The 2006 IHDP/IDGEC Synthesis Conference, as well
as the various activities leading to it, will serve first and foremost
to harvest the key findings
of the project and to harmonize and document its results. In addition,
the IDGEC synthesis process shall assist in developing a new research
agenda to guide the next phase of work on the institutional dimensions
of global environmental change. This new agenda shall be the focus
of a preparatory dialogue and search process that runs through 2005
and 2006: the IDGEC New Directions initiative.
The new research themes will have many sources. Some
may emerge from the current IDGEC
Science Plan and address issues that have already been analysed,
but with still unsatisfactory advances in knowledge. Other themes
might address gaps within the IDGEC science plan that have not yet
been sufficiently researched. Again other questions could be entirely
new and unrelated to what has been studied within IDGEC so far.
In the initial phase of IDGEC New Directions, we plan
to support this discussion and search process through inviting colleagues
to contribute short papers on possible new directions. We envisage
two types of papers, to be posted at this website:
To present and discuss these new ideas and research questions,
we plan to organise a series of events,
in which we seek to solicit the views of the community on possible
new directions for IDGEC. We also intend to set up an e-mail discussion
list to further inform and intensify the debate.
All papers and debates shall eventually lay the groundwork for
one or more scoping reports that will identify cutting-edge questions
for the next phase of research on institutional issues relating
to global environmental change. This could provide the basis for
an IDGEC-2. It could also help to organise the activities of colleagues
who want to incorporate research on institutional issues into
other IHDP core projects and crosscutting themes. In any case,
based on this process within the IDGEC New Directions initiative,
the synthesis conference is expected to lead to well-defined recommendations
regarding new directions in research on the institutional dimensions
of global environmental change.
Contact:
Frank Biermann
Member, IDGEC Synthesis Planning Group
Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit
Amsterdam
E-mail: frank.biermann@ivm.vu.nl
IDGEC New Directions-Viewpoints are meant to briefly sketch
a new research problem, a new method or a new theoretical puzzle
that requires more research within the IDGEC community. This could
build on existing questions in the IDGEC
Science Plan, or focus on gaps in IDGEC research, or address
some completely different aspect. IDGEC New Directions-Viewpoints
shall be precise (less than 1000 words), to the point and possibly
provocative. They should also, to the extent possible, attempt
to link the new ideas and questions to the existing set of questions
as developed in the IDGEC
Science Plan.
If you wish to post an IDGEC New Directions-Viewpoints,
please e-mail a text of less than 1000 words to frank.biermann@ivm.vu.nl.
IDGEC New Directions-Papers are meant to elaborate a new
research problem, a new method or a new theoretical puzzle that
requires more research within the IDGEC community. This could
build on existing questions in the IDGEC science plan, or focus
on gaps in IDGEC research, or address some completely different
aspect. IDGEC New Directions-Papers could be of any style
and length. They should, to the extent possible, attempt to link
the new ideas and questions to the existing set of questions as
developed in the IDGEC
Science Plan.
If you wish to post an IDGEC New Directions-Paper, please e-mail
your text directly to frank.biermann@ivm.vu.nl.
9-13 October 2005
Open Meeting of the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change
Research Community, Bonn, Germany
IDGEC Synthesis side event
2-3 December 2005
2005 Berlin Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental
Change, Berlin, Germany
IDGEC New Directions side event
April 2006
Commission on Sustainable Development, New York, United States
IDGEC Synthesis and New Directions side event
