Following two successful regional workshops in 2023, stakeholders from the Lake Victoria Basin and Central Asia gathered again for the second workshop of the OUTLAST project. This workshop focused on co-designing the web portal for drought hazard monitoring and forecasting. The event took place on November 14-15, 2024, in Koblenz, Germany, and was organized by the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC), a UNESCO Category 2 Centre hosted at the Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG). Coordinated by the ICWRGC and the OUTLAST team and supported by UNESCO, WMO, and the Kazakh-German University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, participants engaged in dynamic discussions on optimizing the presentation of drought hazard indicators for monitoring and seasonal forecasting on the web portal.
Thereby, the workshop brought together stakeholders and policymakers from pilot regions as well as technical teams from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), and web developers and experts from ICWRGC, BfG. The engagement of stakeholders and technical teams in multiple interactive sessions contributed to:
 | Identifying strengths and weaknesses of various visualization methods introduced by the OUTLAST team for the spatial and temporal presentation of drought hazard products. |
 | Providing feedback and ideas on how monitored and forecasted drought conditions could be visualized to reflect actual drought impacts in their regions accurately. |
 | Prioritizing optional functionalities for mid- or long-term implementation on the web portal. |
The workshop was a critical step in tailoring and enhancing visualization of the drought hazard products to meet the diverse needs of users around the world, including stakeholders and policymakers from multiple sectors. Moreover, the collaborative effort underlined the importance of stakeholder engagement in creating a system that bridges the gap between scientific tools and real-world needs. It ensures the future web portal is not only scientifically robust but also practical and user-centered. The outcomes of this workshop will be the basis for further development of the web portal for the operational monitoring and forecasting system in OUTLAST.
We greatly appreciate the valuable support and contribution of all participants and project partners to the success of this workshop!