ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON RA VI RCC-Network:

The Regional Climate Center Network in WMO Regional Association VI (WMO RA VI RCC-Network) was established at the 15th Session of WMO Regional Association VI (Europe) held in Brussels in September 2009, with the purpose of providing climate services and other products to the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) from the RA VI countries, including Serbia.

Regional Climate Centers are an integral component of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), formally established at the 3rd World Climate Conference (WCC-3) held in Geneva, from 31 August to 4 September 2009. The aim of GFCS has been to link science-based climate predictions and information with climate risk management and adaptation to climate variability and change throughout the world.

Ever since its establishment, the sub-regional South East European Virtual Climate Change Center (SEEVCCC), hosted by RHMSS, has been actively participating in the work of GFCS, as well as in all three nodes of the WMO RA VI RCC Network, performing all mandatory and operational functions, and some of the highly-recommended research and development functions. SEEVCCC performs its basic functions by providing regional-scale tailored climate services on climate data, climate monitoring, long-range forecasting and capacity building. Along with that, SEEVCCC is in charge of the development of regional cooperation and the implementation of research and development activities, as well as for the coordination of different programmes and projects on climate change impacts on different economy sectors. Participation in the WMO RA VI RCC-Network is therefore one of the strategic priorities of RHMSS from the aspect of climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The First WMO RA VI Pilot RCC-Network Coordination Meeting was held in Deutscher Wetterdienst, Offenbach, Germany, in October 2010, when the RCC-Network was organized in three nodes (for climate data, climate monitoring and long-range forecasting), with each of the nodes consisting of several NMHSs led by one of them.

The Second Coordination meeting, held in Roshydromet, Moscow, Russian Federation, in October 2013, marked the end of the pilot phase and the beginning of the operational phase of the WMO RA VI RCC-Network.

Under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in Belgrade, from 11 to 14 October 2016, the Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia (RHMSS) organized the Third Coordination Meeting, and a Workshop on the Implementation of WMO RA VI RCC-Network. The two events were attended by 42 representatives of NMHSs from 27 countries of RA VI, as well as by high-level representatives of WMO. The recent development and the current status of the WMO RA VI RCC-Network were presented at the meeting, along with the Regional Climate Outlook Forum (RCOF) activities. The final outcome of the three-day discussion and exchange of experiences on the usage of RCC products, requirements and recommendations for their improvement, and possibilities of establishing cooperation with other institutions, was the creation of the WMO RA VI RCC-Network Implementation and Action Plan for the following years. This strategic document will be presented at the upcoming session of the RA VI next year (2017).