Planet under Pressure: New Knowledge towards Solutions
With regard to the upcoming challenges in the frame of Future Earth the NKGCF in cooperation with ISSC and ESSP convened a session about "Challenges of integration" at the Planet under Pressure conference (London, March 2012).
Background:
Interdisciplinary research and stakeholder involvement are essential in global change science. This was prominently stated in the grand challenges paper of ICSU/ISSC and in the Future Earth framework document, together with the need for integration of scientific disciplines. Integration is highlighted as one of the key elements of future research approaches to create new knowledge and come closer to the common goal of global sustainability.
But do we know how to integrate the disciplines of natural and social sciences? What about differences in temporal and spatial scales, time lines, disciplinary methods? How to integrate different sources of expertise and knowledge as well as different stakeholder voices? What are the experiences with different approaches towards integration? Are there any barriers (institutional, scientific, cultural, personal) and if so, how can we overcome them? What is the added value of such complex approaches? Do we need new educational schemes to inspire the next generation of global change scientists and enhance its interest in such a complex field of research?
Interdisciplinary research and stakeholder involvement are essential in global change science. This was prominently stated in the grand challenges paper of ICSU/ISSC and in the Future Earth framework document, together with the need for integration of scientific disciplines. Integration is highlighted as one of the key elements of future research approaches to create new knowledge and come closer to the common goal of global sustainability.
But do we know how to integrate the disciplines of natural and social sciences? What about differences in temporal and spatial scales, time lines, disciplinary methods? How to integrate different sources of expertise and knowledge as well as different stakeholder voices? What are the experiences with different approaches towards integration? Are there any barriers (institutional, scientific, cultural, personal) and if so, how can we overcome them? What is the added value of such complex approaches? Do we need new educational schemes to inspire the next generation of global change scientists and enhance its interest in such a complex field of research?
Mission:
The main goal of the session was to enable open discussions with conference participants, to exchange experiences and develop ideas about best integrated research practices, and how to help contribute to providing solutions to the grand challenges of global sustainability.
The main goal of the session was to enable open discussions with conference participants, to exchange experiences and develop ideas about best integrated research practices, and how to help contribute to providing solutions to the grand challenges of global sustainability.
Presentations:
- Introduction and summary of workshop conclusions "Integrated global changes research"
Rik Leemans¹, Gernot Klepper²
¹Earth System Science Partnership, France; ²German National Committee on Global Change Research, Germany - Coupling natural and human systems to analyze regional impacts of global change - integration experiences of the GLOWA-Danube project.
Wolfram Mauser
University of Munich, Germany - Participatory scenario development as a tool for spanning boundaries between disciplines, sectors and system levels
Moushumi Chaudhury²; J.M. Vervoort¹; P. Kristjanson²; A. Ainslie³; P.J. Ericksen³
¹Oxford University, UK; ²World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kenya; ³International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya - Designing integration: scientists and the science-policy interface in the coastal zone
Loraine McFadden¹; P. Tett²; S. Priest¹
¹Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University, UK; ²Scottish Association for Marine Science, UK - Lessons learned from 15 years of interdisciplinary climate impacts research, applications, and stakeholder engagement in the US Pacific Northwest.
N. Mantua; Amy Snover; J. Littell; L. Whitely Binder; A. Hamlet; E. Salathe
University of Washington, USA