EPD Environment and Population, Education and Information for Development (UNESCO)
In 1994 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) created a transdisciplinary and inter-agency co-operation project on Environment and Population, Education and Information for Development (EPD) which is to be fully implemented between 1996 and 2001. EPD is a cross-cutting project intended to work closely with all the sectors and programmes of UNESCO, including the five environmental science undertakings and the two new interdisciplinary projects. It is designed to bridge the gap between education and science in the context of sustainable development. (EPD 1995)
The overall challenge of EPD is to promote a new vision of development by integrating the notions of environment and population and by fostering change through education and information in this new perspective. To meet this challenge EPD strives to:
The strategic priorities are: (i) alleviating poverty; (ii) changing wasteful consumption patterns, particularly in the industrialised countries and particularly with respect to the use of energy, and fostering sustainable life styles; (iii) improving health and well-being, with respect to population dynamics (including reproductive health and family planning), and with respect to the effects of environmental degradation. Within these priority areas, special attention will be given to contributing to the solution of key problems such as water availability and land degradation as well as to areas of potential conflict linked to resource availability, population pressure and development imperatives, particularly in transboundary zones.
Contact information: EPD, 7 place de Fontenoy, F-75352 Paris 07 SP, France. Tel.: ++33-1-45 68 10 00, fax: ++33-1-45 66 96 84, e-mail: edp@unesco.org
IAE International Academy of the Environment
The Academy, established 1991 and mainly funded by the Swiss Confederation and the Canton of Geneva, is an institution dedicated to training, research and dialogue in the environmental dimension of sustainable development. Its mission is to provide decisions makers with the basic knowledge and management principles that will enable them to take decisions compatible with sustainable development; and to examine, through collaboration between experts and decisions makers, new solutions that will satisfy the requirements of sustainable development.
The Academy has as its principal mandate the task of creating fruitful interaction between the various sectors of society, particularly between scientific expertise and decision-makers. In order to fulfil its mandate and contribute to bridge-building between the scientific world and the political and economics decisions, the Academy uses four types of activities: training; policy dialogues; targeted synthesis research; and publications.
The Academy focuses its attention on four key programmes:
Contact information: International Academy of the Environment, Chemin de Conches 4, CH-1231 Conches/Geneva, Switzerland. Tel.: ++41-22-789 13 11, fax: ++41-22-789 25 38, e-mail: iae@unige.ch
IHDP International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change
The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) was established as a full research programme in 1990 and aims at defining a coherent programme of interdisciplinary and international social science research into global environmental change issues. The IHDP focused its initial efforts on data, assessing data availability and needs for various research areas defined in the framework programme. Evaluation of data relating to global change in the areas of survey research, population, and economics was undertaken. (HDP2 1991; HDP3 1992; HDP4 1992)
The issues of data quality and completeness, complementarity with the other international programmes such as the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and capacity building to assure global coverage and relevance, priorities since the inception of IHDP, have been developed together with the elaboration of a research agenda for the social sciences.
Yet, different to the other two international programmes, IGBP and WCRP, the IHDP is still in a process of formation. Major research questions concerning the human dimensions of global environmental change have been identified. None of several envisaged areas of research (see below) have been endowed with an appropriate Research/Science Plan yet. However, decisions are expected not later than early 1997.
One of the reasons for the somewhat slow development of the programme is that since the beginning of 1996, the IHDP is undergoing a major organisational restructuring process whose outcome is still open. Thus, the following paragraphs can merely document the work of the IHDP up to now, giving an idea about the areas of research identified and at different stages of elaboration sofar. They do not, however, anticipate IHDP's future direction and research priorities.
Aspects of every domain of human behaviour may be relevant to global change, but IHDP tries to specify them in as rigorous a way as possible to facilitate the definition and investigation of focused research questions. This approach has led to the following specifications of the IHDP Framework Programme by means of the formulation of six main areas of research:
The links to physical environmental processes have motivated a focus on land use and land cover change as well as on industrial transformation and energy production and consumption as the major driving forces of global environmental change. As the study of the various driving forces cannot be undertaken without reference to the social processes that determine their nature and evolution, first among these are those that govern population distribution and change, the IHDP Framework Programme also addresses broad institutional phenomena: demographic and social dimensions of resource use, institutions, and environmental security and sustainable development. These topics emphasise the "aggregate process". At the same time, however, it is important to conduct studies at the level of the individual, who perceives the physical world and whose behaviour is influenced by his/her assessments. These considerations, important in the development of successful mitigation strategies, underlie the focus of research on attitudes, perceptions, behaviour, and knowledge. (HDP 1994, 9-10)
As not all of these areas can be addressed comprehensively, or simultaneously, at once, the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) allocated priority, so far, to land use and industrial transformation and energy because of their direct links to physical processes. Population, also a driving force, was studied not just as a problem of growth but in an integrative way within its institutional context and in interaction with resources.
Among the envisioned core projects the joint IHDP/IGBP project on "Land Use and Land Cover Change" (LUCC) is the most elaborated with its research/science plan having been approved by the IHDP and the IGBP in 1995. The research areas "Industrial Transformation and Energy Production and Consumption", "Demographic and Social Dimensions of Resource Use", and "Attitudes Perception, Behaviour, and Knowledge (PAGEC and GOES) were addressed by fully constituted Working Groups whose mandate was to develop a draft research plan that could become the basis for the initiation of a research programme similar to an IGBP core project. The steps include assessment of the state of the art of research in each respective area, evaluation of key theoretical and methodological issues, and definition of a research agenda. The Working Groups reached different stages in this process and it is still open which research areas IHDP will stress in the future.
