23 October, 2023 – 28 October, 2023 UTC+0
The next WCRP Open Science Conference, focusing on “Advancing climate science for a sustainable future”, with the major goal of bridging science and society.
For the first time, WCRP will hold its Open Science Conference in Africa to further develop mutual understanding and explore opportunities and challenges of the continent. The conference will be hosted by the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) at the Kigali Convention Centre, on behalf of the Government of Rwanda.
The following themes will be covered during the conference:
- Theme 1: Advances in Climate Research
Theme leads: Regina Rodrigues, Rowan Sutton, Orli Lachmy
Showcasing progress and future challenges in understanding Earth’s climate system, and advances in climate science capacity around the world. Sessions will cover, inter alia, climate processes; gaps identified by IPCC; energy, water and carbon cycles; climate modelling, observations and model-data fusion. - Theme 2: Human Interactions with Climate
Theme leads: Lisa Alexander, Pierre Friedlingstein, Izidine Pinto
Analyzing key drivers and impacts of climate change (past, current and future), identifying risks to human and ecosystem health. Sessions will cover, inter alia, climate extremes and associated risks and impacts; water availability, food, ecosystems, health and cities in a changing climate. - Theme 3: Co-produced Climate Services and Solutions
Theme leads: Cathy Vaughan, Bruce Hewitson, Mouhamadou Bamba Sylla
Connecting scientific knowledge, planning, decision-making and policy processes. Sessions will cover, inter alia, near-term regional and climate change information for adaptation and mitigation; climate scenarios; climate intervention research.
Conference history
Every decade, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) brings together communities from around the world to showcase recent and significant advances in climate science, identify gaps and opportunities, and jointly develop future plans.
Registration
Registration for both on-site and virtual attendance is now open, however the deadline for reduced Early-bird registration rates has now passed. You can register at this link.
On-site attendance
| Type of participation | Registration fee | What does registration include for onsite attendance? |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | CHF 750 | – Admission to all oral and poster sessions and to the exhibition area – Coffee breaks – Lunches – Icebreaker reception – Conference dinner – Conference bag – Virtual access (access from any device to the program, sessions, poster gallery, shared experience between in-person and remote attendees, etc..) |
| Early career researcher (ECR)* | CHF 300 | |
| Low and lower-middle income countries ** | CHF 300 | |
| Daily registration (all categories) | CHF 250 | |
Virtual attendance
| Type of participation | Registration fee | What does registration include for virtual attendance? |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | CHF 300 | Virtual access (access from any device to the program, webinar sessions, poster gallery, shared experience between in-person and remote attendees, etc..) |
| Low and lower-middle income countries ** | CHF 0 |
*At the WCRP Open Science Conference 2023, Early career researchers (ECRs) are master and PhD students, researchers, and practitioners within 7 years of highest obtained degree (excluding parental and care leave). Practitioners are those working at the interface of society, policy, practice, and research.
** Low and lower-middle income countries of where you work or study, to see the list click here.
Accommodation
Preferential rates have been secured for the WCRP Open Science Conference delegates at hotels in Kigali.
Taxis are available at the airport. The cost of a ride from the airport to the hotels listed here would vary between USD15 and USD30.
WCRP will be offering free transport to and from KCC and several locations in Kigali in the mornings and evenings. More details will be posted closer to the event – check the WCRP OSC webpage for more information. Walking is encouraged, but Kigali is very hilly, and it does rain in October, sometimes very hard.
Full accommodation details can be found on the WCRP OSC website.
