In October, the Italian Regional Training Centre in Florence organized an International Training Course on “Seasonal Forecasts and Water Management in the Mediterranean Basin: Integrated Approach.” The course addressed the need to build capacities and develop mechanisms for delivery of climate services for water managers and users and for enabling risk mitigation strategies. It also identified the research and knowledge transfer demands of end users as well as contributed to the strengthening of existing regional networks for application of seasonal forecasts.
Some participants proposed to continue working together and with trainers following the course to create an open community of users/practitioners sharing and developing codes and methodologies for improving regional forecasting competences. The aim is to involve the National Hydrological and Meteorological Services, research/academic institutions and technical services/agencies in jointly developing an open source tool for seasonal forecasting.
Women were equally represented in the group of European and African agro-meteorologists, climatologists and agronomists in the course.
