Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Research in Switzerland

Report for the ENRICH-Symposium in Bonn, 23/24 November 1998
by Maren Jochimsen

This report was compiled for the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW)
in collaboration with ProClim- Forum for Climate and Global Change of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SANW)

References

Annexes

I Ongoing Global Change Research in Switzerland - Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change

II Proposed Classification Scheme for Global Environmental Change Research

III Identifying Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Research - A Questionnaire

IV Abbreviations

(V List of contacts) -> noch zu ergänzen

1. Purpose of the report and research framework

1.1 Purpose of the report

The following report was initiated and commissioned by the Swiss National Committee of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) in preparation for the ENRICH-Symposium in Bonn on 23/24 November 1998. Its purposed is twofold:

On a more general level, the aim of the report is to give an overview of research into the human dimensions of global environmental change in Switzerland as undertaken by the social sciences and the humanities.
On a more particular level the report aims
a) to place ongoing national human dimensions of global environmental change research and monitoring into the broader context of IHDP research and Science Projects.
b) to get an overview of the activities and needs of Swiss governmental agencies and the Swiss administration with respect to the human dimensions realm.

1.2 Human dimensions of global environmental change

The field of global environmental change research has developed in response to concerns that human influence on the earth system is reaching such proportions that global life-support and socio-economic systems may be seriously impaired, even threatened for present and future generations. In recent time, humankind has been one of the major driving forces of environmental change, including climate change, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, pollution and desertification.

In turn, individuals and societies are also experiencing the impact of the changes in their natural environment upon their daily social, economic and political situations such as water and food shortages, natural disasters, health risks, resource conflicts and massive migration from areas most severely affected by environmental change.

There is close interaction and interdependency between the natural and the socio-economic systems. The study of the social, economic, and political frame within which global change occurs, as well as the study of cultural, religious and legal basic values of different human societies, therefore, is indispensable in understanding the processes, dynamics, driving forces and impacts of global change and to formulate adequate response strategies.

The human dimensions of global environmental change as understood in this report are those dimensions of global change which refer to any of the four aspects of human interaction with the environment:

to human beings and their activities as major driving forces of global environmental change
to human beings and their activities as being affected by global environmental change
to human beings as perceiving and valuing the world around them
to human beings as carriers of responsive action

All four aspects are deeply interwoven and can be separated - if at all - only for analytical purposes. Their nature and their mutual interplay are traditionally studied by the social sciences and the humanities. This report, therefore, is focusing on social scientific and the humanities' research as regards their contribution to global environmental change research.

It may be necessary, furthermore, to distinguish individual from group and societal dimensions with respect to each of the four aspects to allow for awareness of potential conflicts of interest between the two. Thus, a mere systems approach, leaving out important interactions such as the definitions of property rights within the political system would not capture all important features of societal-nature interactions. The goal of human dimensions research is to describe, analyse and understand these human dimensions of global environmental change, not global political, social, economic change - though, of course, all these changes are deeply interrelated and do not occur independently.

The social sciences and the global context

Although an increasing amount of environmental research in the social sciences and humanities is relevant to global change, only a fraction of this environmental research is directed at understanding the aspects of change in a global and integrated context. For most social scientists it is still quite uncommon to put their research into the context of global environmental change.(ProClim- & IHDP Swiss National Committee 1996) There still are quite a number of projects which deal with IHDP-research themes but either do not seem to be aware of it or do not explicate it to their research community.

The projects analysed in this report have in common that they explicitly refer to questions regarding one or more of the above mentioned aspects of the human dimensions and thus consider their research to contribute to the analysis and understanding of global environmental change.

For most social scientists, however, it is still quite uncommon to put their research into the context of global environmental change. Despite the fact that the social and economic dimensions, i.e. demographic, social, cultural, economic, political and legal factors, play a key role in man made global change, the social sciences for long did not show any concern for global environmental change and they still are entering into these aspects somewhat reluctantly and hesitantly. Thus, there are quite a number of projects which deal with human dimensions research themes but either do not seem to be aware of it or do not explicate it to their research community. There is as yet no "tradition" of global environmental research in the social sciences.

As the discussion on global environmental change has been started by the natural sciences, the natural sciences still heavily influence the setting of the global change research agenda. The IHDP itself is a reflex of this circumstance. As its task is to complement the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the IHDP worked mainly towards their research questions so far. Its questions tend to focus on human beings and their activities as major human driving forces of global environmental change. Aspects such as human beings perceiving and valuing their environment, the ethical dimension, human beings as carriers of responsive action as well as human beings and their activities as affected by global environmental change tend to get neglected. (ProClim- & Swiss IHDP 1996: 31)

A closer look at the IHDP Science Projects (see 1.3) shows that the programme is targeted towards the descriptive analysis of the interdependencies between human systems and natural systems and towards the gathering of data of the human realm to complement findings in the natural realm. Action oriented topics and sets of questions which refer to the development of response strategies are not in the centre of interest. They are only addressed within GECHS in a rather general manner. (Kaufmann-Hayoz 1996: 12) A circumstance which does not reflect - at least as far as Swiss research is concerned - the interests of a large portion of the social scientific research community.

1.3 IHDP Science Projects and intended fields of concentration

The International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (IHDP) is an international, interdisciplinary, non-governmental social science programme dedicated to promoting and co-ordination research aimed at describing, analysing and understanding the human dimensions of global environmental change. IHDP is sponsored by the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and is a full partner with the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and DIVERSITAS which focus on biogeochemical, climatic and biodiversity processes related to global change.

In order to accomplish its goals, IHDP links researchers, policy-makers and stakeholders; promotes synergies among national and regional research committees and programmes; identifies new research priorities; provides a focus and new frameworks for interdisciplinary research, and facilitates the dissemination of research results. (IHDP 1998)

This strategy is based on a bottom-up approach which builds upon existing researchers and research results around the world. Particular emphasis is placed on expanding and strengthening the network of national human dimensions committees and programmes and on enhancing the IHDP's capacity to support them.

The following questions lie at the centre of research on the human dimensions of global environmental change within the IHDP: How do humans interact with the environment? What are the consequences? How can individuals and societies mitigate or adapt to environmental change? How will policy responses to such changes influence present and future economic and social conditions. (IHDP 1998)

Four Science Projects

IHDP Science Projects are a key mechanism used to : (i) identify and generate new IHDP research activities in priority areas, (ii) promote international collaboration, and (iii) link policy-makers and researchers. Four Science Projects currently receive the full support of the IHDP: Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LUCC), co-sponsored by IGBP; Global Environmental Change and Human Security (GECHS); Institutional Dimensions of Global Change (IDGC); Industrial Transformation (IT).

Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LUCC) projects focus on a better understanding of land-use and land-cover changes (e.g., degradation, desertification, biodiversity loss) and of the physical and human driving forces behind these processes. They help to define links between land-use and land-cover change and other critical issues of global environmental change, such as climate change, food production, health, urbanisation, coastal zone management, transboundary migration, and availability and quality of water. The projects may focus on 1) land-use dynamics - comparative case study analysis; 2) land-cover dynamics - empirical observations and diagnostic models; 3) regional and global integrated models. LUCC also has two integrated activities, namely data and classification as well as scalar dynamics. (IHDP 1998)
Global Environmental Change and Human Security (GECHS) projects focus on the interrelationship between environmental change, resource use, vulnerability and conflict, e.g. on the kind of types of environmental change which affect human security, on what societies can do to reduce their vulnerability to environmental change and/or on what policy options are available and how one does assess their effectiveness. Among the most important thematic areas are 1) Conceptual and Theoretical Issues in Environment and Human Security; 2) Environmental Change, Resource Use and Human Security; 3) Population, Environment and Human Security; 4) Modelling Regions of Environmental Stress and Human Vulnerability; 5) Institutions and Policy Development in Environmental Security. (IHDP 1998)
Institutional Dimensions of Global Change (IDGC) is a Science Project with a crosscutting theme. Research projects focus on the analysis of the roles that social institutions (collections of rules, decision making procedures, and programmes) play as determinants of the course of human/environment interactions. The priority areas of research are 1) roles of institutions in causing and responding to global environmental changes; 2) effectiveness of institutional innovations which are designed to respond to global environmental change; 3) prospects for (re)designing institutions to confront environmental challenges. (IHDP 1998)
Industrial Transformation (IT) projects focus on the relationship between changes in the industrial systems and changes in the environment with the overall goal to discover ways to enable a transformation of the industrial system towards sustainability, or , in analysing the process of transformation and the options for transformation through an integrated approach combining the below listed three fields. They analyse how manufactured goods and services are being produced and consumed, the natural resource and energy transformations associated with these activities, their environmental impacts, and the consequences of these impacts on the quality of life. Main fields of research are 1) macro-systems and incentive structures (the sets of rules and incentives that are or have been important for production and consumption processes and the related environmental resource use, including the flow of materials and substances affecting the environment); 2) the production system, including industrial ecology; 3) the consumption system, including the needs, demands and preferences of consumers, and the ways in which consumers express their preferences; 4) an integrated approach combining 1)-3). (IHDP 1998)

Intended fields of concentration

Important areas of research into the human dimensions of global environmental change, however, are not yet covered by IHDP Science Projects, some of which are intended fields of concentration. The most striking of those is perception, assessment and behaviour which existed as a Working Group on Attitudes, Perception, Behaviour and Knowledge (PAGEC and GOES) before the re-structuring of the IHDP in 1996. Other important areas which cannot easily be located within the current IHDP Science Projects (as they are cross-cutting themes) include urbanisation, health, water and transport, some of which were covered by the previous Working Group on the Demographic and Social Dimensions of Resource Use (DSDRU). The role of the individual (perception and attitudes) and urbanisation belong to the future fields of concentration intended by the IHDP as well as alpine research. (Ritz 1998).

1.4 Proposed classification of human dimensions research

In order to place research and monitoring of the human dimensions into the broader context of global environmental change research and monitoring, this report uses the indicative classification of the human dimensions of global environmental change research as developed for the ProClim- & Swiss National IHDP Committee - Report in 1996. (ProClim- & Swiss National IHDP Committee 1996) The classification encompasses comprehensively research on social processes and institutions as affecting and being affected by global change and the formulation of possible mitigation and adaptation policies. An attempt has been made to accommodate the scientific representation of global change issues as identified by the IHDP as well as research areas identified by other programmes or international scientific and intergovernmental panels. (Annex II)

According to the proposed framework research on global environmental change is organised around five major themes: (S) Structures and Processes, (D) Dynamics of Change, (C) Causes of Variability and Change, (I) Impacts of Change, and (R) Response Strategies and Policy Formation and Implementation. These major categories (which appear in capital letters) cover the entire field of global change research, not only the issues related to the human dimensions. Each of the categories is broken down in further subcategories. Although social and natural scientific questions of global environmental change are closely interrelated, there are - at least analytically - areas of more or less purely natural scientific research and areas which are mainly addressed by the social sciences and humanities. The broad research categories (S), (C) and (I), therefore, have been further divided into (natural scientific) research into earth system processes and into (social scientific and humanities') research concentrating on social processes and institutions in order to adequately accommodate research on the human dimensions within the scheme.

The scheme presented in this report is elaborated further only for the human dimensions part. Those subject areas of particular importance for this report appear in italics, whereas the other subject areas were addresses research into the physical climate system (ProClim- & CCA 1995) and biogeochemical processes (ProClim- & IGBP 1996). Ongoing Swiss research on the human dimensions of global environmental change has been classified according to this scheme (Annex I), thus also enabling the comparability of the present findings to the 1996 report.

2. Institutional frame of human dimensions research in Switzerland

2.1 National research programmes

The Swiss Priority Programme Environment (SPP-Environment)

At the national level, a distinct proportion of research on the human dimension of global environmental change is funded and co-ordinated through "oriented research" programmes, in particular, the Swiss Priority Programme "Environmental Technology and Environmental Research" (SPP-Environment) rather than via the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) as individual projects.

The SPP-Environment started in 1992 and went into its second phase in 1996. The programme's goals are to strengthen environmental research; to create research priorities and networks; to promote transdisciplinary research; to reinforce co-operation with the research community, industry, administrative agencies, and organisations, and to promote international co-operation: firstly, with the EU and other industrialised countries; secondly, with developing countries. During its second research period (1996-1999), the SPP-Environment is placing emphasis on climate, biodiversity, waste, soil and research co-operation with developing countries. A new subject area which was added to the programme is "sustainable development in the economy and society", which is replacing or realigning the work of the former focuses "environmental awareness and activity" and "environmental economics". In all areas of research greater emphasis and concentration is put on feasible and practical results.

In its second phase the SPP-Environment is putting increased emphasis on co-ordinated projects, thereby delegating a fair amount of co-ordination to individual research teams as it only promotes integrated projects and those projects carried out in research groups. In addition, new forms of co-operation are offered and tested out, such as discussion forums and liaison projects. The programme's designated field of research is the area where the biosphere-geosphere and the anthroposphere overlap. Research is based on defined, tangible and socially significant problems, and is directed towards precisely determined goals. All projects will aim at contributing to the introduction and support of sustainable development in the economy and society. In all, 81 research projects organised into 6 integrated projects and 3 project groups receive funding of approximately CHF 45 million.

In maintaining the SPP-Environment as part of its research policy, Switzerland is making its contribution to the follow-up process initiated by the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio.