The activities and the findings of the different Working Groups with respect to each of the above mentioned areas of research are described below:
Land-use and land-cover change (LUCC)
Recognising the importance of studies in land-use (such as logging, ranching, agriculture, wildlife preserve, urban settlements) and land-cover (such as forests, grassland, cropland wetland, non biotic construction) change for understanding global environmental change, the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) formed an ad hoc Working Group in 1991. Later a Research Programme Planning Committee was set up which designed a Science/Research Plan[2] for a LUCC programme in 1995 (HDP7/IGBP35 1995) to develop projections of land use and future states of land cover by linking the physical and human dimensions of this issue. The objective is to improve the understanding of the human driving forces of land-use change, and hence changes in land cover. (HDP5 1993)
The LUCC programme concentrates on human driving forces and focuses on five major questions:
LUCC stresses especially research into
LUCC links centrally to various IGBP core projects as well as complementing various international programmes and activities such as the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), UN-Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and IIASA activities. (ProClim- & IGBP National Committee 1996, 45-46)
Contact information: LUCC Interim Committee Office; Complex Systems Research Centre, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, Univ. of New Hampshire, 39 College Rd., Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA; Tel.: (1 603) 862 3785; Fax: (1 603) 862 4247; e-mail: lucc@global.unh.edu
Industrial transformation and energy use
Two separate Working Groups addressed to two main foci:
Focus 1: Industrial transformation
The ultimate aim regarding this research topic is "to understand the human drives and mechanisms that could enable a transformation of the industrial system towards sustainability, and in physical terms to decouple industrial activities from their environmental impacts." (HDP 1996a, 4)
To understand the complex interactions and impacts of quantitative and qualitative changes in the production system which are encompassed by industrial transformation several interrelated research questions have been identified by the Working Group so far:
Institutional structures such as market and trade patterns as well as energy or pollution policies are addressed in this context.
Focus 2: Energy production and consumption
Extensive and well-financed research on energy production and consumption is underway in international organisations, governments, and private research bodies. The Working Group on Energy Production and Consumption came to the solution that the activities of the Energy Modelling Forum (EMF) and the International Energy Workshop (IEW) handle adequately tasks that are routinely assigned to a IHDP/IGBP Core Project/Research Programme. (HDP 1996b, 8)
They address a series of commonly accepted, generic research questions:
In as much as appropriately co-ordinated international research groups exist the Working Group recommended that the IHDP create and maintain associations with IEW and EMF and other groups like the World Energy Council (WEC) that might be encouraged to consider global change issues.
Demographic and social dimensions of resource use (DSDRU)
In contrast to many other research topics dealing with the environment, Demographic and Social Dimensions of Resource Use focuses principally on human behaviour. Its primary concern, the human system with its particular checks, balances, and feedback mechanisms, is usually considered exogenous in studies of the environment. Rather than seeing human resource use primarily as perturbing environmental processes, the aim is to identify and understand the incentives which drive human actions or motivate human choices. The analysis, therefore, shifts attention from natural systems to human systems. (HDP 1996c, 1)
The goal of research concerning DSDRU would be to identify and evaluate some feasible strategies for humanity that would contribute toward balancing its interactions with nature. Three research tasks have been formulated so far:
The DSDRU Working Group recommended that the research effort be centred in its initial phase around five general substantive themes, each one connected with the evolution of social resources and their environmental causes and consequences: people; goods and services, and factors of production; time; space; the relations of these factors with particular social systems. The Working Group also recommended the IHDP assign special emphasis on human use of and human impact upon water resources.
Attitudes, perception, behaviour, and knowledge (PAGEC and GOES)
The fourth main area of research concerns individuals in the societies in which they operate. It involves collection at the individual level of data on behaviour, knowledge, opinion, attitude, and values relating to the environment, analysed at aggregate political, social, geographic, and other appropriate levels in order to understand the human dimensions of global environmental change. These data will form the baseline against which to compare future behaviour and perceptions as they evolve in response to physical changes, information, and policy. Studies of the formation of opinion are recognised as being important in understanding the dynamic relations between information, perception, and behaviour. (HDP 1994, 11)
Two multinational Working Groups worked on these aspects:
The first Working Group, set up in 1990, on Perception and Assessment of Global Environmental Change (PAGEC), has identified the need for a major cross-national investigation into perception and assessments of environmental risk, as shaped largely through systems of mediated information (including mass media, educational means, indigenous belief systems, etc.). The second Working Group, set up in 1993, investigated and developed a Work Plan[3] for a Global Omnibus Environmental Survey (GOES).
PAGEC developed a Work Plan in 1993, establishing that "in order to understand, better predict, and more effectively improve environment-related behaviour, representative study of salient perceptual and assessment processes involved is a high research priority. How do people in different countries and regions, of different educational background and socialisation, conceptualise their local environment and regional and global environmental changes? How do people obtain information about global changes and perceive environmental conditions, and how do they assess such changes and their impact on an individual's life situation, on personal levels of risk, and on plans for future activities? How are these conceptualisations, perceptions, and attitudes transformed into human motivation and human behaviour?" (Work Plan PAGEC 1993, 1; Annex in HDP 1996h)
PAGEC comprises two interconnected research projects:
While the PAGEC is designed to focus on probability studies in major cities, GOES will seek national probability samples in all the countries it investigates, thus enabling the two projects to interlock their aims and devise a common strategy for sampling. Similarly, the two studies will harmonise their subject matter and will ensure that their basic measurement instruments are closely co-ordinated and calibrated.
