CLIMPACT is the Hellenic National Network of “Science at the service of the State and Society for tackling Climate Change”.
As described also in the overview in its official website, CLIMPACT has been established by the Hellenic General Secretariat for Research and Innovation, by decree of the Deputy Minister of Development and Research in 2019. The initiative is coordinated by the esteemed National Observatory of Athens as a pan-Hellenic network of emblematic and renowned academic, universitarian, and research institutions; the initial core of which comprised: the Academy of Athens, the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Hellenic Center for Marine Research, the National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”, the Research Center ‘ATHENA’, the National Technical University of Athens, the University of Crete, the Technical University of Crete, and the National Center for Social Research. Since 2019, the CLIMPACT Network has expanded to include also other Affiliated Members, so as to further complement and integrate scientific and research interdisciplinary expertise.
The main targets of CLIMPACT are “the integration, harmonization, and optimization of existing climate services, early warning systems“, as well as “supportive measurements and observations from relevant national infrastructures in Greece“, with particular focus on disasters related to climate change. These targets are achieved through work within the three main pillars of:
- Pillar 1. Climatic Parameters and Estimates from Paleoclimate to the Recent Past.
- Pillar 2. Climate Change: Impact – Adaptation – Response – Economic Valuation.
- Pillar 3. Hazard and Risk Assessment from Natural Disasters: Adaptation – Response – Economic Valuation.
The participation and contribution of CERIDES in important research-projects such as AQ-SERVE and ACCEPT (coordinated by The Cyprus Insitute), PYROLIFE (coordinated by Wageningen University), HEUREKA (coordinated by the Government of Styria), firEUrisk (coordinated by ADAI), and of course the NEMAUSUS European Centre-of-Expertise in Forest/Wildfires (coordinated by the French Securite Civile), as well as our coordination of RESPOND-A, all paved the way for the European University Cyprus to develop expertise such as to candidate to CLIMPACT.
On 21st March 2022, CERIDES-Director Prof. George Boustras, was officially informed by the National Observatory of Athens about the formal acceptance of EUC to the CLIMPACT Network, following a unanimous approval during the Network’s Meeting of 11 March 2022. European University Cyprus thus became the first Affiliated Member of CLIMPACT based outside of Greece.