The current issue of the UGEC Viewpoints was conceptualized at the end of the 7th Open Meeting of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change which was held in Bonn, Germany between April 26-30. The conference was deemed a great success with nearly 1,000 participants including researchers, NGOs, practitioners, and decision makers in attendance for the four-day conference and more than 100 sessions. The Open Meeting clearly demonstrated that humans and societal challenges are now and should continue to be at the forefront of the global environmental change research agenda.

International bureaucracies - highly visible, far-reaching actors of global governance in areas that range from finance to the environment - are often derided as ineffective, inefficient, and unresponsive. Yet despite their prominence in many debates on world politics, little scholarly attention has been given to their actual influence in recent years. Managers of Global Change fills this gap, offering conceptual analysis and case studies of the role and relevance of international bureaucracies...

We are pleased to present IHDP's third E-Zine of 2009 including the most updated news, events, calls and vacancies from IHDP and the IHDP network.

Humans now influence all biological and physical systems of the planet. Almost no species, no land area, no part of the oceans has remained unaffected by the expansion of the human species. The four main global change research programmes, affiliated in the Earth System Science Partnership, see evidence today that the entire earth system now operates 'well outside the normal state ...

Dear Readers,

There is only one month left until the IHDP Open Meeting 2009, "Social Challenges of Global Change", and we are looking forward to seeing you all here in Bonn in April! In the meantime, we have prepared some interesting statistics that anticipate how the conference will be. Some 1142 abstracts were reviewed for the IHDP Open Meeting 2009.

With a more comprenhensive and interesting format, the IHDP Secretariat has just launched the IHDP Annual Report 2008.

Dear Readers,

As the number of registrations to the 7th IHDP Open Meeting, “Social Challenges of Global Change”, from 26-30 April, 2009 continues to grow, so does our enthusiasm.

The United Nations University Institute for Environmental and Human Security (UNU-EHS) has cooperated with IHDP to co-publish the eleventh publication in their "Studies of the University: Research, Counsel, Education" series (SOURCE). This Source explores global health as a basic value for all human beings and societies and provides a conceptual framework to work towards policies for...

Beyond the goals and focus of the project. The Science Plan incorporates a review of the scientific literature about the context and nature of various major GECs and the pathways by which they do, or are likely in future to, affect human health. Important questions and priority topics for research are identified...

Institutions and Environmental Change is the product of a decade-long international research project on the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (IDGEC) carried out under the auspices of the International Human Dimensions Programme. The book’s policy insights demonstrate that research on institutions can provide the basis for practical advice on effective ways to deal with the most pressing environmental problems...

The Global Land Use Project Newsletter No.4 is now available on-line including contributions from GLP endorsed projects, GLP SSC members, updates from GLP nodal offices as well as introductions to research carried out by members of the GLP community.

The GLP Science Plan, widely used as a reference in the global community of researchers working on land-change issues and GEC in coupled human-environmental systems, is now available in Chinese language.