GOES follows the objective to monitor change over time by both describing how far and in what directions human responses to environmental change remain unaltered or are modified and by developing explanatory analysis of the increase or decrease, continuity or discontinuities of the general public pro-environment responses. Public opinion as monitored by GOES is one key factor which needs to be taken into account to understand the politics of global environmental change and the effectiveness and limitations of environmental policies. (HDP 1996i, 12)
Institutions
A workshop, held at the Second HDP Symposium in 1992, began to explore the role of institutions in global environmental change. In February 1996 a preliminary scoping report was presented. The purpose of this effort was to consider the design of a programme of studies that will allow to determine how much of the variance in (i) anthropogenic impacts on global environmental systems and (ii) human responses to global environmental changes can be explained in terms of the operation of social institutions. The goal was further to separate institutional drivers from other social drivers in order to pinpoint the proportion of the variance in human actions relating to global change that can be shown to flow from the operation of institutions and to explore how institutions interact with other social drivers to produce anthropogenic impacts and to control human responses to environmental change.
In thinking about environmental phenomena, the study of institutions emerges as a crosscutting theme. Institutions are constellations of rules, decision making procedures, and programmatic activities that define formal or informal social practices, assign roles to the participants in these practices, and guide interactions among the occupants of these roles (e.g. property rights) (HDP 1996d, 2). While they are by no means the sole driver of human impacts or the only determinant of human responses to large-scale environmental change, there is an institutional dimension or element to be considered in analysing most environmental concerns. (HDP 1996d, 5)
As the overall goal of a respective research programme the Working Group envisaged the improvement of the understanding of how institutions affect the behaviour of individuals and other social actors involving (i) institutions as systems of rights and rules providing prescriptions, clues, and incentives that shape the behaviour of individuals, groups or societies, (ii) institutions as systems of rules and procedures constituting arenas for making collective decisions and (iii) institutions that materialise in the form of organisations can influence behaviour by providing independent inputs into decision-making processes and/or by amplifying the outputs of such processes. (HDP 1996d, 10-11)
The Working Group recommended that a research project on the institutional dimensions of global change should focus initially on greenhouse gas emissions and address questions such as
Environmental security and sustainable development
At the Third Scientific Symposium on the Human Dimensions of Global Change in September 1995 an ad hoc Working Group on "Environmental Security and Sustainable Development" was formed. This final topic involves human responses to global environmental change as environmental security and sustainable development issues are fundamental in the achievement of intra- and inter-generational equity. (HDP 1994, 11)
What can governments, private bodies, and individuals do to cope with, adapt to, or seek to mitigate or even arrest the processes of change? This question cannot be answered in the abstract, but must be put in the context of diverse human goals. The adoption of measures to protect the Earth's physical, chemical, and biological systems that will involve foregoing future economic growth altogether appears to be inconceivable. Nevertheless, the apparent risk to the earth's habitability demands that steps be taken to promote environmental security and sustainable development.
The Working Group proposed a specific research area for a first two-year cycle, namely assessing the relationship amongst environmental degradation, population displacement and human security to allow policy-makers to better understand the role of environmental degradation as a contributor to - or cause of - migration flows, to provide better insights into the linkages between environment, population and human security, and the environmental and security implications of population displacements. (HDP 1996e, 15)
Additional Working Groups
IHDP also investigating the establishment of two additional Working Groups, one on Trade and Environment and one on Human Health and Environment.
Trade and environment
On the basic assumption that trade is a major driving force in global environmental change four questions of research have been identified so far:
The overall goal would be to understand how international trade affects Global Change and from there to contemplate which courses of action could be taken to reduce would-be negative effects of trade on environment. (HDP 1996f, 2)
Health
IHDP also investigated the integration of research on the health-impacts of global environmental change into their other ongoing research activities, especially: land use and land cover change, industrial transformation and energy use, demographic and social dimensions of resource use and public attitudes and expectations. (HDP 1996g, 7)
Complementary activities
In addition to the research areas described above, two complementary activities were associated with the IHDP research programme: the IHDP Data and Information System (IHDP/DIS) and the SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START), a joint programme of IHDP, IGBP and WCRP (HDP 1994, 27-30). START promotes regional capacity building in global change science and the establishment of networks for regionally-based research and analysis relevant to the origins and impacts of global environmental change. ENRICH is the European START Programme (ProClim- & IGBP National Committee 1996).
Outlook
The Research/Science Agenda which the new IHDP Scientific Committee, once established, will set up for the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) is still to be discussed and formulated. Apart from its future assistance in international co-ordination, and its future commitment to the joint programme with the International Geosphere-Biosphere-Programme (IGBP) on Land Use and Land Cover Change (LUCC), it is, therefore, still open on which of the above mentioned research areas IHDP will focus its attention. Possible candidates of prime choice include "Institutions", "Industrial Transformation", and "Environmental Security". This statement does not, however, exclude decisions also in favour of other mentioned research areas, or new ones. Special emphasis will be given to the co-operation of IHDP with strong and viable national programmes of human dimensions research, especially if these are willing to internationalise their efforts.
Contact information: IHDP, Prof. Dr. E. Ehlers, Chairman of the Scientific Committee, Meckenheimer Allee 166, D-53115 Bonn, Germany; Tel.: ++49-228-73 92 87; fax: ++49-228-73 92 72
IIASA International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria, is an interdisciplinary, non-governmental research institution sponsored by a consortium of National Member Organisations in17 nations (Switzerland is not a member). IIASA's Research plan develops and carries out projects related to human dimensions of global change and to the complex issues faced by countries moving from centrally planned to world economies.
The institute's strategic goals are to conduct international and interdiscipinary scientific studies to provide timely and relevant information and options, addressing critical issues of global environmental, economic, and social change, for the benefit of the public, the scientific community, and national and international institutions.
