The research community on downscaling global climate models has traditionally been fragmented and has until now not utilised potential benefits from joint experiences made within empirical-statistical and dynamical downscaling. For instance, while there are two CORDEX whitepapers on dynamical and empirical-statistical downscaling respectively, there has only been a modest engagement across these disciplines. The concept ‘distillation’ has been used in the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), but has not yet materialised in terms of universal well-established protocols. Distillation is about extracting information from volumes of data that is useful and relevant for decision-makers and practical use, such as climate change adaptation. In other words, there has been an emphasis on the development of the downscaling methods and tools, and less attention has been on an optimal use of regional climate information. Meanwhile, society is moving in terms of climate change adaptation (e.g. CAS2021, ECCA2021 and COP26), seemingly without a strong link to CORDEX and the regional climate modelling community. Moreover, there is a need for stronger connections between climate change adaptation, climate impact and vulnerability experts, as well as public health aspects, climate services and regional climate modelling, and more scientific discussions about an optimal use of regional climate information. It’s important to discuss questions such as what are the opportunities, limitations and how to use the best information in the right way. We believe that such discussions only can succeed through co-production of knowledge and a continuous dialogue between climate scientists and stakeholders. There is also a need to increase our awareness of the range of possible methods within the science community, that involves tools and sources of relevant information, and how to ensure that climate change adaptation is based on robust approaches.