The National Research Programme on Transport and Environment (NRP 41)

Another national research programme currently underway which lists projects of relevance to the human dimension of global change is the Swiss National Research Programme on Transport and Environment (NRP 41). Its objective is to improve the scientific basis for a sustainable Swiss transport policy. Most projects started in 1997 and will end in 1999. A synthesis is planned for 2000. About 10 shorter projects will start in 1999. The budget of the NRP 41 is about CHF 10 million for 5 years. NRP 41 is strongly interested in establishing co-operation and links between teams of similar research or policy interests.

2.2 Alpine research

Among the four Swiss Scientific Academies - the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SAS), the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW), the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMW), and the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW) - especially the SAS and the SAGW play an important role in environmental research. They are also the umbrella organisation for the Swiss Academic Society for Environmental Research and Ecology (SAGUF).

In 1998 the SAGW and SAS started to intensify their collaboration on alpine research. The SAS so far periodically held the AlpForum to support and intensify the exchange of experience among scientists involved in alpine research as well as the dialogue between research institutions and policy-makers across disciplines and national borders. (ProClim? & IGBP National Committee 1996, 21) The third forum held in 1998 tried to include researchers and research topics of the social sciences and the humanities.

The working group on alpine research aims to create a location of competence on alpine research - in Switzerland, regionally in Europe as well as globally among mountainous regions of industrialised and developing countries. The "Mountain-Chapter" of the Agenda 21 on "Managing Fragile Ecosystems - Sustainable Mountain Development" identifies mountains as "fragile or vulnerable ecosystems" as they are characterised by close and continuous interactions between human beings and nature, between natural processes and human activities. This interdependency of natural and social processes and institutions makes a close collaboration between social and natural scientists in studying alpine regions indispensable. Questions of biodiversity, water management, and zones of recreation refer to the resources which mountainous regions may offer, now and - if carefully treated - in the future. At the same time, mountains are the economic, social and cultural realm of the population living there. The fragile balance between these two aspects has to be studied and taken into consideration as regards possible political strategies and needs the joint effort of both the natural and the social sciences, thus have inter- and transdisciplinarity as their pre-condition.

Switzerland also accepted a leading role within the UN as concerns the Mountain Chapter of the Agenda 21 and it is expected that the country continues to assume this role in the future, especially as the year 2002 is under discussion to be named the year of the mountains. This entails stating an examples concerning national alpine research and possibly also national alpine policy as well a international co-operation, i.e. increasing national research effort as well as international efforts and international co-operation since alpine research has a clearly global dimension. (Messerli 1998)

In 1998 the Swiss Academy of the Social Sciences and Humanities (SAGW) made alpine research the topic of its general assembly in Basel and also organised a workshop targeted to explore possibilities for increasing the participation of the Academy and of members of the social sciences and humanities in the alpine research working group in Switzerland. The SAGW furthermore developed a working programme for 1998 - 2004 the aim of which is to encourage alpine research in the social sciences and the humanities as well as to explore and establish close links and co-operation with the International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (IHDP). For 1999, a first common project together with the SAS will be started and a regional workshop or colloquium on a topic concerning the Tessin and involving both academies, the SAGW and the SAS, are planned for the year 2000. For the same year, the goal of the general assembly of the SAGW will be to familiarise its members with the IHDP. Also for 2000, a closed workshop with IHDP members to decide on projects of collaboration and a common research programme is envisaged. This workshop is to be followed by a research colloquium with members of the SAGW and SAS as well as members of the Swiss National IHDP-Committee and the International IHDP-Committee in 2001. For 2002-2003 an IHDP-SAGW-SAS research and a scientific, transdisciplinary colloquium as well as a common series of lectures at the University of Bern in 2004 are projected.

2.3 Co-ordinating institutions

The Commission for Environmental Sciences (KUW) of the Swiss University Conferences (SHK) is primarily concerned with the development and co-ordination of teaching in the environmental sciences, but also deals with priority setting and co-operation in environmental research.

The Swiss Environment Council (Schweizerischer Umweltrat - established 1992 -, a group of about 50 scientists aims at formulating a scientific consensus on current environmental problems and at implementing this knowledge. It furthermore aims to nationally and internationally link existing organisations and agencies that work in the field of environmental protection.

Another commission active in the co-ordination for research into the human dimension of global environmental change is the Swiss Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries (KFPE), a commission of the Conference of the Swiss Scientific Academies (CASS) set up in 1994 for a period of three years with its secretariat in Bern. KFPE encourages long-term research partnerships with the countries of the South in order to establish and consolidate their scientific research capacities, thereby promoting the implementation of the "Swiss Strategy for the Promotion of Research in Developing Countries (1993)".

The Swiss Peace Foundation (SPF), a non-governmental organisation based in Bern, aims to help shape Swiss peace and security policy through research, the preparation of draft concepts, and communication. It serves as a mediator between public opinion and administrative bodies, science and the military, politics and the civilian population. It keeps an eye on a European peace accord and security structure, relations between industrialised countries and developing nations, and global ecological problems and regional conflicts. Together with the Centre for Security Studies and Conflict Research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, the SPF initiated the Environment and Conflicts Project (ENCOP), running from 1992-1995.

Within the Federal Administration the Interdepartmental Groups for the Co-ordination of Science and Research (Interdepartmentaler Koordinationsausschuss für Wissenschaft und Forschung) also co-ordinates environmental research.

In September 1996, an interdepartmental body for information and co-ordination regarding environmental monitoring (IKUB) was established to co-ordinated and evaluate national as well as international monitoring programmes. Besides monitoring programmes concerning environmental assessment, also data collection on monitoring on human activities, their impact on the environment, and the effect of environmental changes upon human beings will be considered. Therefore, data and monitoring, e. g., on human health, social effects and economic factors in relation to the environment will be incorporated in the inventory.

The Interdepartmental Group Concerning the Rio-Conference 1992 (IDA-Rio) works on an action plan (projected for the implementation of Agenda 21), co-ordinating different policy sectors.

The Swiss National IHDP Committee - established in December 1994 - is also designed to play a role in the co-ordination of IHDP-relevant research and links to international activities. The current initiative promoting the involvement of the social sciences and humanities in alpine research is an example.

2.4 Databases

The ProClim-InfoSystem

The Swiss Forum for Climate and Global Change (ProClim-) is a long term project of the SAS initiated in 1988 with a mission to actively promote interdisciplinary scientific collaboration, to assist with the development of co-ordinated research projects, to ensure links with international global environmental change programmes and to facilitate the exchange of information on global change science within Switzerland. In carrying out its mission, ProClim- seeks to ensure an efficient information network. An important tool is the Climate and Global Change InfoSystem, which allows ready access to information on ongoing Swiss research activities and expertise on the full palette of global environmental change issues: the physical climate system, biogeochemical processes and the human dimensions of global environmental change. For the majority of the projects analysed in this report, information was obtained from the ProClim- InfoSystem with the knowledgeable help of ProClim- staff.