The projects are carried out within three major programmes:
Contact information: IIASA, Györgyi K. Kasriel, Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria. Tel.: ++43-2236-71521; fax: ++43-2236-71313; e-mail: info@iiasa.ac.at; WWW-site: http://www.iiasa.ac.at
MAB Programme on Man and the Biosphere (UNESCO)
MAB was established in 1971 by UNESCO. The main research themes of MAB have evolved in parallel to the needs within countries, the availability of resources, and MAB's comparative advantage within the international scientific community. As a result, MAB has had continually to adapt. In 1986 four new research orientations were adopted to keep in line with newly emerging cross-cutting themes such as the newly forged linkages between ecology and economics, and the new scale of human-biosphere interactions in space and time (UNESCO without year): (i) ecosystems functioning under different intensities of human impact; (ii) management and restoration of human-impacted resources; (iii) human investments and resource use; (iv) human responses to environmental stress.
MAB established an international network of biosphere reserves, which are protected areas representative of the world's major ecosystem types. Each biosphere reserve is intended to fulfil three complementary functions: a conservation function, to preserve genetic resources, species, ecosystems and landscapes: a development function, to foster sustainable economic and human development; and a logistic support function, to support demonstration projects, environmental education and training, and research and monitoring related to local, national and global issues of conservation and sustainable development. Through the work in biosphere reserves and specialised projects, MAB evolved interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral approaches to sustainable development in different ecological and socio-cultural settings, including arid and semi-arid zones, Mediterranean systems, small islands, mountainous areas etc.
Contact information: MAB Programme, Division of Ecological Sciences, 1 rue Miollis, F-75732 Paris Cedex 15; Fax: ++33-1-4065 9897
MOST Management of Social Transformations (UNESCO)
MOST is the latest of UNESCO's international programmes. Its purpose is to bridge the gap between researchers in the social sciences and between them and decision-makers. The core institutional budget for MOST is provided through the regular budget of UNESCO. The substantive activities of MOST are funded by contributions from UNESCO Member States and from national and international funding agencies.
The objective of the programme is to promote international comparative social science research. Main emphasis is on supporting large-scale, long-term autonomous research and on transferring relevant findings and data to decision makers. MOST also published state-of-the-art reports that assess existing information on specific topics. The overall long-term goal is to establish sustainable links between scientific and policy communities and to emphasise the relevance of social science research for policy formulation.
MOST operates on three high-priority research areas:
MOST research aims at surveying the effects of global changes on local and regional levels in order to support the effort made by local population and authorities to cope with them.
Contact information: UNESCO, MOST Secretariat, Mr. Paul de Guchteneire, 1 rue Miollis, F-75732 Paris Cedex 15, France. Tel.: ++33-1-45-683799; fax: ++33-1-45-678206; e-mail: sspdg@unesco.org; WWW-site: http://www.unesco.org/most
ODS Office of Development Studies (UNDP)
ODS was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and aims at stimulating debate and further research by publishing a series of Discussion Papers which centre around three main themes:
The emphasis in all three areas is on identifying and elaborating through systematic research, analysis and debate practical and pragmatic policy measures that could make a difference and help foster progress towards sustainable development. Publications, so far, have focused on sustainable human development in the global market place and how it can work, and development co-operation in the 21st century going beyond aid.
Contact information: Inge Kaul, Director, or Patricia de Mowbray, Deputy Director, UNDP Office of Development Studies (ODS), Room 409, 4th floor, 336 E. 45th Street, New York, NY 10017, USA. Tel.: ++1-212-986 0376, fax: ++1-212-986 1237
SCOPE Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (ICSU)
SCOPE was established by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) in 1969 to respond to a growing concern for and about environmental quality and to direct attention to existing and potential environmental issues. SCOPE has the mandate to advance knowledge of the influence of humans on their environment, as well as the effects of these environmental changes upon people, their health and their welfare with particular attention to those influences and effects which are either global or shared by several nations. It also serves as a non-governmental, interdisciplinary and international council of scientists and as a source of advice for the benefit of governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental bodies with respect to environmental problems. It accumulates and assesses scientific knowledge about environmental issues to meet the challenge to employ and develop information tools to provide solid bases for decision-making at all levels and to contribute to a self-regulating sustainability for integrated environment and socio-economic systems.
The SCOPE programme consists of a series of individual projects addressing significant scientific issues of international importance. Currently there are 17 projects underway, organised under three "clusters" of closely related studies: practices and policies, ecosystem processes and biodiversity, and health and environment. (SCOPE 1996)
Initially establish as an interdisciplinary body of natural science expertise, the current SCOPE programme has come to address societal constraints on the environment as well as societal response to environmental stressors. Major SCOPE activities consist of interdisciplinary projects addressing certain fundamental issues underlying the concept of sustainability, especially in the context of regional differences, new technologies and, most important, increasing human populations.
Ongoing projects relevant to the human dimensions of global environmental change include:
Contact information: SCOPE Secretariat, 51 bd de Montmorency, F-75016 Paris Tel.: (33 1) 45 25 04 98; Fax: (33 1) 42 88 14 66; e-mail: scope@paris7.jussieu.fr
UNU The United Nations University (UN/UNESCO)
The United Nations University (UNU), first proposed in 1969, is an international academic organisation playing a unique role in promoting the United Nations aims of peace and progress. It provides and manages a framework for bringing together the world's leading scholars to tackle the "pressing problems of human survival, development and welfare."
