The harmonisation of national and regional research activities on global environmental change within the international global change programmes is gaining increasing importance.
The global network of social scientists represented in its National Committees and National Contact Points is one of IHDP's strengths and a driving force behind IHDP's research activities, connecting international research agendas to national and regional research agendas.
This network brings together leading scientists to work on human dimension-related issues in their countries or regions. These scientists, in turn, play an important role in naming participants to the IHDP Core and Joint Science Projects as well as in influencing the identification of research themes for the Programme as a whole.
In order to support research in our field, IHDP places a high priority on balancing representation of all regions of the world. To date, 62 nations are actively linked to our research community, more than half of which located in developing countries and transition economies. IHDP has 32 National Committees (16 are Global Change Committees with representation from two or more GEC Programmes) and 30 National Contact Points.
IHDP does not enforce a strict set of guidelines for the creation, structure, and scope of National Committees, however an official Terms of Reference (ToR) is in place with clear definitions of roles, functions and expectations. National Committees vary in terms of structure, composition, modes of operation, capabilities, and levels of activities. While some committees have identified their key research areas and are carrying out extensive programmes of research, others are in their initial stages. Each National Committees develops its own terms of operation depending on specific needs, priorities and resources.
IHDP National Committee (NC): an organised group of national human dimensions of global environmental change (HDGEC) researchers acting as the national focal point for IHDP within their countries. NCs help to raise the visibility and capacity of the national HDGEC research community, engaging representatives of funding agencies, NGOs and the political community in their activities. They set research priorities and foci at the national level, linking them to IHDP, and contribute to the regional and global body of knowledge and research on these issues. Members participate and contribute to research agendas of IHDP Core and Joint Science Projects as well as to IHDP research priorities. All are responsible for identifying and approaching national and regional funding agencies which would contribute annually to IHDP, thus strengthening the ties between IHDP and its funding agencies.
(emphasis on HDGEC research related to globalisation and food systems)
Volume I offers a list 36 organizations offering funding opportunties on GEC research, with special emphasis HDGEC research related to globalisation and food systems. The Directory also offers information on opportunities for professional training opportunities as well as prizes for GEC research.
Volume II offers a selection from the 36 organisations viewed to be the most effective for the participants at this Global Environmental Change Institute on Globalisation and Food Systems, Nicoya, Costa Rica, 24 October - 6 November 2004. Specific details are given on proposal guidelines and contact details.