DIAMOND

Overview

Our group is part of the newly funded EU project "Delivering the next generation of Open Integrated Assessment Models for net-zero, sustainable development" (DIAMOND). external page DIAMOND is a Horizon Europe funded project aiming to deliver the next generation of open Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) for Net-Zero sustainable development.  

IAMs are computer simulations describing interactions between the climate and society. The interplay among climate mitigation, adaptation and between climate action and other development agendas, including sustainable resource use, requires an integrated ecosystem of disciplines, methods, and tools. IAMs provide that ecosystem, aiming to offer policy-relevant insights into global environmental change and sustainable development issues with quantitative descriptions of key processes in the human and earth systems and their interactions.

Despite the significant evolution of IAMs in the last decade, there remain several criticisms on their design, use, and adequacy to respond to questions on climate change adaptation and mitigation. Particular consideration needs to be given to making the models relevant (addressing the needs of stakeholder groups), open, transparent and accessible to the modelling community and stakeholders. To do so, the project will follow a transdisciplinary approach led by CSTS, to co-create transformational impact of our modelling framework, thereby working with an array of disciplines and stakeholders.

Through this co-design approach DIAMOND consortium composed of 19 partners across Europe and US, will update, upgrade, and fully open six IAMs that are emblematic in scientific and policy processes. It will further enhance modelling capacity to assess the feasibility and desirability of Paris-compliant mitigation pathways, their interplay with adaptation, circular economy, and other SDGs.

For maximum transparency of the model developments, we will establish communities of practice, open model enhancements through readily available detailed-documentation of the model developments, and host capacity building workshops to increase accessibility of IAMs outside of the IAM community.

If you would be interested in conducting research related to this project, please visit the thesis page to explore our possible topics.

Approach

TD research follows three phases, as does DIAMOND’s codesign approach. Phase 1 (In DIAMOND, Phase 1: Toward mutual understanding) familiarises different groups with the individual mental models that define the problem space and then jointly frames the project boundaries. The second phase (Phase 2: Toward model coproduction) involves coproducing solution-oriented knowledge that addresses the problem framing defined in Phase 1. Finally, the third phase (Phase 3: Toward model co-ownership) integrates and applies the coproduced knowledge into societal and scientific practices. Reaching mutual understanding of the codesign process is a necessary first step to understand what DIAMOND aims to coproduce, with which stakeholders, and when in the project timeline. The output of Phase 1 is a set of stakeholder-informed research questions guiding the coproduction activities of Phase 2.