The UNU is an autonomous organ of the United Nations General Assembly under the joint sponsorship of the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The university's work is carried out through a network of research and training centres and programmes and through world-wide networks of associated and co-operating institutions, research units and individual scholars and scientists.
The University's work in the 1990s acknowledges the far-reaching effects of human activities, which can alter the world on an unprecedented scale, including those which affect developing countries in particular. UNU's Second Medium-Term Perspective (1990-1995) has articulated five areas of concentration (UNU 1996):
The academic activities of the University are carried out primarily through a network of its research and training centres, briefly described as follows:
The Academic Division at the UNU headquarters in Tokyo also co-ordinates a number of programmes and project networks involving institutions around the world on subjects ranging from multilateralism and the United Nations system to mountain ecology and sustainable development to implications of demographic change and urbanisation. UNU is also active in capacity building.
Contact information: The United Nations University; 53-70 Jingumae 5-chome; Shibuya-ku; Tokyo 150; Japan. Tel: (03) 3499-2811; Fax: (03) 3499-2828; e-mail: mbox@hq.unu.edu
Fourth EU Framework Programme (1994-1998)
The main objectives of the European Union's (EU) Fourth Framework Programme are:
The 4th EU Framework Programme runs from 1994-1998 and consists of four major activities: Activity 1: Research and Technological Development (RTD) Programmes (11 381 mio. ECU); Activity 2: Co-operation with Third Countries and International Organisations (575 mio. ECU); Activity 3: Dissemination and Exploitation of results (352 mio. ECU); Activity 4: Stimulation of the Training and Mobility of Researchers (792 mio. ECU) (European Commission 1996a, 6-7). Activities 1 and 4 shall be considered in more detail below.
Activity 1:
Activity 1 runs 15 specialised RTD programmes six of which include topics of relevance to research into the human dimension of global environmental change: Environment and Climate, Agriculture and Fisheries, Transport, Non-nuclear Energy, Biomedicine and Health, Biotechnology.
Apart from the Environment and Climate programme which allocates 39.40 mio. ECU of 526 mio. ECU and the Non-nuclear Energy programme which allocates 15 plus/minus 2-3 mio. ECU of its total funding of 967 mio. ECU to socio-economic aspects, the other programmes mentioned do not address human dimensions issues explicitly, i.e. with the formulation of a specific theme, or set aside a specific sum of funding for social-scientific research. (AUG/DFLR 1995)
Most of the EU programmes mentioned above are still open to participation, at intervals calling for project proposals. Confer the respective cordis document for details. The point of contact for Swiss participation is Annalise Eggimann, Swiss National Science Foundation, Postfach 8232, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland. Tel.: ++41-31-308 22 22; Fax: ++41-31-301 30 09.
ENV C2 Environment and Climate (EU)
The Special Programme on Environment and Climate is the largest European source of funding for research projects dealing with the human dimension of global environmental change. The programme explicitly addresses the human dimension in its work plan. Of the 526 mio. ECU (without Joint Research Centre portions; 907 mio. ECU total) of total funding of the programme 39.40 mio. ECU go to research into socio-economic aspects. (European Commission 1996a, 6 & 10) ENV C2 is just launching its last comprhensive call for proposals (deadline: 15 January 1995).
The programme follows four broad objectives (European Commission 1996):
Research supportive of the science base should aim at specific research communities, networks and international programmes or initiatives such as the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Research aimed at underpinning the development and implementation of the Union's environment policy should reflect the needs of the Community programme of Policy and Action in relation to the Environment and Sustainable Development and of the European Environment Agency. Potential industrial exploitation of project results should be facilitated by direction to specify industry communities and fora, particularly for those involving SMEs. The potential policy relevance of each proposal should be clearly demonstrated. Applicants are advised to take note of the EU's current (5th) Action Programme on the Environment ("Towards Sustainability").
The EU Environment and Climate programme is organised around four major themes, continuing the efforts to structure European environmental research by establishing networks of excellence and RTD in the following areas:
To derive maximum benefit from the research carried out, the participation of the Member States in the international global change programmes is co-ordinated via the European Network for Research into Global Change (ENRICH) together with measures in support of the programme in order to develop exchanges of information, international co-operation and the participation of SMEs.
The programme is currently entering its second phase (1997-1998) and has launched another call for proposals In September 1996.
Areas for social-scientific research include:
Theme 1: Research into the Natural Environment, Environmental Quality and Global Change
Climate change and anthropogenic impact on natural resources(1.1)
Impact of climate changes and other environmental factors on natural resources (1.1.4)
Agriculture, forests and the natural environment (1.1.4.2)
Land resources, the threat of land degradation and desertification in Europe (1.1.4.3)
Thematic networks within Theme 1
ELOISE European Land Ocean Interaction Studies
ELOISE will strengthen the European scientific cooperation in the area of Land-Ocean Interactions Research and it is also relevant to the core project LOICZ of IGBP. The network is implemented in concert with the Marine Science and Technology Programme (MAST 3) and within the research foci described in the ELOISE science plan a number of topics will be implemented by the Environment and Climate Programme, among them: human impact through changing land-use and economic development; interfacing natural and socio-economic sciences. To be implemented by MAST 3: direct effects of human activities in the coastal seas.
Aquatic and Wetland Eco-systems
The influence of edaphic, hydrological, biotic and weather conditions on the triggering mechanisms of biogeochemical cycles shall be investigated as well as the influence of anthropogenic environmental changes (e.g. land use).
