vaghefi contributed to a chapter each on the White Paper on Climate and AI of the Swiss Academy of Technology. The publication and factsheet can be accessed here.
Team
Dr. Veruska Muccione, UZH Department of Geography, Glaciology and Geomorphodynamics
Dr. Bernadette Sütterlin, ZHAW School of Engineering, Forschungsschwerpunkt Nachhaltige Energiesysteme
Dr. Seyed Saeid Ashraf Vaghefi, UZH Department of Geography, Glaciology and Geomorphodynamics
Practice partners
Call type: 1. Project-Call