Knowledge systems are mechanisms that can drive climate adaptation through the pursuits of enhancing resource sharing, collaboration, and learning, while at the same time helping to develop trust and credibility among individuals and intuitions. While these goals are widely discussed, less is known about the activities and strategies that knowledge systems undertake to achieve these goals. We analyze the Global Framework of Climate Services (GFCS) as a knowledge system organized around the translation of weather and climate information for decision-making. The GFCS brings together the World Meteorological Organization, national meteorological and hydrological services, and some of the world’s largest multilateral scientific, humanitarian, and development organizations. Our analysis draws on key informant interviews, focus groups conducted in African countries, and an online survey of GFCS participants. We describe the main activities pursed by the GFCS that shaped the vision of climate services, built capacity in national climate adaptation, and created connections among diverse actors and organizations worldwide. We show how these activities generated tensions about the purpose of the GFCS and how influence among the knowledge system was distributed. Based on our results, we illustrate new ways to conceptualize the strategies of knowledge systems, which we describe as (1) theorizing the norms of practice and mechanisms of change, (2) legitimizing actors, and (3) managing knowledge. These strategies identify pathways for, and pitfalls to, a knowledge system’s pursuit of its goals, providing guidance to managers of knowledge systems and an analytical framework to evaluate their impacts.

知识系统是一种机制，可以通过加强资源共享、协作和学习来推动气候适应，同时有助于在个人和直觉之间建立信任和可信度。虽然这些目标被广泛讨论，但对知识系统为实现这些目标而采取的活动和策略知之甚少。我们将全球气候服务框架 (GFCS) 分析为一个围绕天气和气候信息转化以供决策制定的知识系统。GFCS 汇集了世界气象组织、国家气象和水文部门以及一些世界上最大的多边科学、人道主义和发展组织。我们的分析基于关键线人访谈，在非洲国家开展的焦点小组，以及对 GFCS 参与者的在线调查。我们描述了 GFCS 开展的主要活动，这些活动塑造了气候服务的愿景，建立了国家气候适应能力，并在全球不同参与者和组织之间建立了联系。我们展示了这些活动如何产生有关 GFCS 目的的紧张局势以及知识系统之间的影响是如何分布的。基于我们的结果，我们说明了概念化知识系统战略的新方法，我们将其描述为（1）理论化实践规范和变革机制，（2）使行为者合法化，以及（3）管理知识。这些策略确定了知识系统追求其目标的途径和陷阱，