Theme 2: Environmental Technologies
Technologies and methods for assessing risks to and protecting and rehabilitating the environment (2.2)
Theme 4: Human Dimensions of Environmental Change
The main aim of this Research Theme is to improve the basis of policies and actions in support of sustainable development in the EU. The theme is organised under three closely interlinked areas of research:
Research tasks:
Networking Activities
Of the five areas of networking activities within the EU Environment and Climate programme two are of special interest to research into the human dimensions of global environmental change:
Networking activity "Global Change"
The activities envisaged in this area, including their socio-economic aspects, will be carried out within the framework of the European Network for Research into Global Change (ENRICH). Such activities will be pointed to a direction which ensures that the research effort will help meet the objectives of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). The results will be used in the implementation of the fifth framework programme of action for the environment. Account will also be taken of the scientific requirements expressed in the setting-up of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS).
Networking activity "Global Interactions"
Impacts of human activities on the natural environment and resources feedback onto these activities themselves, and vice versa. The complex interactions between human activities, the environment, natural resources (amongst which agricultural and water resources are foremost), energy demand, production and use, the general economic framework, technological development, etc., need to be assessed from a holistic standpoint. Such knowledge is necessary not only to have an understanding of the global process, but also for the framing and evaluation of any science and technology policy option. The activities of the networks established in this area will, therefore, be co-ordinated, where relevant, with those of the European Technology Assessment Network (ETAN), which is foreseen within the programme on Targeted Socio-economic Research.
Inter programme co-ordination arrangements
Activities in collaboration with the programme in the field of Targeted Socio-economic Research are dealt with reference to the ETAN network. Collaboration concerning the relationship between environmental degradation and social exclusion will be implemented wherever appropriate (Inter-service group; synchronised call for proposals and common selection of proposals under the assumption that programme decisions are sufficiently close).
Further information on the programme, its work programme and application deadlines can be obtained on the Cordis World Wide Web Server http://www.cordis.lu/ in the menu EDOCDEL, document ENV 2C- Environment-Work Programme, or from the European Commission, DG XII-D-1, Mr. Angel Arribas, Fax ++32-2-29-63024. (In October 1996, the document ENV 2C- Environment-Work Programme on www.cordis.lu was not up-to-date. The printed version (European Commission 1996) is and can be ordered at the European Commission).
FAIR Agriculture and Fisheries (684 mio. ECU) (EU)
Areas for social-scientific research include:
Theme 1: Integrated Production and Production Chains
Theme 4: Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development
Theme 5: Fisheries and Aquaculture
Further information on the programme, its work programme and application deadlines can be obtained on the Cordis World Wide Web Server http://www.cordis.lu/ in the menu EDOCDEL, document AIR 2 Agriculture and Agro-Industry Research-Work Programme, or from the European Commission, DG XII Agro-industrial Research, Dr. Joaquim Azcon Bieto, Fax ++32-2-29-64322 or DG XIV Fisheries, Ms Frederique Wenner, Fax ++32-2-29-63029, or DG VI Agricultural Research, Mr. James Connell, Fax ++32-2-29-57862
TRANSPORT (240 mio. ECU) (EU)
Areas for social scientific research include:
Theme 1: Strategic Research
"understanding mobility" (1.1)
economics of transport systems (1.2)
developing inter modality (1.3)
system organisation and inter operationality (1.4)
integration of new technologies (1.5)
policy assessment (1.6)
Themes 2-7
Optimisation of networks: economic, organisational and social matters in sections
Examples: socially necessary services (rail), interface between management and control systems (air), human elements in ports (waterborne), sustainable mobility (road).
Further information on the programme, its work programme and application deadlines can be obtained on the Cordis World Wide Web Server http://www.cordis.lu/ in the menu EDOCDEL, document Euret European Research Programme for Transport-Work Programme or from the European Commission, DG VII Transport, Mr. Jose Elias, Fax ++32-2-29-68350
JOULE THERMIE Non-nuclear Energy (1.002 mio. ECU) (EU)
Areas for social-scientific research include
Theme 1: Energy and RTD strategy
Foundations for a global European energy RTD strategy
Theme 3: Renewable Energies
Integration of renewable energies into the every day life of society and the leverage of renewable energies into the energy market
Theme 5: Dissemination of energy technologies (market segment analyses etc.)
Preparatory, accompanying and support measures
Assessment of socio-economic consequences and technological risks associated with projects under the non-nuclear energy programme
Further information on the programme, its work programme and application deadlines can be obtained on the Cordis World Wide Web Server http://www.cordis.lu/ in the menu EDOCDEL, document: Joule-Thermie Non-Nuclear Energy-Work Programme, or from the European Commission, DG XII-F-1, Mr. David Miles, Fax ++32-2-29-50656 or Ms Sabine Gruener, Fax ++32-2-29-94991
BIOMED 2 Biomedicine and Health (336 mio. ECU) (EU)
Areas for socio-economic research include
Theme 1: Research on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Infectious Diseases
Theme 6: Research on Occupational and Environmental Health
Theme 7: Research on Other Diseases with Major Socio-economic Impact
Theme 8: Public Health Research, including Health Services Research
Theme 10: Research on Biomedical Ethics
Horizontal Activities
Further information on the programme, its work programme and application deadlines can be obtained on the Cordis World Wide Web Server http://www.cordis.lu/ in the menu EDOCDEL, document Biomed 2 Biomedicine-Work Programme, or from the European Commission, DG XII-E-1, Dr. Alessio Vassarotti or Mr. Patrick Van de Walle, Fax ++32-2-29-55365
BIOTECH 2 Biotechnology (552 mio. ECU) (EU)
Areas for socio-economic research include
Biotechnology and Society (Horizontal Activities)
Further information on the programme, its work programme and application deadlines can be obtained on the Cordis World Wide Web Server http://www.cordis.lu/ in the menu EDOCDEL, document Biotech 2 Biotechnology-Work Programme, or from the European Commission, DG XII-E-1, Dr. Alessio Vassarotti or Mr. Patrick Van de Walle, Fax ++32-2-29-55365
Activity 4:
TMR Training and Mobility of Researchers (EU)
TMR encompasses four main activities: (i) research networks; (ii) access to capital research centres; (iii) training by research; (iv) accompanying measures.
