community - IHDP



UGEC reaction to UN Global Sustainability Report The UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability released its report last week. Based on it, experts from IHDP’s Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project (UGEC) argue: Understanding urban development and how its components interact with the environment are key for creating successful guidelines aimed at achieving global sustainability. \| Read more News \| UGEC Open Call - UGEC SSC Applications and Nominations News \| UGEC Deadline is February 17, 2012 \| Read more News \| IHDP Scientific Committee IHDP Scientific Committee chair Sir Partha Dasgupta to lead India’s Green National Accounts Committee Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, chairman of the IHDP Scientific Committee, will head a high-level expert group set up by the Indian government to evaluate the impact of economic growth on the environment. The panel will provide a road map for a “green national accounting” system to help evaluate India’s GDP after taking into account environmental costs and impacts. \| Read more Announcement \| IHDP Secretariat Professors Ruth Oniang’o and Dan Ariely join IHDP Scientific Committee We are starting the New Year with exciting news at IHDP as we announce the addition of two eminent scholars to the IHDP Scientific Committee: The Honorable Professor Ruth Oniang’o, and Professor Dan Ariely. Both Professors Oniang’o and Ariely will bring valuable insight and expertise to IHDP’s work in addressing the human dimensions of global change, and we are delighted to welcome them to the Committee. \|Read more IHDP Secretariat IPBES survey launched UNU-IHDP and UNU-ISP in collaboration with DIVERSITAS have been commissioned by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan to undertake a survey on the process of the new Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The survey is reaching out to natural and social scientists as well as relevant stakeholders to solicit their feedback in the nascent stages of the establishment of the platform. \|Read more Call for Applications/Nominations Scientific Committee Membership - Call for Applications/Nominations Our Scientific Committee is looking for new members! The ideal candidates have a scientific background in either anthropology, behavioural sciences, humanities or sociology, and should be willing to start in 2013. Deadline for applications/nominations is 31 January 2012. Click below to find out more on the requirements, tasks and application procedure. \|Read more Policy Briefs \| Planet under Pressure Planet under Pressure Policy Briefs The latest press release on Planet under pressure was issued today, 23 November. Please click here to download it. A series of policy briefs are now available as part of the scientific preparations for the conference taking place in London, March 26-29 2012. The briefs specifically target policy-makers in the Rio+20 process, aiming to give them access to the latest scientific thinking on sustainable development issues. \|Read more Report \| IPCC New IPCC Special Report With regard to the IHDP central field of research - humans affecting the environment and being affected by it, the forthcoming “Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation” from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms the relation between extreme weather events and climate change. \|Read more SC Meeting \| IHDP 18th IHDP Scientific Committee Meeting Twenty scientists from across the world accepted the invitation of Professors Partha Dasgupta and Anantha Duraiappah to join the 18th IHDP Scientific Committee Meeting from 20-22 October. The event, hosted by the IHDP National Committee in China (CNC-IHDP) took place in Nanjing, China. The aim of the annual meeting of IHDP’s governing body is to provide advice regarding the further strategy for the programme’s research, and development of the activity portfolio. \|Read more Capacity Development Training Workshop on Asian Development Pathways and transitioning towards a “Green Economy" held in Nanjing, China IHDP recently organised a Training Workshop on Asian Development Pathways and transitioning towards a “Green Economy ” in Nanjing, China. Participants of the workshop represented the scientific community and public and private sectors from across the Asia-Pacific region. At the centre of the event was the question of how to transform the basic economic sectors of Asian countries to be environmentally and economically sustainable. \| Read more Journal 'Science' \| GLP GLP Open Science Meeting 2010 leads to publication on payments for Ecosystem Services in 'Science' The authors of the report "Paying for Ecosystem Services: Promise and Peril", published in the Nov. 4 issue of the journal Science, take a critical look at the opportunities and possible pitfalls related to existing environmental markets and market-like mechanisms. They touch on issues including lessons learned from existing payment schemes, uncertainties in the science underpinning the various schemes in question, and the dangers of perverse incentives. \| Read more IHDP Secretariat IHDP Writing Contest: Winners have been chosen! The IHDP Secretariat (UNU-IHDP) had invited young scholars to take part in a scientific writing contest. We're happy to announce that based on accordance with the selection criteria, three winners could be chosen. \| Read more Social Science Survey \| IHDP Secretariat Social scientists call for more research on human dimensions of global change Scientists across all disciplines share great concern that our planet is in the process of crossing dangerous biophysical tipping points. The results of a new large-scale global survey among 1,276 scholars from the social sciences and humanities demonstrate that the human dimensions of the problem are equally important but severely under-addressed. \| Read more Water Energy Food Nexus Conference Solutions for a Green Economy - Stakeholder Consultation Dear reader, We