Co-Designing the Foundations of a Climate Sensitive Infectious Disease Community of Practice
Creators: name: Fletcher, Isabel
name: Trust, The Wellcome
Publisher: name: F1000 Research Limited
Year: 2024

description: Changes in global and regional climate patterns are exacerbating existing health inequities and introducing novel challenges. A particularly concerning ramification of climate variation and change is its impact on the spread of infectious diseases, many of which are climate sensitive. The term Climate Sensitive Infectious Disease (CSID) refers to these infectious diseases whose transmission and spread are influenced by changes and variations in climate and weather. In response to growing awareness about these issues, as well as advances in technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, there has been an expansion of digital tools to better understand and predict the impacts of near-term and long-term shifts in climate on disease spread. If implemented well, such tools have the potential to support governments, grassroots organizations, and individuals to be better equipped and have meaningful impact on health policy. A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of individuals who come together over shared interests, have comparable levels of domain knowledge or expertise, and interact often enough to develop a shared understanding of challenges and opportunities (Wenger 2000). In the field of open-source software, CoPs are increasingly recognized as a key piece of ensuring software sustainability and resilience. In early 2023, Code for Science &amp; Society (CS&amp;S) was commissioned to understand the existing communities of practice in the CSID space. This report shares insights from an initial 6-month landscaping of the field and makes recommendations for the convening of the emergent CSID community.<br>
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<b>Findings:</b><br>
1. There is demand for a community of practice focused on CSID open-source software tools. There is notable demand for a CSID CoP that draws individuals and their project communities together to grow shared understandings of challenges and opportunities related to CSID tools including data and their standards, software, models, and policy. Since CSID tools require multiple areas of specialization— climate modeling, infectious disease modeling, research software engineering, end-user engagement —a CoP that draws together diverse experts from across these fields is seen as integral for supporting successful CSID software tools. While numerous knowledge-exchange initiatives exist at the intersection of health and environment, there remains a clear gap for a CoP that focuses explicitly on shared learning for tool and model creators. Beyond individual projects, there is not a current community that seamlessly integrates CSID's topical focus with software tool development, inclusive conversations on data, technical infrastructure, and proactive end-user engagement. Through an in-person convening of 45 diverse individuals with an interest in CSID software tools, we found great interest for a new CoP that would connect disease modelers with those who build software tools and climate change researchers to improve the effectiveness and usability of CSID tools. Delegates in attendance expressed their interest in being part of such a CoP and were keen to develop and lead it.<br>
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2. This CoP will need social and operational infrastructure to be sustainable. Sustainable CoPs depend on social and operational infrastructure to thrive and grow (Sethi 2017; Ram 2023a). This includes functional governance that adapts with the CoP's evolution; clear pathways to leadership that can help foster new talent and dynamism; reliable financial and operational infrastructure for long-term stability; and community engagement that promotes collaboration and the advancement of shared areas of interest. An emerging CSID CoP must foreground effective decision-making, culture-building, and operational strategies from its inception to avoid common pitfalls that often challenge new communities.<br>
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3. This CoP must proactively address barriers to participation and access. 38% of the 37 tools used for CSID modeling, as identified by Ryan et al. (2023), were developed in the USA or UK, despite the primary intended users being in the global South. Persistent barriers to community participation such as a heavy reliance on volunteered labor and the inequalities that can result; asymmetrical power dynamics resulting from unequal funding distribution; and uneven access to data and technical infrastructure are some of the pressing challenges that a CSID CoP will need to consider to create an inclusive community. This work is international and interdisciplinary. To build a community that can effectively engage across multiple axes of difference, a CSID CoP must foreground discussions of governance, labor, and barriers to funding, access, and participation. This landscaping work has ignited a community ready to meet this great challenge.<br>
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<b>Summary of Recommendations for the Development of the CSID CoP:</b><br>
Our findings underscore that power asymmetries—across regions, identities, and areas of expertise, among other categories of difference—significantly shape aspects of CSID research and tool development. We recommend the following approach to address these issues:

 Integrate equity considerations into all facets of CoP activities.
 Offer differentiated value for CoP members.
 Embrace adaptability and anticipate the evolving needs of the CSID community over time.

<b>Suggested Domain:</b><br>
We recommend a new CSID CoP serve as a home for CSID modeling projects and decision-making tools to grow shared understandings of challenges and opportunities related to CSID tools including data and their standards, software, models, and end-user engagement.<br>
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<b>Requires Interdisciplinary Community:</b><br>
The CSID CoP community will need to be comprised of an interdisciplinary set of communities representing expertise in climate science, infectious disease modeling, data science, and software engineering, among others. Key categories of actors to engage moving forward will include:

 CSID researchers focused on modeling and methods (such as epidemiologists, climate scientists and ecologists).
 Data and software specialists interested in CSID issues (such as research software engineers, data scientists, UX/ UI designers).
 End-user communities and public health practitioners keen to engage on the development of software tools (such as public health decision makers, citizen scientists)
 Funders supportive of the work.

<b>Community Activities:</b><br>
A CSID CoP is well placed to advance:<br>
A) Sharing best practices for meaningful engagement with CSID tool end users.<br>
B) Bringing existing CSID data, models, software resources together for a global community, and providing a platform to develop new tools that takes advantage of the rapidly evolving technology landscape.<br>
C) Providing thought leadership for the growing field of CSID.<br>
D) Consolidating relevant job, grant, and training opportunities for CSID researchers and tool makers, and nurturing CSID leadership amongst early career researchers in LMICs.<br>
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As part of the next phase of work, the COP scope, value-addition for differentiated members, and activities should be further nuanced. We offer prompts, a suggested 24-month timeline and further details in the full report.