You will now use the information collected in the table to write out user stories for each identified user. The goal of these user stories is to provide information on the experiences of users, which is an important first step in the development of the climate services. 

The user stories should contain information on the experiences of the user:

• What challenges is the user facing as a result of climate change?
• How are these challenges affecting the user?
• What does the user want to achieve?
• How do challenges impact the user's ability to achieve goals?
• What does that user need to do in order to achieve goals?
• How can the user navigate the challenges faced?

Most importantly, the user stories capture the interaction between the user and the climate issue faced. Climate issues affect each user in a (sometimes slightly) different way, and as a result different users hold different perspectives on said issue. Differences in perspectives, values, and interests pose a challenge when it comes to finding and implementing solutions that 'work' for everyone. Climate services designed with these different users in mind can be a powerful tool to find such solutions. 

You will find some examples of user stories that were co-created as part of the EIFFEL project below: 

• User Story 1: the Policy Officer at the Regional Authority
  The central user in User Story 1 is the Policy Officer at the Regional Authority, working within the spatial and environmental domains. This concerns government employees working for the province (regional authority), a primary stakeholder in the region. The user plays a central role in the region, and could be described as the ‘glue’ between the various users in the region, from the local to the national level.
  
  The main climate change challenge faced by this user is drought, because of its spatial distribution over a major part of the region. The main cause of this issue is the lack of balance between the demand and (natural) supply of water in the region. Demand generated by agricultural use (irrigation) contributes to the drought issue. The demand for water has been increasing due to changing land use activities such as tree nursery activities. The issue is worsened by drought resulting from climate change (e. g. evapotranspiration). Occasional extreme flood events resulting from excessive rainfall are another issue. Flooding of the river is less common. The main goals of the user is therefore to manage the water supply effectively and to achieve balance between the demand and supply of water.
  
  The Policy Officer at the Regional Authority needs to fulfil the ‘information broker’ role. The user must provide information, detect gaps in data, and connect the various other users of the region. The user also needs to fulfil a ‘framework’ role, meaning that they envision and provide the goals and information that other users must work with. Furthermore, this user must monitor the interventions of the end users, and determine whether or not these affect climate change goals. The user also needs to conduct ex-ante and ex-post impact assessments of policies and measures through the means maps, measurements, and other decision support applications and tools. This helps the user to facilitate the feedback loop between the monitoring and planning of measures. Engaging in discussions with the other users is essential for the ‘information broker’.
  
  Existing tools and applications, such as the climate atlases, help the user to fulfil the role of ‘information broker’. However, additional tools and applications are needed. In particular, the user needs support that allow this user to bring together the complete range of stakeholders in order to investigate, analyse, and evaluate the different adaptation measures in a collaborative and transparent manner.
  
  The role of the Policy Officer at the Regional Authority is of vital importance due to the complex system of interconnected users in the region. A ‘system perspective’ that provides a clear overview is therefore required in order to make the Aa-Weerijs area climate proof. Maps and other tools/resources are required as means spatially visualise measures and to determine their effectiveness. This includes information needed to analyse the potentials for water retention, as well as means to define and measure how ‘climate proof’ the potential area is. Questions surrounding the effectiveness of policy and the potential need for adaptation of policy are important. The diverse range of users in the region creates a grey area; there is uncertainty and at times confusion surrounding who is in charge of what. Despite the different roles these users play, the type of data required by these users is generally similar. It is therefore important to look at the ‘data side’ and to monitor actions and effects using appropriate indicators.

   

• User Story 2: the Water Management Professional
  The central user in User Story 2 is the Water Management Professional. This concerns water professional working for municipalities as well as those working for the region’s water board; both are primary stakeholders in the region. It should be noted that several secondary stakeholders, such as professionals working for water boards outside the region as well as those working for the province of Antwerp, are also relevant here. The Water Management Professional is in charge of the system’s water-component, but water management ultimately also affects the land-component of the system including the urban and built-up area, in which municipalities are in charge, including urban flooding by their urban drainage and sewage networks. Both authorities operate in close (democratic voted) contact with citizens.
  