The federal database ARAMIS

Although a number of studies on the state of environmental research in Switzerland are available , the relevant statistical date basis still is relatively small and inhomogeneous. One of the difficulties regarding the statistics is the definitional differentiation of environmental research and other realms of research. Neither environmental research nor research on sustainable development are independent categories in the statistics. A partial solution to this problem might be provided by the projected federal data base ARAMIS. (SWR 1998: 9)

ARAMIS will link all federal data bases containing information on research receiving federal funding. Besides the federal research agencies, federal offices, the Federal Institutes of Technology as well as the Swiss Science Foundation will be integrated. ARAMIS will be managed by the Federal Office for Education and Sciences (BBW). (BUWAL 1998a: 5)

3. Ongoing research into the human dimensions of global environmental change

3.1 Current research projects

The results presented in this report are based on the information contained in the ProClim- InfoSystem. The InfoSystem itself was last updated by information given by the involved researchers based on a survey conducted in August 1995 but continually receives information on relevant global change projects from the national and international research programmes. The report focuses on projects in progress between 1 March 1998 and 11 September 1998. It includes a total of 207 projects. (see Annex I)

Although the number of sources of information in Switzerland allows to determine more or less "what" is being researched, the "how much" remains uncertain due to different periods of assessment, the lack of common standards for determining the amount of research either in monetary terms or in man power, the lack of commonly defined terms etc.

Without exemption any improvement in our understanding of the social world, the whys and hows of human activities, contributes on a fundamental level to research as outlined by the International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (IHDP). However, the nature of the issues raised in the field of the human dimensions of global environmental change and, more specifically, within the IHDP are generally quite different from key questions addressed by basic disciplinary research. In order to obtain information about global change research activity, gaps, funding, and priorities for the future, it was necessary, therefore, to restrict the analysis to research projects which address key questions identified by global change research programs (as reflected in the classification scheme).

This report focuses on social scientific and the humanities' research as regards their contribution to global environmental change research. For the time being, research of the technical and engineering sciences has only been included insofar as it addresses policy solutions and measures. Ongoing research focusing on engineering problems, e.g., in the field of mitigation technologies such as composting or recycling techniques, therefore, has been excluded. This, of course, is not to deny the relevance and contribution of these fields of research for global environmental change research generally. An inventory of such research would, however, be useful, because it would provide an overview of the types of technologies that Switzerland might be able to export to contribute to sustainable development and the solution of problems surrounding anthropogenic global change.

Also, relevant environmental medical research is not evaluated as it is not yet fully integrated neither into the ProClim- InfoSystem nor into IHDP's research programme. The available projects, however, have been included in Annex Ib of this report.

Energy related research has only been included if dealing with energy policy since it is quite well established and documented (BEW 1996).

Of the 207 projects in the database which are at least indirectly relevant to the research fields addressed in this report, 168 were judged to have a clear focus on human dimensions of global environmental change as stipulated in this report. Projects merely including relevant research objectives (23 projects) (Annex Ia) and projects that were funded purely to manage or co-ordinate research or to organise meetings, etc. were also excluded from the analysis. It is only this subset of 168 projects that is analysed below.

Basic study characteristics

In the main focus of 2/3 (67%) of the analysed projects are socio-economic (45%) or political (22%) aspects of global environmental change. 21.4% put psychological, social and educational aspects in the centre of their interest. 2.3% focus on ethical or religious, 1.7% on legal, 3.6% on historical questions. One project focuses on gender aspects.

Figure 1. Basic study characteristics

With respect to their methodological focus nearly 1/3 (31%) of all projects involve policy analysis (24%) or the development of planning tools, planning instruments and methods (7%). Almost 15% work on the improvement of assessment, scenario capacities and predictability methods. Interdisciplinary co-operation and the sociology of science are explicitly reflected in 5.3% of all projects. 12.5% do social scientific modelling or integrated assessment studies.

Figure 2. Methodological focus

Note: As one project may address more than one category or subcategory or subtheme, the totals may not add up to 100%.

With respect to their major research emphasis, of the 168 projects considered more than half (56%) involve the study of social processes and institutions. 42% include studies on responsive policy formation and implementation. Almost as many (39%) deal with major human driving forces, and 11% analyse impacts of global environmental change on social processes and institutions. 6 projects involve the study of the dynamics of change.

Figure 3. Major research emphasis

3.2 Contributions to national programmes and initiatives

113 of 168 projects (67%) indicated a link to national or international research programmes. On the national level the majority of these projects (52 projects or 46%) participated in the SPP-Environment (1996-1999) (Annex Ic). 17.2% or 19 projects were linked to the NRP 41 (National Research Programme on Transport and Environment) (Annex Id) , 4 projects to NRP 42 (National Research Programme on Foreign and Development Policy), 2 projects to NRP 31 (Climate Change and Natural Disasters), 1 project to NRP 27 (National Research Programme on the Effectiveness of Governmental Measures) and SPP-CH (Swiss Priority Programme on the Future Switzerland) respectively.

9 projects (5.3%) indicated alpine research as their research area. (Annex If)

Figure 4. Major funding programme links as indicated by 113 projects

3.3 Contributions to international programmes and institutions

For its assessment of ongoing global change research, the International Group of Funding Agencies on Global Change Research (IGFA), an informal partnership of national global change funding agencies to facilitate international global change research in the natural, social and economic sciences, adopted the ProClim- InfoSystem database structure. Switzerland is represented in the IGFA by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Scientific Academies are also paying members of the European Science Foundation (ESF) which plays an important role in the co-ordination of European research efforts.

Switzerland contributed financially especially to three European research activities which cover environmental aspects: the Research and Technology Development (RTD) Programmes under the Fourth EU Framework Programme, the Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST) programme and the European Research Co-ordination Agency (EUREKA) by financing the research efforts which have been approved by those programmes. Most of the money goes to universities. Swiss participation in the EU RTD Programmes is co-ordinated by the Federal Office of Education and Science (BBW).

Out of the 168 analysed projects 25 or 14% indicated a link to EU RTD Programmes or COST. Of those projects 2/3 (14 projects) participated in the EU RTD Programme Environment and Climate, 4 projects indicated a link to FAIR, 2 projects indicated a link to JOULE/THERMIE and TELEMATICS respectively. Three projects participated in COST programmes.

3.4 Contributions to IHDP Science Projects and intended fields of concentration

As regards their participation in IHDP Science Projects, only 4 projects indicated their link to LUCC. For the other projects, links to one or more of the current Science Projects of the International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme have been identified and proposed by the author of this report. The classification is tentative but might still serve to give an impression on Swiss contributions to IHDP Science Projects as currently established.

IHDP Science Projects

35 projects or 20.8% focus on a better understanding of land-use and land-cover changes (LUCC). 19 projects or 11.3% focus on the interrelationships between environmental change, resource use, vulnerability and conflict (GECHS). Institutional dimensions of global change (IDGC) are the research focus for 72 projects or 43% . Industrial transformation (IT) is studied by 29 projects or 17% .

