Here we list the main steps that we have undertaken to develop the WCRP Implementation Plan:
July 2021 - June 2022
The JSC worked with the WCRP Secretariat to prepare a draft verson of what is now called the 'WCRP Science and Implementation Plan' (previously called the WCRP Implementation Plan). The draft plan was provided to the WCRP leadership at the 43rd Session of the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee (JSC-43).
July 2021
- Draft Science Plans for the WCRP Lighthouse Activities were presented at JSC-42. These plans were approved by the JSC at their closed session on 8 July 2021. The Lighthouse Activities will now proceed in launching their first activities, aimed at building wider collaboration in the community.
- The two new Core Projects, Earth System Modelling and Observations (ESMO) and Regional Information for Society (RifS), were also approved and will likewise consolidate their future plans in the next months.
- The WCRP Implementation Plan writing will now start and should be completed in 2023.
December 2020
An Extraordinary Session of the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee was held from 30 November to 3 December (open session) and 9 December (closed session) 2020. Community leaders presented the plans of how existing WCRP elements will fit into the new structure (see website for the agenda and documents). It was agreed in principle by the JSC to move forward towards this new structure while understanding that many details still need to be worked out, including how the governance, support, and cross-community communication will work.
September - December 2020
Nominations from across the WCRP community were approved, establishing Lighthouse Activity Science Plan Development Teams and 50+ Regional Focal points from around the world. A substantial number of online meetings took place in this period. A series of Climate Research Forums is planned for the first quarter of 2021. There was also a lot of planning meetings held within the Core Projects and with the leads from the councils and working groups that will combine to form two new homes: 'Earth System Modelling and Observational Capabilities' and 'Regional Climate Information for Societies.'
August 2020
In early August a call was sent out to WCRP core activities to ask them to nominate representatives to serve as regional focal points for a series of WCRP regional consultations and to serve on Lighthouse Activity science teams. On 13 August 2020, a meeting was held to plan the process of developing the outline of the WCRP Academy (Lighthouse Activity).
13 July 2020
The JSC-41 Report and accompanying slide presentation on the proposed new structure of WCRP are shared with JSC-41 participants.
9 — 22 July 2020
From the 9— 22 May 2020 a series of teleconferences were held with the JSC leadership and WCRP core activities to plan the way forward for implementing a proposed new structure and new science activities for WCRP.
18 — 22 May 2020
From the 18— 22 May 2020 the 41st Session of the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) was held online. Discussions during the week included consultation over a proposed new WCRP structure and associated elements, including proposed Lighthouse Activities that originated from the Hamburg Workshop in February 2020.
March to May 2020
Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) a WCRP Structure and Elements Workshop planned for March was canceled. In its place, the JSC Chair Detlef Stammer and Vice-Chair Helen Cleugh, together with the JSC Officers, held a number of consultation calls with core activities across WCRP.
24 — 26 February 2020
The WCRP High-level Science Questions and Flagship Workshop was held in Hamburg, Germany. Representatives of the WCRP science community gathered together to identify the most essential scientific directions for the Programme in the next decade. This resulted in 5 proposed Lighthouse activities. See the Hamburg Report.
7 — 13 December 2019
The WCRP Climate Science Week took place as part of the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco. This included a number of events where the WCRP Community came together to discuss the future of the Programme, including four town halls, a Union Session, and an Agency Lunch. More details are provided on the WCRP Climate Science Week webpages.
September — December 2019
Task teams on regional climate activities/information, data, and modeling were set up and put together reports for the JSC. These reports were sent to the WCRP JSC in advance of the WCRP Climate Science Week in San Francisco.
An updated version of the WCRP implementation slide presentation was produced: WCRP Implementation Plan: from Strategy to Action (October 2019) (PDF)
16 — 17 September 2019 - Community conference calls to discuss progress and next steps
Two conference calls were held where 48 leaders of the WCRP Community were briefed on progress since JSC-40 and next steps in the Implementation Plan process. A number of task teams will be set up to provide recommendations to the JSC on how to organize regional, modeling and data activities across the Programme. The terms of reference and membership of these task teams were discussed and refined. The recommendations of the task teams will feed into two community workshops that will be held early next year.
June 2019 - WCRP Strategic and Implementation Plans presentation slides produced
A set of MS Powerpoint presentation slides was produced for WCRP community members to use when discussing the WCRP Strategic Plan and Implementation Plan (latest version on the website).
WCRP Implementation Plan: from Strategy to Action (June 2019) (PDF)
6 — 10 May 2019 - 40th Session of the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee (JSC-40)
Geneva, Switzerland
The implementation of the WCRP Strategic Plan was one of the main discussion points during the 40th Session of the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee. At the end of the Session, the community had agreed on the timeline and milestones for the development of the WCRP Implementation Plan and produced a conceptual framework. Report pending.
4 — 5 May 2019 - WCRP Implementation and Transition Meeting
Geneva, Switzerland
The WCRP Implementation and Transition Meeting brought together the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee Chair, Co-chair, members of the WCRP community and the Joint Planning Staff to initiate discussions on the implementation of the WCRP Strategic Plan. The outcomes of the meeting fed into further discussion at the subsequent 40th Session of the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee. Please see the WCRP Implementation and Transition Meeting webpages for details of the meeting, the list of participants and the final report (under Documents).