  This user must deal with challenges such as drought resulting from climate change and agricultural use, as well as extreme flood events. The latter are usually the result of rainfall; river flooding is less common. With regards to drought, the lack of water has negative effects on the chemical and ecological quality of the water. Land use activities such as those conducted by tree nurseries are generating increases in drought. The interaction between nature and agriculture, and the issue of balancing the (natural) supply with the increasing demand, are major challenges. On a governance level, integrated water governance presents another challenge, due to the cross-boundary catchment. Climate mitigation by soil carbon sequestration as an effect of adaptation measures is interesting from water change view. There are ongoing collaboration projects connection on this, focussing on what is already known and what are the gaps.
  
  The user aims for water retention during flooding periods and the use of retained water during droughts. Furthermore, the user wants to achieve balance between demand and supply of water, with water retention as an important means in the balancing process. It should be noted that, besides allowances for pumping, this user cannot regulate the demand side. Another goal is to store carbon through nature-based solutions. To discuss potential solutions / knowledge supported by apps, to manage water; with the data positioned in the middle. Could BE&NL be represented in apps; as example of cross border EU? Questions of water professionals are what might be main actions by land owners & land managers; what is used in the climate atlases by the user organisations, what are the Role of climate atlases in a cross border context?
  
  In order to achieve these goals, the user must identify solutions, review solutions with stakeholders, and negotiate a plan of actions. This requires two-way communication and visualisation of climate change problems and actions. The user must work together with land owners and users, and use the EIFFEL applications to support co-creation processes. A central task is to align the different users in terms of land use, by connecting economic interests with the climate change challenges.
  
  With regards to the data needs of this user: a lot of local data is already available, but further understanding must be fostered with regards to the value of using GEOSS data and whether or not such data can be helpful for the analyses that need to be conducted. The main challenges with regards to the GEOSS data are (1) the identification of said data, (2) access to said data, (3) the quality of said data, and (4) the overall usability of said data. This data must either be compared to local data, or must be used in conjunction with local data in order to build models. These models must be of sufficient quality to assure that climate adaptation measures can be assessed properly. What complicates matters is the cross-boundary nature of the region; it must be considered to what extent GEOSS data can be used to deal with the challenges of data sharing and the differing data systems and formats. In order to perform tasks effectively, the used needs to have data and models of the entire catchment, including indications of the BE and NL parts. This would make testing the joint assessment of climate adaptation measures (policy) possible.
  
  The hydrological/hydraulic models that this user is currently working with are built with existing data. However, the user constantly aims to improve models. This particularly concerns models that allow for the testing of adaptation measures. This user is therefore expected to be interested in the models that are developed in EIFFEL, even without components of a decision support system. However, the decision support applications will provide additional benefits by allowing this user to see the effects of interventions and to analyse alternatives under different climate change scenarios. However, since the implementation of measures is done by various users, the applications must naturally meet the needs of these various users.
• User Story 3: the Land User
  The central user in User Story 3 is the Land User. This concerns farmers, a primary stakeholder in the region. Even though general requirements of land users are similar, it should be noted that in certain cases specific needs may differ. This is particularly the case for professionals working in the tree nursery sector, which comprises a large and important share of the land use in the region. Economic interest is an important characteristic of this user.
  
  This user faces the challenge of water requirements for agricultural activities. The issue of drought, as mentioned in previous user stories, is therefore highly relevant. The issue of soil carbon sequestration comprises another challenge. The main goal of this user is to secure adequate amounts of water in order to successfully perform agricultural activities and generate economic returns. Furthermore, the user aims to improve the soil carbon sequestration capacity of the land.
  
  The central task of this user is to perform agricultural activities. It should be noted that the actions of this user concern the demand-side of the system, and are therefore highly important in the context of the water supply. The user can use data to perform actions in an informed, manner. With regards to this data, the tree nursery sector has specific needs that differ from those of other farmers.
  
  In terms of measures performed by this user on the land, the applications must meet certain needs. The user must be able to receive insights with regards to the potential costs of the measures. Besides the overall effects in the catchment, it should also be possible for the user to see how the user’s interests are affected. As with all users, the decision support applications must be customized to meet the particular needs of this user.

Write out a user story for every user you identified for your region. The story should capture the interaction between the user and the climate issues that are prevailing in the region.