All these measures are closely correlated and co-ordinated with the specific RTD programmes. Only activity (i) is exclusive in the sense that a research network which could apply within one of the other programmes does not get funding from TMR. All disciplines which contribute to the goals of the Fourth Framework Programme may apply.
TMR allocates 10-15% of the 744 mio. ECU of its total funding to socio-economic aspects but does not put specific emphasis on research into environmental issues.
Further information on the programme, its work programme and application deadlines can be obtained on the Cordis World Wide Web Server http://www.cordis.lu/ in the menu EDOCDEL, document TMR-Work Programme, or from the European Commission, DG XII-G, Fax ++32-2-29-62136
COST European Co-operation in the field of scientific and technical research (EU)
COST was founded in 1971 at the initiative of the European Community and began with 7 actions. It represents a co-ordination framework and independent forum for scientific and technical research in the fields of environmental research, transport, and social sciences among others. Co-ordination cost are generally covered by the European Commission; individual countries finance the participation of their own scientists in research projects.
Of particular relevance for the human dimensions of global environmental change research are the COST actions in the field of environment, such as COST 614 (Impacts of Elevated CO2 Levels, Climate Change and Air Pollutants on Tree Physiology (ICAT)) and COST 618 (Institution Building and Information Policy (CITAIR).
Contact information: Ms Ingrid Portner, Federal Office of Education and Science, Wildhainweg 9, Postfach 5675, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland. Tel.: ++41-31-324 48 65; Fax: ++41-31-322 78 54
TERM Tackling Environmental Resource Management (ESF)
In autumn 1995 the European Science Foundation (ESF) launched TERM, a new scientific programme on environmental research in the social sciences designed to build upon the achievements of the "Environment, Science and Society" (ESS) programme (1989-1992), a pioneering European activity in the field of social science research on the environment. The ESS encouraged the development of environmental economics at a European level and brought together political scientists, lawyers and sociologists to study "institutional responsiveness" to environmental challenges. Devised by the ESF's Standing Committee for the Social Sciences (SCSS), TERM confirms the Committee's commitment to developing social science research on the environment as a strategic area for future activities.
TERM aims to encompass the wide range of social science research projects covered by national programmes and projects funded by ESF Member Organisations (research councils and academies). It will provide a forum for research teams and individual researchers involved in nationally funded projects to collaborate and to share the results of their research. Linkage has been fostered with the European Commission (DG XII) Fourth Framework Programme activity on Human Dimensions of Environmental Change in order to further enhance productive cross-fertilisation between national and European research collaboration. Until September 1997 TERM will run a variety of activities - including workshops, summer schools and exchanges.
Four broad research themes have been drawn up by the programme's Planning Group after consultations with researchers involved in nationally funded programmes in the field of environmental research in the social sciences (TERM 1996):
In addition, the programme aims to build up a comprehensive inventory of social science research on the environment in Europe. The aim is to enable TERM to provide an overview of European research in this field and to act as an information source for researchers looking for related research in other European countries.
Contact information: Up-to-date information on TERM is available on the WWW site of the European Science Foundation: http://www.esf.org. For further details on TERM activities, to contribute to or to be put on the mailing list of TERM TIMES, or to find out about current European social science research projects and researchers concerned with environmental issues, contact TERM's scientific co-ordinator: Paul Koutstaal, European Science Foundation, 1 quai Lézay-Marnesia, F-67080 Strasbourg Cedex, France. Tel: ++33 88 76 71 42, fax: ++33 88 37 05 32, e-mail: PKoutstaal@esf.org
NRP-31 National Research Programme 31 "Climate Changes and Natural Disasters"
The NRP 31 (1991-1996) is a research programme of the Swiss National Science Foundation launched to address the question: "What effects will large-scale climatic change have on Switzerland?"
It brings together fundamental research, interdisciplinary studies and policy response strategies to provide scientific inputs to economic and political decision-making. Although the emphasis of research is on natural scientific research (see Parts I and II of this study) one of its nine project groups "Natural disasters - society" explicitly addressed the social science contribution by including studies on the assessment of total losses arising from avalanches, landslides and floods; research on awareness-building, adaptation and disaster relief at the local, cantonal and regional level; development of strategies to maintain mountain regions as a site for living, economic activity and culture; economic impacts of climate change on tourism and agriculture.
Contact information: Ulrich Roth, programme manager, NRP-41, c/o Sigmaplan AG, Thunstr. 91, CH-3006 Bern; Tel.: (41 31) 356 65 65; Fax: (41 31) 356 65 60; e-mail: n31pl@cumuli.vmsmail.ethz.ch; WWW site: http://proclimwww.unibe.ch/nfp31/homepage.htm
NRP-41 National Research Programme 41 "Transport and Environment"
This NRP has been launched at the end of 1995 and will run into the year 2000. Research projects are due to start November 1996. The main goal of the programme is to suggest new, concrete and realistic solutions concerning technical, economic, social, and political questions for Switzerland in order to protect human beings and their natural environment; to enable the sustainable development of economy and society; and to ensure the economic competitiveness of Switzerland within the European context.
