Executive summary:
In this report, we present the progress in the Co-Creation process that is being developed in TRANSCEND after the first 18 months of project development. In the co-creation process stakeholders and scientists share knowledge and exchange ideas, opportunities, and possible innovations around the design and implementation of TAPs.
The three pillars of TRANSCEND provide the scientific and logistical basis for developing the co-creation process: 1) knowledge networks, 2) actionable modeling suite, and 3) monitoring and accounting toolbox.
The co-creation process in Living Labs is carried out following the activities described below:
- Stakeholders and scientists jointly design relevant scenarios and TAPs, including funding mechanisms and partnerships to create and implement sustainable investments in TAPs and their cost recovery.
- Stakeholders and scientists jointly develop the models.
- Stakeholders and scientists jointly evaluate the performance of TAPs
- Stakeholders and scientists jointly identify the TAPs with the highest potential.
- Stakeholders and scientists collaborate on the implementation of TAPs in the field.
Stakeholders and scientists collaborate on the implementation of TAPs in the field. During the period of this report (January 2023 to June 2024) we advanced in the co-creation process around the three pillars: In the knowledge network pillar a. mapping of stakeholders in each of the seven living labs was conducted and an identification of roles and power relations was carried out (Deliverable 1.1.) In each living lab, bilateral and group stakeholder meetings, calls and e-mails have been held to present the project, reach an agreement form the institutions to join the knowledge network, and be part of the co-creation process.
In the Deliverable Stakeholders Mapping (D.1.1), the living labs reported a total of 67 organizations with which they started their work to co-create knowledge networks. After the first Scenathon, 87 institutions reported in the Engagement Champions Indicators that are linked to the network. This means that there is an increase in the process of 30% of the total number of institutions that are part of the knowledge network and varies according to each living lab. In addition, we held our first meeting of the network of networks, an event that enables the exchange of information and knowledge between living labs. The first workshop was held in each of the 7 living labs, with common objectives in all of them. There we achieved the first interaction of all participants of the knowledge networks (180 people in all living labs), presented the TRANSCEND project, and explained its scientific foundations and the objective of the co-creation process. We determined with the stakeholders the existing water-related problems in each basin, the gaps in terms of modeling, and the need for follow-up by the stakeholders. In each living lab, we identified the 3 problems and modeling and monitoring gaps that are priorities in the region. It is concluded that many of the problems are related to water governance, as the lack of clear rules and economic instruments affects water resource management.
In the actionable modeling suite pillar, this first period identified the existing and available models to be used in each living lab, the modeling gaps in terms of regional needs, the preliminary TAPs that can be adopted by the living labs, and the models should be able to simulate. Each living lab is in a different state of progress in terms of modeling, from living labs that do not have hydrological and economic models for decision-making, and their information is scarce (Nitra), to living labs that already have a significant state of progress in terms of modeling, where they have integrated hydrological and economic models, but need to generate processes of co-creation and interaction with actors that dynamize the adoption of TAPs (Jucar).
Most living labs have hydrological models that need to be updated, adjusted, expanded in area, and coupled with economic models that allow the evaluation of TAPs for the co-creation process (Caplina, Mahanadi, Tympaki, Reno). One of the challenges in the living labs has been to obtain information and authorization for the use of existing models for the development of the pillar, a task that has been faced in different ways in each living lab. In the monitoring tools pillar, we have made progress in identifying the information gaps around monitoring in each living lab, which information needs best meet the needs of decision-makers, and which tools can be useful for the co-design, co-development, and evaluation of the TAPs both during and after the implementation of TRANSCEND. In this pillar, actions have been advanced in some basins according to the state of progress. For example, in the Caplina-Mauri-Desaguadero system, a tool is being designed for remote sensor monitoring of quinoa crops in the region, to identify spatial and temporal changes in water consumption.