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Call for Papers
‘Long-Term Policies: Governing
Social-Ecological Change’
2008 Berlin Conference on the Human
Dimensions of Global Environmental Change
International Conference of the
Social-Ecological Research Programme
Berlin, 22-23 February 2008
Download Call for Papers (Pdf)
The Oldenburg Centre for
Sustainability Economics and Management, CENTOS, Oldenburg
University, the Environmental Policy Research Centre, Freie
Universität Berlin, and its partners are pleased to invite
to its 2008 Berlin Conference on the Human Dimensions of
Global Environmental Change/ International Conference of the
Social-Ecological Research Programme to be held in Berlin on
22 - 23 February 2008. This conference will be the eighth
event in the series of annual European Conferences on the
Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, begun in
Berlin in 2001. This year’s conference will address
the theme ‘Long-Term Policies: Governing Social-Ecological
Change’.
Social-ecological change affects almost all areas of human
life. Well-being, prosperity, health, food safety, social
cohesion, energy supply, provision of drinking water,
housing and alike are all characterized by the interaction
of social and ecological dimensions. They are closely
coupled with severe ecological problems such as climate
change, loss of biodiversity, degrading ecosystem services
and alike. What is more, all of these problems are long-term
developments that require decades rather than months or
years to be abated. Infrastructures as well as basic
mechanisms of the earth system can only be altered over long
time periods. This applies particularly to the energy supply
system, food and crop systems, water supplies, patterns of
mobility and others. The long-term dimension is a common
characteristic of most of these problems of
social-ecological change.
These problems pose particular
challenges to decision-making processes in the political and
economic realm. The short-term focus of democratic decision-making
within four to five-year election periods and even shorter budget
cycles and the focus on short-term profits in most businesses often
hinder the effective combat and prevention of long-term problems of
social-ecological change. This conflicting relationship will
constitute the focus of the 2008 Berlin Conference on the Human
Dimensions of Global Environmental Change that will be at the same
time the International Conference of the Social-Ecological Research
Programme.
Recent research has approached
long-term problems and their governance challenge from different
angles. Theoretically, governance research discussed the challenges
for institutions and various actors to address long-term problems of
social-ecological change. Other research foci originating in the
natural sciences developed concepts such as adaptive co-management
to understand the complex interaction between social and ecological
systems. Empirically, scholars addressed problems of long-term
change in areas such as agriculture, food and rural areas; climate
and energy; infrastructures such as water, waste, transportation;
construction, housing and urban planning; or biodiversity
conservation. Methodologically, numerous approaches emerged that aim
at integrative modes of scientific research and the development of
solutions to long-term problems. Concepts such as sustainability
science, post-normal science, transdisciplinary research and alike
provide avenues for novel ways to advance societies’ capacities to
deal with social-ecological problem complexes. Practically,
scientists and scientific organisations such as the IPCC
increasingly become advocates of long term issues and apparently are
able to bring long term issues on the political agenda. Long-term
policies also are a key interest in the current efforts to design a
new IHDP research core project on earth system governance.
Over the past eight years, the
Social-Ecological Research Programme in Germany has addressed the
challenges of social-ecological change in numerous research projects.
Following an innovative inter- and transdisciplinary approach, this
research has produced significant contributions to solve problems of
long-term social-ecological change.
The conference will bring together
recent research and conceptual developments from these scientific
approaches to discuss current challenges, research tasks, practical
solutions and possible strategies for long-term policies. In
particular, we invite papers that deal with one or more of the
following issues:
- Research: Which results
from sustainability science, social-ecological research and
post-normal science have spurred practical solutions and in which
ways? When and how can transdisciplinary research contribute to the
emergence of novel and innovative approaches towards sustainability?
How to design science-policy interfaces in order to generate
knowledge that is relevant for long-term problems?
- Governance: What are the
strengths and weaknesses of political systems in addressing
long-term challenges? Do state actors, private businesses, civil
society organizations or other institutions vary in their capacity
to deal with long term problems? Are there examples of institutions
– possibly also beyond environmental policies, e.g. budget, security
or social policies – that successfully deal with long-term problems?
Which kinds of innovations are needed to effectively address
long-term social-ecological problems? What is the appropriate scale
to deal with such problems? How can governance mechanisms be
improved to enable them to deal with long-term problems?
- Adaptation: How can social,
political and economic systems adapt to ongoing long-term ecological
changes such as climate change or loss of ecosystem services? Which
adaptation strategies would be required? How can flexibility and the
ability to adapt to future challenges be preserved even in long term
investments and institutions?
- Participation: How can
different actors from the private sector and civil society be
effectively integrated in strategies to address long-term
social-ecological challenges? Which repercussions will broader
participation have for legitimacy, accountability, viability,
fairness and transparency of democratic long-term policies?
- Teaching and knowledge systems
for sustainability: As in previous Berlin Conferences, teaching
and novel ways to design knowledge systems for sustainability should
be presented and discussed. This relates in particular to the
transformations of the science system towards transdisciplinary and
solution-oriented research.
It particularly targets at bringing
trandisciplinary research results from this field into the
international debate and to discuss future perspectives of
social-ecological research. Therefore, we especially invite papers
that focus on trandisciplinary social-ecological research.
Key Dates
| Deadline for
proposals and abstracts |
15 September 2007 |
| Notification of
acceptance |
31 October 2007 |
| Deadline for
full papers |
31 January 2008 |
Abstract Submission
Proposals for papers or posters are to be sent by e-mail to
bc2008@zedat.fu-berlin.de.
The body of the e-mail (no attachments please) should contain
- Title of the proposed paper
- Abstract of less than 300
words (longer abstracts will be rejected. No graphs, references,
tables etc. in the abstracts please), and
- Complete address and
professional affiliation of all (co)-author(s).
The deadline for proposals is
15 September 2007.
Financial Support
Through a grant by the German Federal Ministry for Education and
Research, travel cost reimbursement of those conference
participants coming from non-OECD countries, of young
researchers and colleagues from formerly BMBF-funded
social-ecological research projects will be possible on a
competitive basis.
Host
Co-Hosts and Sponsors
Endorsements
Conference
Chairs
- Bernd
Siebenhüner, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg
(Chair)
- Klaus Jacob,
Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin (Co-Chair)
Contact
c/o Environmental Policy Research Centre
Ihnestr. 22
14195 Berlin
The Conference E-mail:
bc2008@zedat.fu-berlin.de
The Conference Website:
www.fu-berlin.de/ffu/akumwelt/bc2008 |
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