Figure 5. Contributions to IHDP Science Projects and other fields of concentration

IHDP-intended and other fields of concentration

Next to IDGC and LUCC, Switzerland is strong as regards research on perception, assessment, values, behaviour and knowledge. 38 projects (22.6%) focus on related questions. Due to the ongoing NRP 41 on Transport and Environment, 20 projects (12%) work on transport related topics, 11 projects (6.5%) focus on water related issues, 7 projects (4%) study questions of urbanisation. 14 projects focus on health issues, 13 of which do so with a clearly medical focus and have not been included in the analysis. They are, however, included in the Annex (Annex Ib).

The analysis shows that Swiss research is strong with respect to the IHDP Science Projects on Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (43%), questions of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (21%), and Industrial Transformation (17%). Research into questions of Global Environmental Change and Human Security is lagging somewhat behind (11%).

What is striking is that 23% of all 168 projects research questions of perception, assessment, and behaviour, an area which is not established as an IDHP Science Project so far. The figures indicate a strong interest in these questions in the research community which shows that an interest in a future IHDP Science Project on perception, assessment and behaviour would be very clearly there - almost calling for the speedy establishment of such a project.

Contribution of SPP-Environment projects

As regards the 52 projects which participate in the SPP-Environment, 21 (40.3%) tackle questions of the institutional dimensions of global environmental change (IDGC), 19 (35.6%) research into land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) followed by 11 (21%) which work on perception, assessment and behaviour. 10 projects (19%) research on questions of industrial transformation (IT), 9 projects (17.3%) on questions of global environmental change and human security. 4 projects (7.6%) study issues of water, 3 projects (5.7%) study urbanisation.

Figure 6. Contribution of SPP projects to IHDP Science Projects and intended fields of concentration.

3.5 Current funding for research on the human dimensions of global environmental change

More detailed information on the amount of funding received was available for 70% of all projects analysed (118 projects). The following results are based on this sub-set of projects.

Figure 7. Major sources of funding

The available information indicate that funding for the research projects related to the human dimensions of global environmental change for which funding data were available (118 projects) amounts to approximately CHF 11 mio. per year. If this value is extrapolated to the total number of projects considered in this report (168 projects), total annual funding for all 168 would amount to about CHF 15.6 mio. per year. The major source of funding is the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) which provides funding for 61% of all 168 projects analysed. 61% of total annual funding is provided within the Priority Programme Environment (52 projects), 13.7% through the National Research Programme on Transport and Environment (NRP 41) (19 projects). SNSF funding for 24 projects is provided through direct support to individual research projects.

Other important indicated sources of funding are Swiss official government funds. 10.3% of total annual funding is granted through the Federal Office of Education and Science (BBW) for projects participating in EU research programmes. 2% of the projects received money from their respective cantons, 3% claimed other sources of funding, for 29% of all projects analysed in this report no data were available.

As regard projects indicating alpine research as their research area, funding information with respect to the source and amount of funding only was available for 4 projects out of the 9 projects (44.4%). The figures indicate that those projects receive 4.6% of total annual funding. Total annual funding per year is approximately CHF 0.5 mio. If this figure is extrapolated to all 9 projects, total annual funding would amount to approximately CHF 1.2 mio.

The results on research activity and the allocation of funding presented in this section, therefore, are strongly influenced by the fact that the two national research programmes - the Swiss Priority Programme Environment and the Swiss National Research Programme Transport and Environment (NRP 41) - were underway in the evaluated period of time emphasising particular aspects of environmental change research.

To get some idea of the completeness and accuracy of the above analysis, it is helpful to review total Swiss federal government spending on research and development, which amounted to a total of CHF 2090 mio. in 1994 (Lévy 1995: 35). Of this total, 46% of research funding was provided indirectly over the regular budgets of the Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich and Lausanne (23%), their research institutes (13%) and the universities (6%). The Swiss National Science Foundation provided 16% of research funds, whereas federal offices provided 42% of the funding (270 mio. for their own research and 940 mio. for external organisations, either in the form of research contracts (21%) or as general support (79%)). (ProClim- & IGBP Swiss National Committee 1996: 20)

Still, the information available for the 118 projects might be incomplete with regard to both indirect research support over university and institute budgets and to projects financed and/or conducted directly by federal offices such as the Federal Office of Environment, Forests and Landscape (BUWAL) or the Federal Office of Education and Science (BBW). A significant amount of indirect funding is probably not captured, because research support obtained through these sources is often not easily attributed to individual research projects over a specific time horizon (e.g., salaries, support to purchase new equipment). Since these indirect sources are conceivably an important fraction of the total, consideration should be given to means of improving the techniques of estimating such contributions to environmental and, more specifically, global change research in the future. (ProClim- & IGBP 1996: 21)

Funding outlook

The budgets of the SNSF divisions that are allocated for social science and humanities research related to global environmental change (Division I) grew marginally for the 1996-2000 period with respect to the previous 4-year period.

Of the two oriented research programmes financed by Division IV of the SNSF which are most relevant to human dimensions aspects of global change, the Swiss Priority Programme "Environment" (SPP-Environment) and the National Research Programme on "Transport and Environment" (NRP-41), the NRP-41 (like all NRPs) was designed as a discrete research programme with a limited duration (5-years), and it will be concluded in 2001. The SPP-Environment, on the other hand, entered its second 4-year funding period in 1996, and it is likely that this programme will continue in the future (SWR 1998).

Future funding will also depend on research policy developments. The Swiss Science Council has been mandated to develop a concept for an environmental research strategy for Switzerland by 1997, which could have important implications for global change research funding in the mid- to long-term and is presented in more detail below 4.2.

4. Working towards a sustainable research policy

To create a dialogue among the research community, the administration and the practice to shape future research policy as well as research, several initiatives were started in Switzerland within the last two years. The aim was to create a process of communication and discussion concerning the development of a Swiss research policy on environment and sustainable development. In the following, three initiatives - one of the researchers, one of a scientific co-ordinating council, and one of the administration - will be briefly presented. They serve as examples of a nation-wide endeavour to start a discussion on future research topics and policy.

Apart from trying to determine what kind of knowledge will be needed in encountering issues of global change and identifying future areas of research, all initiatives stress the importance of the direction of research towards sustainable development and the responsibility of all partners involved in this process. They propose or state Switzerland's long-term commitment to the goal of sustainable development in research as well as research policy. They furthermore recognise the necessity and importance of encouraging and strengthening research and contributions of the social sciences and humanities in the field of global change research and the necessary inter- and transdisciplinarity involved. Inter- and transdisciplinarity are deemed to be indispensable for the improvement of understanding and adequately responding to issues of sustainable development. All initiatives are aware that this will entail the re-organisation of hitherto primarily disciplinary education, research and funding structures and institutions.

