WISER PHASE 3: Co-production manual update (2025 – 2027)
Under the third phase of the WISER programme Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa, SSN and partners are updating the key publication from phase 2: A manual for co production in African weather and climate services. SSN is working with the Met Office, Kulima Integrated Development Solutions and Save the Children. WISER is funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), with a mission to deliver transformational change in the quality, accessibility and use of weather and climate information services at all levels of decision making for sustainable development in Africa.
The updated manual will provide guidance on a range of co-production approaches that can be used to develop weather and climate services that seek to address climate-related risks facing affected people, sectors and livelihoods. New case studies and latest thinking on co-production will further enhance the manual. With co-production engaging a wide range of actors across sectors, institutions and levels of decision-making, the manual’s intended audience includes practitioners and academics using co-production to improve the impact of their own work, as well as those commissioning the development of climate services.
WISER phase 2: Transform (2018-2021)
WISER Transform is a phase 2 project under the WISER programme. The WISER Transform project is under the East Africa component of the programme, managed by the UK’s Met Office. WISER Transform was led by SSN, in partnership with the Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG), ICF, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI).
The WISER Transform project offered a novel approach to improving the generation and use of weather and climate information by enhancing the supply of user-relevant weather and climate information through co-production and capacity development. It will create a learning and exchange environment within WISER and beyond to apply co-production approaches, better understand the drivers of user uptake of weather and climate information as well as case studies on measuring the socio-economic benefit of using climate services. The project will also support the WISER programme on monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) and articulating transformational change and building capacity in African researchers and practitioners to apply the approaches used in the project.
Read the blog post written by SSN’s Suzanne Carter on co-production, including how the Transform project is distilling lessons learnt within WISER as phase two. WISER Transform, in collaboration with FCFA, produced a manual on co-production entitled: A manual for co‑production in African weather and climate services. The manual outlines the building blocks and principles for implementing co-production as well as guidance on finding the value in good co-production. The manual is supported by a suite of case studies of co-production drawn from across Africa. These case studies demonstrate how implementing the principles and building blocks play out in practice.
Learning from WISER
The WISER TRANSFORM project has officially drawn to a close and has developed four briefs that draw on the lessons and recommendations from the final learning event. These briefs aim to inform the design of WISER Phase 3 and future climate service projects and programmes.
- Enhancing co-production in climate services projects: Lessons from the WISER programme for project implementers
- Redefining business as usual with a gender lens: Designing and implementing gender-sensitive climate services projects for funders and implementers
- Designing the next generation of co-produced climate services: Enabling funding partners to develop impactful climate services projects and programmes