Bonn, Germany, 3 July 2008 (IHDP Press). IHDP announces that the 7th International Science Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (Open Meeting), "Social Challenges of Global Change" originally scheduled for 15-19 October 2008, will take place from April 26-30 2009 in Bonn, Germany. The new venue will be the former German Parliament premises (World Conference Center Bonn) at the United Nations Campus.

As previously announced, coinciding economic developments forced our decision to relocate the Open Meeting originally planned in New Delhi. (For more information about the postponement visit the postponement notice) After an in-depth search for alternative venues, and following negotiations with the German authorities and the UN, IHDP arrived at the conclusion to retreat to our headquarters. This will be the best way to fulfill our goal of bringing together a significant number of scholars, including early career and developing-country colleagues at a reasonable price. Participants already registered for New Delhi and facing hardship are kindly requested to contact the IHDP Secretariat at .


A Centre for International Dialogue

The reasons for the new location of the Open Meeting in Bonn are far from being exclusively financial. Beautifully located at the banks of the Rhine River, the city has managed over the past decade to shape for itself a new profile as the German City of the United Nations and a centre of international dialogue on key issues of the future. Since July 1996, Bonn is entitled to call itself a UN City. Ten years later, in July 2006, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel was able to hand the new branch office of the United Nations over to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The IHDP Secretariat, since 2007 the 14th UN agency in Germany and being part of the UN University, is looking forward to welcoming the global Human Dimensions community to the UN Campus.
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The Open Meeting Programmatic Process

Regarding the scientific and programmatic planning process for the Open Meeting, the structure and thematic focus remain unchanged. The overall process is well underway; IHDP is excited by the number and general quality of abstracts and proposals submitted and the broad interest expressed. All panel, paper and poster acceptances for the Open Meeting remain valid.
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The IHDW

We are pleased to announce that the International Human Dimensions Workshops (IHDW) will still be held at New Delhi in October as planned. Differing organizational arrangements allow us to still convene our most important capacity development activity in one of the most important emerging countries.

The IHDP Secretariat in Bonn will be seeking additional funding which will allow participants in the IHDW to take part in the rescheduled Open Meeting. If there are any queries about this announcement, please contact the IHDP Secretariat at .