In South America (SA), droughts and heat extremes can have devastating impacts, in particular for agriculture and urban areaIn South America (SA), droughts and heat extremes can have devastating impacts, in particular for agriculture and urban areas. Currently, effective adaptation is yet often not possible because near term (seasonal-to-decadal) predictions produced by climate models are highly uncertain. Achieving progress on these critical time-scales is particularly difficult due to a lack of understanding of the combined role of thermodynamic changes and changes in large-scale circulation which can be forced or due to natural variability. To address this, I will combine storyline approaches with causal inference and climate modeling to provide a comprehensive storyline description of plausible near term changes in the Southern Hemisphere large-scale circulation and the associated regional drought and heat extreme impacts in SA. These storylines will be targeted to inform agriculture and urban adaptation and will be strongly grounded on physical process understanding. Open access data and code to allow flexible adaptation of the methodology to other regions of the SH will be provided. The expected outcomes of this activity include high-impact publications, delivery of policy-relevant information to key stakeholders in South America, open access data and code and educational/computational resources for climate service providers. Throughout this activity, I will broaden my research scope and skills, gain training in leadership roles and strengthen my scientific network. This will make me a very competitive candidate for independent research positions in physical climate science and interdisciplinary climate adaptation initiatives. Overall, the initiative will impact our understanding of the Southern Hemisphere near term changes and regional impacts, which is critical for the socio-ecological adaptation of the Global South thus contributing to climate justice.

"<< Background >>All European countries have signed the UNCRPD (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and, as a result, they are challenged to “develop an inclusive education system at all levels” (Art. 24). The Strategic Partnership GovInEd - Governance In(clusive) Education - aims to foster the dialogue between European countries on educational reforms towards inclusion, change-management strategies, the structure and constellations of actors in the governance systems and their role for an inclusive education reform and to increase the quality and coherence of governance in inclusive education reforms in European countries. The activities during the 36 months of the project - the multilevel communities of practice in selected regions, the research, the transnational meetings, the intellectual outputs, the multiplier events - will lead to an improvement of transnational, inter-level and inter-actor cooperation in the field of educational governance of inclusive education reforms. The goal is to empower and professionalize relevant agents and stakeholders in the European education systems, to enact reforms towards an inclusion reform by understanding the means of efficient and effective governance strategies and benefitting from a greater awareness of the challenges and options and underlying obstacles in the governance of the whole system.<< Objectives >>Inclusive education reforms and change processes are complex phenomena on various systemic and policy levels. To ensure true innovation and sustainability, all players, agents and stakeholders need to be actively committed and involved, and updated, on the entirety of ongoing change-processes. The agents and stakeholders in inclusive education reforms are institutions and individuals in education policy and practice - with and without special needs all together - such as school administration, school leaders, teachers, parents, students, as well as tertiary institutions, like training institutions, colleges and universities. The Universities are responsible for the qualification and professionalization of many professionals within the future inclusive education system. From a governance perspective, rights and aims, obstacles and challenges, guidance and different control functions of every subsystem and institution involved need to be considered in change processes.The substantial differences between the 4 participating countries (Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain) in terms of the development-stage of inclusive education, the actor constellations in governance and the strategies for the reform-processes are essential. Yet, these differences represent a significant resource for GovInEd due to the possibility of comparing, discussing, exchanging and reflecting upon examples and experiences in the field of inclusive education governance. The research goals are to explore how and why coordination or implementation does or does not work in all levels of the governance system (multi-level-analyses of governance) and to gain knowledge and expertise that can be shared through professionalization of stakeholders on governance of inclusive education. The consortium consists of higher education institutions and representatives from regional school-authorities/ organizations. Other agents are included through the communities of practice (regional level).<< Implementation >>Project activities: (1) Establishment of “Regional Multi-level Communities of Practice” (institutions and actors involved in the inclusive education reform) to survey the multi-level-system of governance (multi-level-analysis of governance);(2) Development of an advanced “Training and Education Modul”, as well as “Curricula”, including course materials and practical studies (in the governance levels, like policy, school administration) to impact governance of inclusive education systems;(3) Development of a “Web-based Platform with OER”. The platform is designed to provide barrier-free and inclusion-aware access to the research in the four participating countries to all of Europe, even beyond the project period. For this purpose, interactive formats are used (for example: Talk-to-spot). The revised curriculum and module developed within the GovInEd project will be made accessible through the web-based platform with Open Educational Resources for the training and professionalization of the different actors in schools and school administration (or other institutional levels of governance). They will be sustainably developed, evaluated and improved during the 36-month time span. Furthermore, the use and establishment of the barrier-free web-based platform of GovInEd and OER (e.g., examples of inspiring, effective and efficient practices in the field of governance of inclusive education reforms from the four countries) will help foster future international cooperation, communication and mutual learning processes towards better governance models in inclusive educational reforms in other European regions and countries.(4) Organization of Multiplier events, for publicizing and disseminating the results and intellectual outputs of GovInEd. The multiplier events, organised following quality criteria of inclusive event designs focusing accessibility and full participation as well as quality criteria of sustainability-awareness and green-event-elements, will give an audience of respective actors in the governance of inclusive education reforms the opportunity to get an insight into international, inspiring practice of efficient and effective governance and change management.<< Results >>The following project results and outcomes are expected:(O1) Multilevel network analyses of international governance systems, structures and strategies in inclusive education reforms(O2) Curriculum/ Module for training and professionalization ""Governance of inclusive Education/ International""(O3) Barrier-free web-based e-Learning and information platform providing AI-supported access to materials and OER on governance of inclusive educationWe expect furthermore a transfer in experiences and competencies focusing the successful multilevel realization of inclusion considering the special needs of all persons and actors involved at any stage or level: on the level of the project work and collaboration between the partners and in our teams, on the level of our target groups, on the level of our networks and multipliers and dissemination activities, to demonstrate how inclusion-aware project work, research, event-design and open educational resources can be implemented considering a maximum of participation, quality and sustainability."

ECHOES is a multi-disciplinary research project providing policy makers with comprehensive information, data, and policy-ready recommendations about the successful implementation of the Energy Union and SET plan. Individual and collective energy choices and social acceptance of energy transitions are analysed in a multi-disciplinary process including key stakeholders as co-constructors of the knowledge. To account for the rich contexts in which individuals and collectives administer their energy choices, ECHOES utilizes three complementary perspectives: 1) individual decision-making as part of collectives, 2) collectives constituting energy cultures and life-styles, and (3) formal social units such as municipalities and states. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a better Energy Union, system change is required. While technological change is a key component in this change, successful implementation of that change relies on the multi-disciplinary social science knowledge that ECHOES produces. Therefore, three broad technological foci which will run as cross-cutting issues and recurrent themes through ECHOES: smart energy technologies, electric mobility, and buildings. All three technology foci address high impact areas that have been prioritised by national and international policies, and are associated with great potential savings in greenhouse gas emissions. ECHOES’ uniquely comprehensive methodological approach includes a representative multinational survey covering all 28 EU countries plus Norway and Turkey, syntheses of existing data and literature, policy assessments, as well as quantitative experiments, interviews, netnography, focus groups, workshops, site visits and case studies in eight countries. All data collected in the project will be systematised in a built-for-purpose database that will serve both as an analytical tool for the project and as a valuable resource for stakeholders and researchers after the project’s lifetime.