4.1 Visions of Swiss researchers

In 1996 the Swiss Federal Department of the Interior entrusted the Swiss Science Council with the creation of a Committee on "Strategies for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development in Switzerland".

In order to enliven the debate on research policy with the opinions of the researchers themselves the Swiss Forum for Climate and Global Change (ProClim-) together with the Conference of the Swiss Scientific Academies (CASS), supported by the research community, initiated and carried out an analysis of medium-term research needs as identified by the Swiss research community. These "Visions by Swiss Researchers" (ProClim- & CASS 1997) were published in August 1997.

The document is primarily intended for decision-makers in government, the private sector and the promotion of research - i.e. for those who define the appropriate boundary conditions - and for the research community, whose increased involvement in the areas mentioned below is considered essential. "Visions by Swiss Researchers" is intended to indicate the tasks, approaches and required structural changes to research that will enable researchers to make their contribution. The focus is on previously neglected, but nevertheless vital issues. The document outlines the extent and the principles according to which Swiss researchers within the international community intend to assume their responsibility in the global society. The wish is to respond to the challenges of global and regional climate with long-term, action-driven, strategic knowledge.

What is at issue for the Swiss research community, is not only the continuation of internationally accepted research but the setting of new standards for the generation of knowledge, and the creation of incentives to acquire new scientific qualifications. The new standards are to distinguish long-term, strategic knowledge that transcends the boundaries of scientific disciplines. The new qualifications are to distinguish internationally successful scientists who are capable of producing answers to the key problem areas which are oriented towards action and control, and who focus upon system interrelations.

The document entails a list of 18 numbered theses which for the most part are followed by a brief explanation, recommendations and examples. The theses define the existing deficits or fields of research requiring expansion. The recommendations identify the specific ways in which institutions promoting research - as well the researchers themselves - can encourage desirable developments. A number of them directly addresses research into the human dimensions of global environmental change. The report clearly reflects that scientists from the social sciences and humanities participated in the process and in the making of the report. Though starting from research gaps and activities, the "Visions" want to make a contribution to future research policy.

Based on the recommendations of ASCEND 21 and WBGU 1996, the Swiss research community identifies eight key problem areas (climate change, land use and soil degradation, destruction of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity, increasing scarcity and pollution of water, soil and air, natural disasters caused by humans, population dynamics and disparities in development, health risks and food security, energy and resource securities) which constitute the background of the definition of research priorities for Switzerland that take into account Swiss interests and existing research capacities.

Starting from there, the introductory theses stress the importance of the improvement of systems knowledge in the key research areas, the need of a broad to research and education, the importance of basic research, the need of research projects to focus on human perception and assessment and the responsibility of researches concerning issues of global change and sustainable development, considering the specific needs of politics, economy and society.

Taking the Syndrome Concept as a suitable research approach to promote sustainability, the researcher want to counteract the dissociation of instigators and affected parties in space and/or time.

As regards the contribution of science to sustainability, the importance of systems-, target- and transformation knowledge is emphasised. Concerning systems knowledge, the need of more of long-term observations, an improved understanding of interactions of natural and man-made systems as well as the study of human and social resources are highlighted. The report stresses that research on cultural, social and human resources relevant to sustainable development needs to be increased. Cited examples are the study of the dynamics of life-styles, consumer and investment behaviours. Detecting opportunities to direct learning processes towards sustainable life-styles; the promotion of knowledge concerning the interrelations between demographic, cultural and economic development; the improvement and transfer of knowledge concerning the interrelatedness of a healthy environment, healthy nutrition, poverty and the state of health of the population.

With respect to target knowledge and knowledge concerning assessments increasing risk evaluation and risk assessment, e.g., risk assessment strategies for the public health sector, based on changed in the ecosystem and comprehensive assessments of the effects of local climate change on local economics systems according to Swiss researchers are called for.

Furthermore, to achieve sustainable development, knowledge is required which will enable the formulation of specific social and economic targets. In order to evaluate and assess implementation instruments for sustainability, knowledge and targets are required on how best to integrate nature (resources) and living conditions (including immaterial values) into any economic calculations, knowledge concerning production methods which are ecologically acceptable, non-polluting and do not waste resources needs to be summarised. Also indicators are needed to assess and monitor sustainability. These studies should include international knowledge.

The document also stressed that the conditions for the concepts of sustainability require thorough philosophical and theological examination and clarification to achieve a broader and deeper interdisciplinary discussion of fundamental ideas; materially improved quality of environmental policy recommendation; and greater clarity of underlying sociological and socio-political assumptions and goals.

As regards transformation knowledge, the research community identifies the need to study the political and socio-economic institutions and general conditions as well as the interest and power strikers which may be able to transform existing structures.

The Swiss research community calls for an increased contribution to the application of knowledge and recommends that the selection of research projects needs to place greater emphasis on their suitability to and orientation towards application. For that, improved co-operation between universities and funding institutions with research and development activities pursued in the private sector, in government as well as state and private institutions is required. Also, improved structural and personal resources to support application-driven research, e.g., the research/society interface, transfer of knowledge, etc., are needed. Which in their turn require increased research into the application and transfer of knowledge as well as their impediments.

The involvement of decision-makers (from the government, the administration, the private sector) and non-governmental organisations in the planning and realisation of research projects needs to be increased in order for implementation to begin early. This entails that universities and institutions promoting research need to adapt their structures for sustainability research to become inter- or transdisciplinary, e.g. individual disciplines should be expanded by means of a matrix structure to promote collective learning processes and holistic and interdisciplinary thinking. At the same time, flexible funding structures are required and "quality" criteria concerning inter- and transdisciplinary research need to be elaborated jointly by institutions promoting research and the researchers themselves.

Research tasks include the study of the opportunities and impact of globalisation on ecological and socio-economic structures and processes; the elaboration of structures for the promotion of international co-operation in solving global problems; the improvement of the integration of interdisciplinary, international programmes into the structures of research promotion; and the study of the effectiveness and impact of political conditions as well as the establishment of close linkages to international research programmes.

4.2 Concept Environment and Sustainability Research

By February 1998 the Committee on "Strategies for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development in Switzerland" presided by Professor Gilles Petitpierre drew up a "Concept of Research on the Environment and Sustainable Development" (Petitpierre Report) (SWR 1998) which understands itself as "a mediator between environmental research and the needs of the society, the state and governmental agencies" (SWR 1998, 4).

The concept defines research on sustainable development as the focus of environmental research and aims at developing a research vision for the process of a sustainable development from the point of view of the research. It conceptualises a time frame of 4-6 years and is meant to be periodically reviewed. Furthermore, it understands itself as "a mediator between environmental research and the needs of the society, the state and governmental agencies" (SWR 1998: 4) It more specifically aims at rendering a conceptual basis for a strategy of research into sustainable development; to provide criteria for funding agencies to optimally allocate their means; to support a policy of sustainable development and to identify important research topics. (SWR 1998: 4) To reach these goals, the report contains recommendations as well as proposals for concrete measures.

