The Regional Information for Society (RifS) Core Project has started planning new activities and full connections with other WCRP Core Projects and Lighthouse Activities. To achieve this, RIfS will be key in implementing targeted research on regional climate information and developing connections with stakeholder communities to enhance the construction, communication, and adoption of climate information by society.
The coordination of all these new activities will require strong support from a project office. WCRP is delighted that the new RIfS International Project Office (IPO) is hosted by Ouranos, located in Montréal, Canada. The Ouranos consortium brings together more than 450 researchers, experts, practitioners, and decision-makers from many different disciplines, collectively working on applied research programs and projects.
Terms of Reference – RIfS International Project Office
- The RIfS-IPO is located at the Ouranos Headquarters in Montréal, Québec, Canada
- The RIfS-IPO consists of a Director, qualified professional(s) and support staff. Subject to the overall strategic and implementation directives of the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee (JSC), the RIfS-IPO works in close cooperation and liaison with the WCRP Secretariat in Geneva.
- The Director of RIfS-IPO will be jointly selected by Ouranos and the WCRP Secretariat, in consultation with the JSC. He/she shall report and provide support to the RIfS Scientific Steering Group (SSG) for the overall RIfS activities.
- The Director of RIfS-IPO will report to Ouranos for administrative matters only. The Director will report to the RIfS SSG, the WCRP Secretariat, and the JSC for any other matters.
- The primary function of the RIfS-IPO is to provide overall support to planning and implementation of RIfS priorities and overall governance, to ensure appropriate international coordination and communication between the RIfS SSG and groups withing the RIfS structure, and collaboration with related WCRP and other international programmes.
- In close consultation with the above governing bodies, the RIfS-IPO will take due consideration of the outcomes of RIfS meetings to develop and coordinate the implementation of RIfS Science Plan.
- The RIfS IPO should follow the guidelines of the WCRP Communication Strategy regarding all aspects of communication of RIfS activities and outputs, while keeping the WCRP Secretariat aware of such activities and outputs.
- The RIfS-IPO will work in close collaboration with the WCRP Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) IPO, hosted by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) - Sweden, and the Global Extreme Platform (GEP) Support Unit, hosted by the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST) – China.
- The RIfS-IPO coordinates and supports the work of working groups, panels and committees created under RIfS. This involves organizational, communication, and dissemination aspects of RIfS. This includes the following responsibilities:
- To provide secretariat, administrative, financial, technical and scientific support to those bodies;
- To work with those bodies on the coordination and implementation of RIfS Science Plan, in close liaison with – and due consideration of – existing and future elements of the RIfS structure;
- To lead the logistical organization of relevant sessions, meetings, workshops, conferences, training sessions, teleconferences and other activities relevant to RIfS;
- To coordinate associated communication and outreach, including newsletters;
- To provide oversight, update maintenance of associated web pages;
- To assist in mobilizing funds for RIfS activities;
- To secure resources for RIfS-IPO staff and operations;
- To promote recruiting secondments to join the RIfS-IPO;
- To manage a process supporting fundamental RIfS activities.