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Background
Conference Background The 2008 Berlin Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change is the latest in the emerging series of European conferences on human dimensions research. This series began in 2001 with the first Berlin Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change. The 2008 Berlin Conference will continue this successful conference cycle. The European conferences are annual events of about 150-250 international participants, selected through rigorous international peer review. Each conference has a clear thematic focus that allows for intense exchange and discussion. Conference themes are selected with a view to bringing new and emerging topics to the European and global debate, thus ensuring the continuous innovative thrust of the conference series. Special conference features, including panels on teaching and targeted programmes for doctoral students, add to its innovative character. In addition, the European Conferences on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change aim to further the integration of the European research projects in order to assist in shaping a European research area in the field of the human dimensions of global environmental change. Plenary and semi-plenary presentations of major European research programmes, as well as poster sessions, form an essential part of the conference series. The International Steering Committee ensures close integration with the overarching Earth System Science Programme and other networks. The European Conferences on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change are endorsed by the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). The 2008 Berlin Conference is also
an International Conference of the Social-Ecological Research
Programme. 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. Upcoming Conferences February 2008 - Long-Term Policies: Governing Social-Ecological Change (Berlin)
May 2007 - Earth System Governance: Theories and Strategies for Sustainability (Amsterdam) The Amsterdam Conference addressed
the theme of earth system governance that also reflects recent
attempts at defining the role of the social sciences within the
Earth System Science Partnership, which unites the World Climate
Research Programme, the International Biosphere - Geosphere
Programme, the DIVERSITAS programme, and the International Human
Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). The
mission statement of the Earth System Science Partnership calls upon
social scientists to develop ‘strategies for Earth System management’.
Yet what such strategies might be, and how such strategies are to be
developed, remains poorly understood in the social sciences. The
challenge of earth system governance raises many theoretical,
methodological and empirical questions that have been discussed in
Amsterdam. Nov. 2006 - Resource Policies: Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Equity (Berlin) The sustainable use of natural
resources has been a challenge for environmental policies from their
very beginning. Without an appropriate institutional setting, scarce
resources such as water, materials, energy sources or land are
overused, following the infamous logic of the tragedy of the commons.
Related to this are issues of effective resource policies, efficient
resource consumption, and equity on a global scale. These issues
stand at the centre of the 2006 Berlin Conference on the Human
Dimensions of Global Environmental Change. Core questions are: How
effective address governments, public and private actors around the
world these problems? Given the rising demand for industrial goods,
what are the potentials and limitations of strategies to increase
resource productivity and the cleaning of waste streams? What are
the most promising entry points for governmental interventions? Are
regulatory policies, such as take-back obligations for waste, a
viable instrument towards cleaner production chains? To what extent
are recent efforts to develop product policies likely to be
effective and efficient? To what extent are institutions by private
actors such as the Marine Stewardship Council or the Forest
Stewardship Council a promising approach? What strategies are
adopted in developing countries to safeguard access to and
sustainable use of natural resources and how do they work? 2005 - ‘International Organisations and Global Environmental Governance’ (Potsdam) The 2005 conference addressed the
role of international organisations in global environmental
governance, including the United Nations system, intergovernmental
agencies outside the UN system, regional integration schemes such as
the European Union, and nongovernmental transnational actors. Papers
addressed the effects of international organisations in global
environmental governance; the relevance and effects of
organisational design; the interplay of international organisations
within larger regimes; environmental policy integration within
international organisations; and new theoretical concepts to
understand organisational behaviour. 2004 - ‘Greening of Policies: Interlinkages and Policy Integration’ (Berlin) The 2004 conference addressed the
obstacles to integrated decision-making and successful strategies of
policy integration, with an emphasis on interactions between regimes
and policies on international and national levels. Core questions
included: What types of institutions succeed in strengthening policy
integration? In how far are integration efforts affected by economic
and political globalisation, the shift from government to governance,
or the transition from environmental protection to sustainable
development? What methods allow for an ex ante evaluation of the
economic, social and environmental effects of policies and
programmes? To what extent do international regimes affect the
capacities for a greening of policies at the national level, and
vice versa? The 2004 conference featured more than 100 speakers from
all continents and various disciplines in 30 panels as well as 11
keynote speeches. 2003 - ‘Governance for Industrial Transformation’ (Berlin) The 2003 conference focused on
political strategies to limit the overuse of natural resources and
emissions from industrial activities. Participants addressed the
historical experiences with the management of industrial
transformation, stimulation of environmental innovations and the
emergence of markets for environmental technologies; methods and
indicators for the forecast of future technological development; new
strategies and instruments, such as the so-called ‘third generation
policy instruments’ and evolutionary approaches; and the
interconnectedness of levels of policy-making and actors. The
meeting brought together 130 participants from 20 countries, with 57
papers presented. 2002 - ‘Knowledge for the Sustainability Transition: The Challenge for Social Science’ (Berlin) The 2002 conference focussed on the
intellectual foundations of global environmental governance. Do we
need new kinds of knowledge or new ways to generate knowledge for
the sustainability transition? How does knowledge affect
decision-making for sustainability, and how do societal systems
influence the ways in which sustainability knowledge is generated?
How can social and scientific institutions be designed, and possibly
reformed, to generate better sustainability-relevant knowledge and
increase its use for decision-makers? About 220 scientists from 29
countries participated in the meeting, which included a total of 111
plenary and panel presentations. 2001 - ‘Global Environmental Change and the Nation State’ (Berlin) The 2001 conference aunched the now
regular series of European Conferences on the Human Dimensions of
Global Environmental Change. The meeting focussed on the ways in
which global environmental change and the emerging system of global
governance has affected the role and sovereignty of the nation state.
Participants discussed ways in which the nation state is today
constrained through global institutions, and ways in which it has
gained importance as the pioneer of new approaches, policies and
technologies and as the key agent in the global diffusion of new
ideas. The conference also featured case studies on national
environmental policies that compared the ‘vertical influence’ of
international institutions with the ‘horizontal influence’ of
transnational diffusion. The meeting brought together 166
researchers from 28 countries.
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