The first meeting of the PAGES/CLIVAR working group was held 24-25 October 1996 in Villefranche-sur-mer, France, and included participants from both the PAGES and CLIVAR research communities.

The WG agenda called for a critical review of what paleoclimatic data and methods are available for addressing CLIVAR seasonal- to centennial-scale climate variability issues. This led to discussions focused on specfic areas of potential CLIVAR-PAGES interaction, and then to ways to improve the interdisciplinary interaction between the PAGES and CLIVAR communities.