Hotels map:
Daily programme
A typical day at the Open Science Conference
| Time | Session | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 – 10:00 | Plenary in the Dome Bringing it all together | Topics will vary from day-to-day including the conference opening, Africa-specific topic(s), cross-cutting themes or issues |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Break | Tea and coffee break |
| 10:30 – 12:30 | 5 Parallel Sessions | Sessions comprising keynote talks from invited speakers and talks selected from abstract submissions, Q&A and panel discussions |
| 12:30 – 14:00 | Break | Lunch & Side events |
| 14:00 – 16:00 | 5 Parallel Sessions | Sessions comprising keynote talks from invited speakers and talks selected from abstract submissions, Q&A and panel discussions |
| 16:00 – 18:00 | Posters & Refreshments | Live poster session at KCC |
| 18:00 – 18:45 | Plenary in the Dome Evening Dialogue | Topics will vary from day-to-day including the conference opening, Africa-specific topic(s), cross-cutting themes or issues |
| From 18:45 | Free time | Dining, networking, socializing |
| 20:00 – 22:00 | Evening Session | Town halls, learning labs, workshops |
CMIP side events
The CMIP IPO are running a number of side events across the conference. Details of the four sessions we’re helping to run can be found below. For all events, pre-registration is suggested. Registration forms are linked in the event descriptions below.
Equitable access to climate modelling data
When?
Monday 23 October, 12:30-14:00 (Day 1, lunchtime)
Description
The demand for and interest in the results of climate model simulations, including data emerging from WCRP’s CMIP project, is growing rapidly. Users now come from an increasingly diverse range of backgrounds beyond the climate research community including climate services, impact modelling, regional and local policy/decision makers, and indigenous communities from across the globe.
This discussion session seeks to identify key barriers to data provisioning and access across a wide range of roles, especially with varying levels of access to resources.
In-person/hybrid?
Hybrid
Registration Form
CMIP and CORDEX evaluation and analysis tools
When?
Monday 23 October, 20:00-22:00 (Day 1, evening session)
Description
A workshop, learning lab bringing together CMIP and CORDEX modellers and users. We will showcase some tools and their primary area of use and advantages as well as their limitations. We will also actively discuss how we can achieve more common community development to prevent duplication of effort and confusion for all levels of users and producers. This includes discussing what tools are suitable for what purpose, for instance if they work for both global, regional and very high-resolution models. The workshop will also touch upon where and for what purpose global or regional/local models are best suited or adequate.
After the initial tool demos, we will split into break-out groups to allow participants to have a more in depth demonstration and discussion on the tools of their choice. There will be time for participants to move around the breakout groups to learn about a number of different tools during the session. The input from the break-out groups will be presented back in plenum.
In-person/hybrid?
In-person only
Registration Form
Addressing barriers to a diverse and inclusive climate modelling community
When?
Tuesday 24 October, 12:30-14:00 (Day 2, lunchtime)
Description
As identified in the ‘A WCRP vision for accessible, useful and realistic climate modelling systems’ report there is a need for a bigger, more diverse and more cross-disciplinary climate modelling community to deliver the ambition of accessible, reliable and useful modelling systems for the world. Due to many complex factors, there is poor representation of the global South particularly in the global modelling community where the capacity to support expensive infrastructure and skills limits all but the wealthiest countries. However, with young populations, huge ambition and regionally specific expertise and insight, as demonstrated in the CORDEX domains, the global South offers huge value that must be nurtured through meaningful north-south collaboration and significant investment.
This panel discussion will bring together representatives from across the climate modelling community, capacity building experts/organisations and importantly led by the young scientists from the global South to discuss practical actions and recommendations from the short term and small scale to real game changers.
In-person/hybrid?
Hybrid
Registration Form
Strengthening the observational-modelling interface to meet emerging scientific needs critical to our understanding of climate change
When?
Wednesday 25 October, 12:30-14:00 (Day 3, lunchtime)
Description
This World café session is focused on developing community ideas to strengthen the observational-modelling interface towards meeting near term and emerging scientific needs. This fast-paced interactive session on Day 3 of the WCRP Open Science Conference 2023 will continue to investigate current and emerging key challenges and further develop a provisional roadmap of practical actions which was curated at GCOS 2022 conference. This roadmap will support evolving GCOS, WCRP CMIP and ESMO and ESA work programmes.
In-person/hybrid?
Hybrid
Registration Form
CMIP Community Lunch
Anyone involved in the CMIP community, or anyone who would like to be involved in the CMIP community, is welcome to join us for lunch on Thursday to meet and network with other community members. Grab your lunchbox from the Concourse, then meet us at the WCRP Booth at 12:30!
