The first meeting of the Community of Practice on Strategic Planning for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) was held at WMO on 7 March. WMO project managers and staff supporting project management used the session to brainstorm on the best way to build the Community.
A Community of Practice gathers people who share a common concern, set of problems or interest in a topic to address both individual and common goals. In recent years, NMHSs have founded communities of practice to guide the orderly and accountable governance changes that are required to deal with the current and future challenges associated with weather, climate and water and to justify the rationale for further investment in NMHSs.
WMO lends support to Members that are developing national frameworks for climate services and strategic plans through various projects, programmes and partnerships. Collecting and sharing the lessons learned by other Members is also an essential part of this support. Therefore, the Strategic Planning Community of Practice aims to establish a space for dialogue on lessons learned and for knowledge exchange on the various topics related to strategic planning in NMHSs. The Community of Practice will provide a continuously improved, coherent and consistent source of information on methodologies, documentation, key success factors, analysis and risk identification, and mitigation measures.
The first meeting of the Community of Practice identified several areas in which WMO could support NMHSs:
- With the updating and monitoring the implementation of national action plans (strategic plans, national frameworks for climate, weather and hydrological services, etc.)
- With raising awareness of the opportunities and benefits of NMHSs at the national level and with development partners at the international level
- By enhancing partnerships with major donors and development banks and creating/consolidating relationships with specialized implementing partners
- By consolidate NMHSs relationships with their partners and users
- By improving WMO guidelines, templates and tutorials on strategic planning, quality management frameworks, institutional strengthening and other NMHS management aspects – human resources, accounting, marketing, user engagement management, etc.
As a next step, the Community of Practice will evaluate the specific needs of countries covered under the Climate Risk Early Warning System’s (CREWS) West Africa and South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO) projects, and extend advisory services to the heads of NMHSs in order to address specific gaps.
