Maraun D. auteur aut IRD Bojovic D. auteur aut IRD Parker W. auteur aut IRD Shepherd T. G. auteur aut IRD Sobolowski S. auteur aut IRD Caminade C. auteur aut IRD Dosio A. auteur aut IRD Gutowski W. J. auteur aut IRD Sörensson A. auteur aut IRD Diaz L. B. auteur aut IRD Diouf I. auteur aut IRD Doblas-Reyes F. J. auteur aut IRD Hernández Valeria auteur aut IRD Jack C. auteur aut IRD Pereira L. auteur aut IRD Rivera J. A. auteur aut IRD Robledo F. auteur aut IRD Somot S. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Facing increasing risks from climate change, governments at all levels have started to mainstream the use of climate information. It has been widely acknowledged that the inclusion of stakeholder knowledge and needs, for example, in a co-design and co-production process, is important for producing user-relevant information. Here we start from a hypothetical example and two real-world case studies from South America and West Africa to discuss the role of user values, power relationships and language in the construction of climate information. While these aspects have been discussed individually in several papers, we focus on the mutual influences of these aspects in the information construction and argue that, therefore, they cannot be considered separately. We identify five dimensions-the level of risk, the complexity of the scientific problem, user values, power relationships and language-to characterize the complexity of a given user context. Analyzing these dimensions can guide the choice and design of user engagement in a given situation. In particular, even basic research may benefit from such an engagement. Regularly accounting for these aspects in research projects may require substantial changes in the way research funding is organized and how the work of researchers is rewarded. specialized climate information co-production transdisciplinarity user values power relationships language ARGENTINE BRESIL PARAGUAY URUGUAY SENEGAL 021 106 116 124 14 1 e2024EF005618 [17 p.] 2026 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010096067 10.1029/2024ef005618 [F B010096067] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010096067 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2026-02/010096067.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2026-02-04 2026-04-07 fdi:010096067 fre