The IRI Approach seeks solutions that work under real development conditions. In this regard, partnerships are vital at every stage of our work. We collaborate with stakeholders to understand how climate information might be useful. Together, we design the products and decision support tools that are needed. We work with other institutions to identify the gaps that have prevented progress and we bring together the knowledge, methods and networks necessary to create solutions. Before we implement a project, we establish its potential value by simulating the outcomes of past events with the new intervention strategies. We make design adjustments and reassess our ideas, until the stakeholders, partners and our own scientists are convinced that the climate risk management program can be operationalized toward improved decisions.
Climate risk management covers a broad range of potential actions, including: diversification (e.g. of crops)resource allocation rules (e.g. for water), insurance (e.g. for health or famine response), infrastructure development (e.g. of communications networks), and training (for researchers, managers, stakeholders and policy makers), within the appropriate cultural, physical and economic context. IRI divides its work in climate risk management into the following categories.
Decision Systems
The aim of IRI's Decision Systems research is to support the integration of modern climate information into sectoral decisions, such as in the management of water resources, agriculture and food security, and human and animal health. The research involves the study and enhancement of decision strategies in order to better incorporate climate risk and related environmental information. Learn more...
Impacts Research
Unraveling the direct, indirect, and confounding factors that lead to climate related socio-economic outcomes is a critical to IRI's mission. The goal of our research is to create the evidence base for the role of climate, climate variability and climate change in determining socio-economic outcomes. Our results aim to inform where, when and how decision makers are able to form evidence-based policy incorporating information on climate variability and predictability. Learn more...
Institutions and Policy Systems
Based on experiences over the past decade, the mere availability of climate information does not automatically improve a society's ability to pro-actively respond to climate risks. Climate information must be bundled with the resources that are necessary to respond and integrated into existing institutional and policy contexts. This calls for an in-depth understanding of socio-economic settings, institutions and policies that guide decision-making and existing coping mechanisms. Institutions and Policy Systems (INPOLS) research at IRI focuses on the development of methodologies for mapping existing institutions and policies and analyzing the role of policy responses in development outcomes. Learn more...