Among the goals which the report lists as to be worked toward in the future is the "Strengthening of the social scientific and humanities' research concerning the environment and sustainability" (SWR 1998: II and 22-23). This entails the encouragement of such research through financial support/ funding as well as an increased research effort of the respective sciences. Important contributions can be expected concerning the valuation of the status quo, the development of scenarios and future visions as well as ideas how to move from the current state to the desired state. (SWR 1998: II)

The concept details its understanding of sustainable development and names three strategic focuses of research into sustainable development for Switzerland:

Development of a society which is open to learning and has the courage and capability for implementation
Satisfaction of human basic needs for an individual, societal and economic development which entail first and foremost health, food, energy (inclusively mobility), space. Their preconditions are: water and soil (land), a functioning biosphere (biodiversity) and an intact atmosphere.
A genuine Swiss contribution to sustainable development in the global context.

The concept deals with the role of the existing research and funding institutions as well as the academic education system. It concludes with a set of recommended measures to ensure that public investment will increasingly be oriented along the goals of sustainable development, that such a focus will be co-ordinated on a high level and that the necessary means for research into sustainable development will be available for a longer time period (SWR 1998: 39), thereby enabling the Federal Government to follow its credo to direct its research according to the goals of sustainable development (Bundesrat 1997 and Conseil 1997):

A long-term "Research Programme Sustainable Development" is to be created as part of the Swiss National Foundation which integrates the existing relevant programmes such as the SPP-Environment and the NRP 31.
To realise the Petitpierre Concept and to support research into sustainable development the Federal Council is to establish an advisory "Platform Sustainable Development" which is constituted of not more than 10 members of institutions which already play an important role in the realms of environment and sustainable development.
All research programmes funded by the Federation are to be periodically evaluated as regards their adequacy with respect to the goal of sustainable development and their potential need for adaptation.
All academic research institutions are to be directed to integrate the transfer or knowledge as regards the enhancement of sustainable development into their curricula.
International co-ordination and co-operation, i.e. Swiss participation in EU Framework Programmes, COST, EUREKA as well as in international programmes, especially the WCRP, IGBP, and IHDP as well as the transfer or Swiss knowledge in research partnerships are to be encouraged.

Furthermore, the report recommends as an immediate measure the creation and implementation of two or three "Centres of Action" which work on topics that may enter as elements into the Research Programme Sustainable Development. Some of the most urgent topics are (they have been proposed by the SWR as possible topics for an environment relevant priority programme) are:

Climate change, water management, natural catastrophes
Land-use and biodiversity
pollutants and health
population dynamics, food- and resource security, developmental equity
human behaviour and systems of learning
technological development, risk assessment and monitoring.

4.3 Needs of the administration - questions for research

In July 1998 the Swiss Federal Office of Environment, Forests and Landscape (BUWAL) published a report on "Impacts of Climate Change. Questions for the Research Community" (BUWAL 1998). The report relates ongoing research in Switzerland to Swiss obligations within key international agreements, more specifically those obligations which result from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) and formulates research needs as perceived by the Swiss administration.

One of the obligations undertaken by the signatory countries of the UN Framework Convention is the obligation to adopt preventive measures to minimise the negative impacts of climate changes on Switzerland. To be able to do so, comprehensive knowledge about the sensitivity of natural and socio-economic systems with regard to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and the connected changes in climate is needed. Political decisions with regard to the prevention or mitigation of unwanted developments have to be able to rely on scientific bases. (BUWAL 1998: 11)

Albeit the impressive research on climate in Switzerland, the BUWAL report states that two important steps on the way to the implementation and a targeted further development of the knowledge acquired so far are still missing from the BUWAL's point of view:

the systematic evaluation of existing results of research for the evaluation of climate induced impacts and joint processes of adaptation in Switzerland as regards questions of policy-making
the explicit formulation of the administration's needs for the research community.

The aim of the report is to stimulate the discussion with the academic disciplines as well as to find out whether a report like this is an adequate medium to communicate federal research needs to the research community.

The report aims to contribute to the concretisation of the dialogue between the research community and the administration by formulation the needs of the BUWAL. It is neither comprehensive nor does it cover the entire realm of interests of the Federal Office of Environment, Forests, and Landscape, but rather chooses three thematic fields where a well functioning collaboration between research community, funding agencies and administration is deemed to be of high importance, namely "Water management and Environmental Risks", "Forests and Timber", and "Nature Preservation". Starting from the legal set-up concerning each of these realms, the authors of the report formulate questions for the research community, i.e. define areas where research from the point of view of the administration is needed to fulfil Switzerland's obligations with regard to the Climate Convention.

The report specifies the legal basis of each of the respective thematic fields as well as the resulting requirements and needs of research. They are meant for the targeting of future research programmes and the stimulation for concrete projects by increasing awareness among the research community of concrete needs which the administration encounters in dealing with its task to prepare the basis for political decisions. The underlying overall goal is to protect the alpine region as living and economic environment.

According to the report, the following areas of basic research fall into the human dimensions domain:

risk management
monitoring
use of environmental protection/ conservation
interaction with land-use
interaction with global change
long-term importance and significance of natural resources

The main body of the report in reference to the legal provisions, lists research questions concerning the respective selected fields of action.

* Water management and Environmental Risks

The statutes which constitute the basis for the administration's interest in research into Water Management and Environmental Risks are Federal Laws on Water management, Forests and Regional Planning (Bundesgesetze über den Wasserbau, über den Wald und über Raumplanung). The BUWAL identifies the following questions which result from the impact of climate change on water management and environmental risks for research for the human dimensions domain:

impact on the prevention of environmental risks, on the energy related use of water?
indicators of change?
methods of risk assessment?
new formulation of protection targets?
adequacy of existing protection measures?
increasing scarcity of water as renewable resource?
impact on shipping?
risk of long-term goals (protection of groundwater, provision of water)?
what kind of economic or social consequences of environmental risk may have to be faced and what would be adequate institutional responses?

* Forests and Timber

The statute constituting the basis for the administration's interest in research into Forests and Timber is the Federal Law on Forests (Bundesgesetz über den Wald). The BUWAL identifies the following questions which result from the impact of climate change on forest and timber for research for the human dimensions domain:

impairment of the protection of infrastructure?
monitoring of the development of forests?
silvicultural measures/ management of forests to secure the existing stock?
changing markets in timber because of changing quantities of resources and because of the support of timber because of its C02 neutrality (climate protection policy)?
future importance of wood as a resource?