invite you to participate in a stakeholder survey that will provide input into the "Bonn 2011 Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus - Solutions for a Green Economy" conference to be held from 16 to 18 November 2011 in Germany. The survey results will also feed into the Rio+20 discussions on Green Economy in the context of Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development. \|Read more PLoS ONE journal \| Secretariat IHDP's Deborah Rogers writes about inequality in PLoS ONE Why do class inequalities exist within the majority of cultures around the world? IHDP Science Officer Deborah Rogers, together with former colleagues from Stanford University, recently published a paper in PLoS ONE on this question. Their study modeled the demographic consequences of unequal access to resources, and found that several factors, including the comparatively unstable populations and rapid migration of stratified societies, may have allowed them to conquer and displace egalitarian societies throughout history. \|Read more PLoS ONE journal \| UGEC UGEC paper on risks of global urban growth published in PLoS ONE Researchers from IHDP’s core project UGEC just co-published a meta-analysis in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, revealing the risks of explosive urban growth for people and the environment and providing the first estimate of how fast urban areas grow and may grow in the future. \| Read more Discussion Forum \| ESG New online discussion forum The Earth System Governance Project has started a new major initiative related to the upcoming “Rio+20” UN Conference on Sustainable Development. The Rio conference is less than a year away, and likely to be the biggest intergovernmental event in our field in a decade. What is clear from the preparatory process is that fresh ideas from the policy and academic community are needed. \|Read more Secretariat IHDP Writing Contest: Win a prize and be published! The IHDP Secretariat (UNU-IHDP) is pleased to announce its first scientific writing contest for a new magazine to be launched in late fall 2011. The contest is open to young scholars from all over the world (graduate students, PhD students or postdocs). Scholars from developing countries are particularly encouraged to take part. The Secretariat will select five winners to be awarded a cash prize - and will publish their work in its magazine’s first issue. \| Read more Secretariat IHDP releases 2010 Annual Report The Annual Report 2010 provides a comprehensive overview of IHDP’s mission and objectives as well as an extensive update on the latest activities and progress of IHDP’s global research network, its projects and partners. One of the most substantial innovations introduced with this report is a summary of key findings and recommendations provided by IHDP projects, addressing a broad range of vital issues such as food security and human health. \| Read more Planet Under Pressure Major science conference to provide scientific leadership in the run-up to RIO+20 Summit Save the date for the scientific kick-off for Rio+20: The Planet Under Pressure Conference in London from 26-29 of March 2012. The international conference will be the biggest gathering of global environmental change specialists in advance of the United Nations Rio+20 Summit: 2,500 scientists, policymakers, industry and media representatives will meet to hear the latest research findings on the state of the planet and discuss concepts for planetary stewardship and societal and economic transformation towards global sustainability. \|Read more Secretariat Interview with IHDP Executive Director Anantha Duraiappah featured in ‘International Innovation’ In the June edition of ‘International Innovation’, IHDP Executive Director Anantha Duraiappah talks about the programme’s work and explains why it is crucial that we understand the social and cultural drivers of human behaviour in order to bring about more sustainable societies. \|Read more IWR \| Secretariat IHDP's Pablo Muñoz talks at ProEcoServ workshop in Nairobi Science Officer Pablo Muñoz recently shared his expertise in wealth accounting at the ProEcoServ workshop in UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, focusing on the context of measuring natural capital and more generally in the realm of using inclusive wealth as an indicator of societies’ progress. \|Read more Nobel Laureate Symposium \| ESG Nobel Laureates call for strengthened Earth System Governance On May 16-19, more than twenty Nobel Laureates, several leading policy makers and some of the world’s most renowned thinkers and experts on global sustainability gathered at the Third Nobel Laureate Symposium at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm in the presence and with the support of HM King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. \|Read more Opinion As Japan rebuilds, it should look to Satoyama and Satoumi for inspiration The world watched in horror on March 11 as the fifth-largest earthquake on record slammed the Tohuku and Kanto regions of Japan, and has remained transfixed as a series of natural and unnatural disasters have followed in its wake. Read more on why Japan should look at traditional land-management practices for a long-term sustainable reconstruction. \| Read more Vacancy \| IHDP Secretariat Internship - Project Office IHDP Secretariat \| Bonn, Germany Deadline: Applications accepted year-round \|Read more Announcement IHDP Appoints New Scientific Committee Chair IHDP is pleased to announce the appointment of Sir Partha Dasgupta as the new chair of its Scientific Committee. Professor Dasgupta takes on this position at a felicitous moment within a rapidly evolving global environmental change landscape. Find out about his long and distinguished career in working at the frontiers of social sciences and the value his leadership will add to IHDP. \|Read more Call for Nominations/Applications IHDP Scientific Committee Membership Our Scientific Committee is now looking for