MAIA – Maximising impact and accessibility of European climate research

Climate change adaptation and mitigation are complex problems that require a systemic approach to lead beliefs and behaviours of citizens and organizations to change. Such changes are more likely to happen when people engage in participatory processes that give them opportunities to access, internalize and act upon the right information to make good decisions. Such information and processes help people understand actual hazards, potential risks, possible scenarios, the benefits of acting, and the existing windows of opportunity for change.

Against this backdrop, the MAIA project seeks amplify the impact of European climate research by creating synergies between existing projects. It aims to facilitate scaling up and maximizing the impacts of these projects. The project focuses on enhancing connections between the available knowledge and the networks that can implement such knowledge. The MAIA project will work to make knowledge about climate resilience more accessible to a broader range of audiences, and to make such knowledge easier for more people to use. The project ultimately seeks to make outcomes of climate-related decision-making more economically sustainable.

Specifically, MAIA intends to:

• Connect networks of climate actors by liaising with and facilitating dialogues between existing networks on climate change research and innovation, and engaging with pan-European, regional and cities networks and partnerships.
• Make knowledge and research outcomes on climate resilience much more accessible and usable for regions, cities and local communities by harmonizing European climate adaptation and mitigation knowledge semantics and interconnecting existing knowledge platforms.
• Help climate change research projects establish synergies and develop clustering activities that deliver larger impact.

The MAIA project provides an opportunity to advance several signature areas of SEI research on knowledge management. It will advance the work started in PLACARD on transforming knowledge management using taxonomies; utilize the weADAPT platform’s microsites service; and further develop and scale up the Connectivity Hub’s technological infrastructure to link information published on different platforms. The project will incorporate new knowledge as it becomes available. It will also make relevant data and models “findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable” (“FAIR”). The project aims to increase the use of such knowledge, data and models to underpin better-informed and climate-resilient decision-making and actions.

Partners:

BRIGAID-connect (BRC)

Athena Research Center/Climate KIC Hub Greece (ARC)

Horizon Nua Innovation (HNUA)

Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI)

AQUATEC (AQUA)

Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Smart Cities Consulting (SCC)

REGIONS4 (R4)

Inmedia Solutions (IM)

ThatzAD (TAD)