* Nature Preservation

The statute which constitutes the basis for the administration's interest in research into Nature Preservation is the Federal Laws on Nature and Heimat Preservation (Bundesgesetz über Natur- und Heimatschutz). The BUWAL identifies the following questions which result from the impact of climate change on nature preservation for research for the human dimensions domain:

need for new instruments of protection?
early detection of ecosystems at risk?
which areas of conservation have priority?
is the pressure on landscapes close to nature increasing (tourism, constructions of protection, agriculture)?
re-assessment of targets of protection?
re-evaluation of areas of protection as gene resources?

The BUWAL states that for each of the three thematic fields strategies of adaptation have to be developed and identifies the following as especially needed:

indicators to detect changes in states as soon as possible
development of new concepts, strategies as well adaptation of the legislation as regards changing external conditions
adaptation, modification of kinds of resource usage
implementation of new potentials

As the discourse on future questions of research as well as existing and needed material knowledge is an indispensable precondition for practice-oriented research and research-supported administration (BUWAL 1998: 10), the report concludes with projected possibilities to further enhance collaboration of practice, administration and research with regard to the conduct of research closely linked with the implementation of the results. It is stipulated that the common search for new kinds of information exchange and co-operation which is adequate to the needs of all the parties involved would be beneficial with regard to existing potentials of synergy. And as those synergy often is the result of spontaneous contacts, the idea of a "Market in Projects" (Projektmarkt) is put forward where, e.g., on an Internet database, suppliers of research list their interests and their potential as well as those who apply research results list their current questions, so that similar interests can be recognised and adequate forms of co-operation be established.

Currently the BUWAL is preparing a "Research Concept Environment" (BUWAL 1998a) commissioned by the Swiss Federal Council whose goal is to further detail existing reports and government documents (Böhlen 1995, SWR 1997, SWR 1998). The final version is to be expected in February 1999.

5. Challenges and future perspectives

5.1 Inter- and Transdisciplinarity

The current discussion on inter- and transdisciplinarity is an impressive sign that the social sciences and humanities are on their way to enter global environmental change research as a full partner in research, that they now have the chance and the obligation to shape the international research agenda by introducing their own research questions and methods. Inter- and transdisciplinarity will more and more put an end to the former 'residual' role of the social sciences and humanities long.

But as environmental research and research on sustainability still are carried out within specific disciplines, interdisciplinary and participatory working methods, as they are amongst others encouraged and developed by the SPP-Environment (cf. Defila and Di Giulio 1996) have to be fostered. (SWR 1998: III)

An example for an initiative in this direction is the International Conference which is currently prepared by the SPP-Environment's programme management on "Transdisciplinary Research: Methods and Methodology" to be held in Zurich, 27 February to 1 March 2000. A report on sustainable development 2001 as well as other far reaching activities such as a possible local agenda 21 are in their planning stage.

The International Conference 2000 is jointly organised by the SNSF/SPP-Environment and the Chair of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and is aimed at Swiss and international scientists from university and colleges of higher education; experts in university management and science policy; researchers and experts in industry, business and consulting; politicians and public administrators; non-governmental organisations; interested members of the general public.

On the basis of examples drawn from Switzerland and abroad, the conference will address the questions of what major requirements must be met if transdisciplinary research is to succeed in benefiting society as a whole; what additional benefits does transdisciplinary research offer compared to conventional disciplinary research; and where can improvements be made within the academic context, to the collaboration between academic and non-academic research partners, and to science policy?

The conference will also explore key issues such as the institutional framework (funding agencies, the academic system, science policy), implementation, management and evaluation. With reference to concrete examples and quantitative documentation (where available), it intends to evaluate the present situation and current experience of research at both the national and international level. With a view to future research, the conference will set out to establish what should change on a managerial, organisational and institutional levels; and how transdisciplinary research can be promoted and applied in practice.

In recognition of special achievements in transdisciplinary working methods (at the scientific, interdisciplinary and practically oriented level) a "Conference 2000 Transdisciplinary Certificate" will be awarded. The first announcement of the conference (including a call for papers) will be published in December 1998.

5.2 Change as precondition for impacts on change

A clear political statement in favour of sustainable development, the encouragement of the social sciences and humanities to increase their participation in global environmental change research, the stated view that the called for change in environmental policy must be complemented by a change in the direction of a sustainable research policy - it seems that prospects for human dimensions of global change research have never been brighter that right now in Switzerland. The contribution of the social sciences and humanities to understanding the processes, dynamics, driving forces, impacts of global change and possible response strategies is more and more valued - though it still has to fully make its transition from residual research to original research - and the political and financial support and encouragement is obvious and stated. Given that the money will actually be given and not held back by public financial restraints, one of the main problems for the materialisation of a lot of the above mentioned inter- and transdisciplinary research seems to lie with the disciplinary structure of especially the academic research institutions and consequently their research community and the fact that the attempt to more thoroughly understand human-nature interactions and interdependencies can only be successful if paralleled by a new understanding and conceptualising of the way we pose our questions and seek possible answers, i.e. all parties involved have to change, too. The extent to which facing and trying to understand global change makes human perceptions, assessments, behaviours, and their basic institutions, such as research, undergo change, too, is just becoming to be obvious and still needs to be fully accepted. We have yet to accept that we have to change to responsibly respond to and make an impact on global environmental change.

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Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Research in Switzerland

Table of Contents

1. Purpose of the report and research framework

2. Institutional frame of human dimensions research in Switzerland

3. Ongoing research into the human dimensions of global environmental change

4. Working towards a sustainable research policy

5. Challenges and future perspectives

References

Annexes

1. Purpose of the report and research framework

1.1 Purpose of the report

1.2 Human dimensions of global environmental change

The social sciences and the global context

1.3 IHDP Science Projects and intended fields of concentration

Four Science Projects

Intended fields of concentration

1.4 Proposed classification of human dimensions research

2. Institutional frame of human dimensions research in Switzerland

2.1 National research programmes

The Swiss Priority Programme Environment (SPP-Environment)

The National Research Programme on Transport and Environment (NRP 41)

2.2 Alpine research

2.3 Co-ordinating institutions

2.4 Databases

The ProClim-InfoSystem

The federal database ARAMIS

3. Ongoing research into the human dimensions of global environmental change

3.1 Current research projects

Basic study characteristics

3.2 Contributions to national programmes and initiatives

3.3 Contributions to international programmes and institutions

3.4 Contributions to IHDP Science Projects and intended fields of concentration

IHDP Science Projects

IHDP-intended and other fields of concentration

Contribution of SPP-Environment projects

3.5 Current funding for research on the human dimensions of global environmental change

Funding outlook

4. Working towards a sustainable research policy

4.1 Visions of Swiss researchers

4.2 Concept Environment and Sustainability Research

4.3 Needs of the administration - questions for research

* Water management and Environmental Risks

* Forests and Timber

* Nature Preservation

5. Challenges and future perspectives

5.1 Inter- and Transdisciplinarity

5.2 Change as precondition for impacts on change

References