three new members! The ideal candidates have a scientific background in either anthropology, behavioural sciences/economics or sociology, and should be willing to start in fall 2011. Deadline for applications/nominations is 15 May 2011. Click below to find out more on the requirements, tasks and application procedure. \| Read more Live Webcast \| IHDP Secretariat IHDP's Deborah Rogers to speak at UN Headquarters Don't miss out on IHDP's Science Officer Deborah Rogers speaking at a side event at the 2nd Meeting of the UNCSD Preparatory Committee on March 8. The event titled "Planetary Boundaries and the Urgent Need for Societal Transformations" will be organized by UNU-IHDP together with ICSU and IGBP and will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York. Click here to register for the live webcast \|Read more Science Magazine IHDP Executive Director Anantha Duraiappah writes in this week's 'Science' As governments prepare for endorsing the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), four prominent scientists involved in its creation argue for a radical transformation of the relationship between science and society. \|Read more Survey \| IHDP Secretariat IHDP launches Global Survey on Social Sciences IHDP, in partnership with ISSC and UNESCO, just launched a global survey to document how social sciences and humanities scholars view research priorities related to global environmental change (GEC). We are inviting scholars to give feedback on their role in GEC and will be using the results to illustrate incentives and disincentives for engaging in this field and to frame the global sustainability research program from a social sciences perspective. To take the on-line survey, please click on this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IHDPSurveyLink. \|Read more Journal Climate and Development \| GECHS 'Climate and Development' – special issue published A special issue of Climate and Development is now available, offering new knowledge and opinion in the emerging field of 'sustainable adaptation'. The articles present empirical evidence from diverse contexts such as Vietnam, Kenya, and the UK, and discuss the conceptual and practical challenges of how to understand adaptation through the lens of sustainability. \| Read more IHDP Update 1, 2011 Human Health and Global Environmental Change Questions about the links between global change, human health, and the environment have become critical to the well-being of mankind. It has become increasingly apparent that the IHDP community has a key role to play in addressing health as a cross-cutting issue. Edited by Thomas Krafft, Mark Rosenberg, Gabriela Litre and Lucilla Spini, this Update brings together contributions from GECHH project researchers and the wider IHDP community. \|Read more Bonn Symposium 2010 New Sources of Energy - New Conflicts? IHDP’s Dr. Anantha Duraiappah gave the opening speech of the Bonn Symposium 2010. He highlighted the work of IHDP (particularly the IT projects findings in this context) and its move toward the inclusion of human behavior with regard to a changing climate and what it entails for not only renewable energies and current dependencies, but also human well-being. \| Read more Programme News Welcome to the Human Dimensions Blog Hello and welcome to the human dimensions blog. This new feature is run by the IHDP secretariat, with writing and contributions from the whole human dimensions research community. It will also be the central part of the new "community" section of our website, where we will feature calls, events, vacancies, and news from the wider network, making it a great resource for our the whole resaerch community. We have many new and exciting features coming. Infographics explaining the scientific work and findings of our projects Ask an Expert where questions from you will be answered by our members of our scientific community Debates about current events in the world and the scientific community Guest Bloggers from our research community sharing their specialities Current Headlines related to human dimensions research from mainstream media And of course news and announcements from the network We will be posting blog entries about three times a week, and current headlines almost every day. So check back soon to see what's coming next. We want to keep this section of the website open to input from the whole community, so please contact me, Louise Smith, (smith@ihdp.unu.edu) to contribute. \|Read more	View full events calendar MRI Key Contact Workshop prior to the EGU Meeting 2012 Workshop \| The Mountain Research Initiative Saturday, 21 April 2012, Vienna, Austria \| Read more Conference \| ESG Earth System Governance Tokyo Conference: Complex Architectures, Multiple Agents 28 - 31 January 2012 \| Tokyo, Japan \|Read more View all calls Grant Opportunity: Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia Call for proposal \| START February 29th, 2012 at midnight, \| Read more Call for Applications: Advanced Institute on Forensic Investigation of Disasters - Southeast Asia International START Secretariat Deadline: February 16, 2012 \| Read more	View all programme news News \| UGEC Open Call - UGEC SSC Applications and Nominations News \| UGEC Deadline is February 17, 2012 \| Read more News \| Diversitas Three new members in the Scientific Committee of DIVERSITAS Read more View all vacancies IHDP Secretariat Internship - IHDP Executive Office IHDP Secretariat, Bonn, Germany Deadline: Until filled \|Read more Vacancy \| Fenner School of Environment and Society New Post-doc position for teaching and undertaking research in landscape-climate interactions Closing date: 3 February, 2012 \|Read more Vacancy \| University of California Assistant Professor in Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Irvine, United States Deadline: Friday, March 30, 2012 \|Read more Vacancy \| IHDP Secretariat Internship - Website and Communications Application deadline: until filled Start date: March 2012 \|Read more