I2AM PARIS

I²AM PARIS is an open-access, open-source (GitHub link), data exchange modelling platform, documenting integrated assessment, energy system, and sectoral modelling capabilities, inputs, and outputs, developed by the H2020 PARIS REINFORCE project and supported by H2020 projects NDC ASPECTS and ENCLUDE as well as Horizon Europe projects IAM COMPACT and DIAMOND. Its aim is to allow modelling exercises and their outcomes to be made fully and transparently accessible to the IAM community, to policy, and to all other interested parties.

The platform can be broken down into two sections: a ‘Documentation’ section, where models are documented and dynamically presented, and a ‘Results’ section, where the outcomes of multi-model exercises are presented through interactive visualisations.

The Documentation section can be further broken down into:

• The ‘Detailed Model Documentation’ component, which includes a detailed presentation of modelling tools acting at different scales and from different perspectives, in a non-expert-friendly language, but encompassing high technical detail. This mainly targets more experienced users (e.g., modellers, other researchers/scientists) but strives to be comprehensible for all audiences, including policymakers, displaying information of what research questions a model has addressed in the past and what findings it has produced.
• The ‘Model Dynamic Documentation’ component, which is an interactive library of the documented models, in the form of a responsive “infographic”, including geographical coverage as well as sector, emission, policy, SDG, socioeconomic and mitigation/adaptation measure granularities. This component mainly targets non-experts and aims to concisely inform policymakers and other decision makers (from business to NGOs and civil society) on what models can and cannot do, in a visually appealing way.

For specific research projects that support the platform, the Documentation section also includes other features, such as:

• The ‘Overview and Comparative Assessment’ component, which draws comparisons between different models of a specific modelling exercise (e.g., an inter-comparison project). It is intended to provide users with a grasp of why different models are needed to answer a specific question, and allow them to comprehend modelling capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses across a modelling ensemble.
• An ‘On-Demand Variable Harmonisation Heatmap’, which allows users to select specific models of the PARIS REINFORCE project and create a visualisation of the variables that have been harmonised across these models.

The Results section contains workspaces showing the outcomes of major multi-model exercises. Each workspace features a dynamic representation of data deriving from these exercises, including meaningful visualisations and user-friendly, interactive interfaces. Workspaces typically feature the following modules:

• An ‘Advanced Scientific Module’ presenting the core outcomes of the model intercomparison, including a sub-module with predefined, slightly-configurable visualisations that are reflective of the main findings as well as a generic, fully-customisable sub-module allowing to filter results and download formatted datasets.
• A ‘Public Interface’ with a more explanatory and user-friendly version of model results, structuring the conclusions of each exercise/activity through relevant policy questions and featuring interactive data interfaces that underpin these conclusions.
• A ‘Variable Harmonisation Heatmap’, showcasing what variables have been harmonised across the models that participate in a specific modelling exercise.
• A ‘Virtual Library’ that essentially includes scientific publications, policy briefs, and datasets related to the model exercise