The programme aims at contributing to the development of a co-ordinated transport policy taking into account the requirements of the economic development of regions, Switzerland and Europe as well as objectives concerning the quality of life, spatial planning and environmental protection.
More specifically the programme wants to (i) conduct interdisciplinary studies which simultaneously cover the technological, economic, political, ecological and socio-cultural aspects of the mobility of people and goods; (ii) develop possible scenarios of the development of mobility and its direct and indirect impacts on the natural and man-made environment; (iii) prepare suitable measures for an effective channelling of mobility while taking into account requirements of the quality of life, economic policy, environmental protection, spatial planning, financial, social and security policies.
Five priority topics have been identified and shall be addressed on a national as well as on an international level (SNSF 1996):
Contact information: Felix Walter, programme manager, Transport and Environment (NFP-41), c/o ECOPLAN, Monbijoustrasse 26, CH-3011 Bern, Switzerland. Tel.: ++41-31-385 81 81, fax: ++41-31-385 81 80.
SPP-E Swiss Priority Programme Environment
The Swiss Priority Programme "Environmental Technology and Environmental Research" (SPP-E) was conceived as a 10-year programme to provide well-founded scientific data and innovative solutions in the field of environment research, to promote awareness of ecological interrelations, to facilitate the implementation of environment legislation, and to help prevent environmental degradation. The first phase of the programme (1992-1995) was funded at a level of CHF 35.3 mio. and supported 20 co-ordinated projects (or approx. 120 individual projects in total).
The approach of the SPP-E is interdisciplinary, linking environmental concerns in the natural and social sciences, engineering, humanities and economics. Centres of activity have been established at selected universities and other research institutions in Switzerland. During Phase 1 research was organised within the following seven modules (SPP-E 1994): environmental dynamics; biogeochemical processes and cycles; biodiversity; environmental awareness and activity; environmental economics; environmental technology; and development and the environment.
The second phase will see the further development of the Swiss Priority Programme Environment and a partial realignment of its research goals. There will be increased concentration on pressing environmental issues and on related concepts and instruments in Switzerland, developing countries and newly industrialising countries. Secondly, participating researchers have been expected to participate systematically in European research programmes.
As a result of the financial situation, the second phase is expected to receive only around 60% in real terms of the total funding that has been awarded until now (SNSF 1995, 54), the subject areas "Environment and Landscape" and "Health" could not be included. Furthermore, the former modules 4 "Environmental Awareness and Activity" and 5 "Environmental Economics" have been replaced by a new integrated subject area "Sustainable Development in the Economy and Society".
In Phase 2 (1996-1999), 80 projects in six integrated projects (IPs) as well as four project groups have been approved under the CHF 45 mio. budget all of which are supposed to have an interdisciplinary set-up:
In geographical terms, promotion focuses on the treatment of problems specifically confronting Switzerland, and on the study of responsibilities borne by Switzerland within the international context (e.g. the Alpine region). Work on selected aspects of the global environment has only been included if Swiss projects can make a substantial contribution to resolving world-wide environmental problems. Particular consideration is given to global environmental research dealing with North-South relations and helping to increase capacity in developing and newly industrialising countries.
As regards temporal focus, priority is on studies that are rigorously geared towards the future. Analyses of the past and present will only be financed if they form an indispensable basis form which the forward looking treatment of a topic can proceed. Future oriented research involves in particular: modelling, forecasts, scenarios, innovations, technologies, the application of concepts and case studies to implement structural development, training and public relations work, identifying key issues and processes, and elaborating instruments and strategies to overcome the obstacles which block implementation.
Research projects aim to help introduce and support sustainable development of the economy and the society (= sustainable activity). Research is expected to produce results that will help solve problems, develop suitable structures and modes of behaviour, and promote sustainable activity defined as the adaptation of traditional structures and modes of behaviour to accommodate the following goals:
Contact information: Dr. Rudolf Häberli, programme manager; Priority Programme Environment, Länggassstrasse 23, CH-3012 Bern; Tel.: (41 31) 302 55 77; Fax: (41 31) 302 55 20; e-mail: ppepl1@cumuli.vmsmail.ethz.ch
For other programmes concentrating on natural scientific research but, to a lesser extent, also including social scientific and humanities' research refer to Parts I and II of this study (ProClim- & CCA 1995; ProClim- & IGBP National Committee 1996).
[1] The information contained in this Annex - as well as similar information on many other global change research, monitoring and assessment programmes - can be accessed through ProClim-'s WWW site at the following address: http://www.proclim.ch/ Programs.html (the information is continually updated). Refer to Annex IV for further information on how to find and use the ProClim- WWW site.
[2] A Science/Research Plan aims at the systematic identification of a research agenda within which individual research efforts can find context and through which comparative and integrative analyses can be conducted. (HDP 1996b, 8) The goal of a research programme as developed by a Science/Research Plan is to indicate research gaps that require attention for a better understanding of the processes that shape the respective research topic and its relationship to global environmental change. The programme should include scientific and policy analysis of the relationships between the respective research topic and global environmental change in the past, present and future. On the basis of this, it should formulate alternative scenarios of response strategies ensuing sustainability. (HDP 1996a, 4) It is the Research Plan which provides a basis for funding and the actual initialisation of a respective sub-programme.
[3] An IHDP Work Plan is conceived as an intermediate step prior to the formulation of a more comprehensive Science/Research Plan. The Work Plan aims to bring together as much of the design as possible without, however, closing off research options which may be of key importance for the project. It is an important feature of the Work Plan, that it be truly underway. The project has been "launched" and many basic features of the design are already in place, but the vehicle must stand the rigid scrutiny of a "trial run" before being offered for public conveyance. (HDP1996i, 5)