GOTHECA-NOCK was a pilot study of the drivers and impacts of freshwater discharge from glacial systems in Norway and the Chinese Karakoram. It aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the interplay between the climate system, glacio-hydrological changes, local communities and infrastructures. This was done by numerical modeling, field observations and assessments of community resilience in field sites in Norway and China.

The project analyzed relationships between the past, present and future regional climate variability, long-term versus short-term glacial changes and freshwater availability in glacierized regions. Internal and external drivers of ice-dammed glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) was explored as a part of the analyses to assess and enhance the resilience capacity of downstream rural communities to glacio-hydrological changes and GLOF hazards.

The project results was synthesized with local knowledge in a comprehensive risk assessment report. The assessment results was shared with policy makers and relevant stakeholders for the co-creation of climate change adaptation and mitigation plans.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) led the project, while GRID-Arendal focused on communication and dissemination of the results, as well as producing the risk assessment report with the project partners.

In addition to GRID-Arendal and NTNU, the main partners were the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), The Department of Environmental Sciences of the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences; Institute of Tibetan Research (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (Chinese Academy of Sciences). The key stakeholders of this project were authorities and communities in the glacier regions.

Photo: Yongmei Gong