Sector(s)
About comapny
CGS is a research institution focused on advancing global sustainability through data-driven insights.
The Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland transforms how governments and individuals think about and carry out ambitious climate action through top-notch research, global collaborations, and policy involvement.
Operating in a rapidly evolving global landscape shaped by shifting politics, advancing technology, and emerging opportunities, CGS adopts a diverse range of research approaches.
In a world where politics, technology, and understanding of new opportunities are evolving quickly, CGS uses a variety of research methods such as quantitative, computational, and qualitative to highlight successful paths toward achieving collective climate, energy, and sustainability objectives.
Their work supports international climate policy processes by providing detailed assessments of country-level climate ambition and pathways aligned with the Paris Agreement.
About the project
CGS partnered with OpenSense Labs to build the Country Climate Ambition Platform—a dedicated digital environment designed to translate complex climate research into an interactive, accessible, and scalable experience for a global audience.
The platform was envisioned as a bridge between deep technical research and real-world policy application, enabling policymakers, researchers, and the public to explore climate pathways, analyze country-specific insights, and understand global sustainability trends through intuitive digital interfaces.
Goals and Objectives:
- Create a dedicated platform to showcase CGS's High Ambition pathway research for key emitting countries
- Enable easy management of large country-specific datasets through an intuitive admin interface
- Present complex climate data through interactive graphs and visualizations
- Feature a global map visualization on the homepage to provide an immediate overview of worldwide data
- Support CGS's mission of informing country ambition and the international climate policy process
Key Requirements:
CGS requires a platform capable of handling complex climate research while remaining easy to understand and accessible for a global audience. Key challenges included:
- Interactive platform: CGS requires a visually engaging, user-friendly website with dynamic interactive features to present their High Ambition country pathways research to a global audience.
- Complex data presentation: The platform needed to effectively communicate both global perspectives on 2035 climate targets under the Paris Agreement and detailed country-specific assessments through intuitive navigation and seamless user experience.
- Cross-platform compatibility: The site needed to be fully responsive, ensuring seamless performance across diverse devices and browsers for an international audience.
- Scalable UI architecture: CGS specified the use of atomic design methodologies implemented through Storybook, scalable approach to UI development with living documentation that bridges design and development teams.
- Security and accessibility: As an academic institution serving a global audience, the platform needed to meet high standards for both security and accessibility.
Key Outcomes:
- Successfully launched a future-ready digital platform for hosting CGS climate research.
- Delivered interactive visualizations and dynamic graphs that simplify interpretation of complex climate pathways.
- Enabled a global map-based interface for intuitive exploration of country-level insights.
- Built a self-sufficient administrative system allowing CGS teams to manage datasets independently.
- Established a scalable architecture designed to support long-term research expansion and evolving sustainability data.
- Created a platform that strengthens the connection between climate research and actionable policy dialogue worldwide.
Why Drupal was chosen
Drupal was selected for several compelling reasons:
- Enterprise-grade robustness: Drupal provides a stable, scalable foundation suitable for organizations of all sizes.
- Security: Drupal's strong security track record and dedicated security team make it ideal for academic and research institutions handling important data.
- Content management flexibility: The platform offers intuitive content management capabilities, enabling non-technical team members to update and maintain the site.
- Open source: As an open-source solution, Drupal aligns with academic values of openness and collaboration while avoiding vendor lock-in.
Technical Specifications
Drupal version:
Key modules/theme/distribution used:
|
Module |
Purpose |
|
Tablefield |
Enables easy management of tabular datasets directly through the Drupal admin UI, allowing the CGS team to update country data without developer assistance |
|
EU Cookie Consent |
Ensures GDPR compliance and proper cookie consent management for international visitors |
|
Metatag |
Provides comprehensive SEO and metadata management to improve discoverability of climate research |
|
Geofield |
Supports geographic data handling for country-specific content and map integrations |
|
CKEditor Anchor Link |
This plugin module adds the better link dialog and anchor related features to CKEditor |
