HUMAN DIMENSIONS RESEARCH PROGRAMS

AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

The human dimensions, or ways that people contribute to and are impacted by global environmental change, are becoming an increasingly important element of major research efforts. Miller and Jacobson (1992) discuss the history, structure, and challenges of this area in "Research on the Human Components of Global Change." Stern, Young, and Druckman (1992) present the U.S. National Research Council's perspectives and recommendations for U.S. research in Global Environmental Change: Understanding the Human Dimensions. The summary of the book is available here.

Three major international programs address scientific questions related to the global environment: The World Climate Research Programme; The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme; and The Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme. Questions put forth by these organizations and leading national programs have driven much of the scientific research in this field.

Many countries have instituted national global change research programs. Some of these programs include segments dedicated to research on human dimensions of global change. In the United States, research efforts are embodied in the U.S. Global Change Research Program and coordinated by the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences. In Canada, the Royal Society, in conjunction with Canadian agencies and other institutes, oversees the Canadian Global Change Program.

In Europe, the United Kingdom Inter-Agency Committee on Global Environmental Change (IACGEC) operates the U.K. Global Environmental Research Office. The German Ministry for Research and Technology coordinates the German Global Change Research Program and participation in international research efforts. Another leader in global change research, The Netherlands Global Change Research Program, focuses on climate change. The Inventory of the Research Centers Working on Human Dimensions of Global Change by ECLAT, the Evolution du Climat et de l'Atmosphere program within the French Ministry of the Environment, describes programs in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Canadian Involvement in Global Change Activities (1993) also describes global change programs in Finland and Switzerland. The European Science Foundation operates the Environment, Science and Society Programme, which focuses on environmental economics and institutional responses to environmental issues.The first issue (1991) of the Environment Science and Society newsletter describes the program and its projects. Three other newsletters, available from the Environment Science and Society Programme Office summarize progress and results of the program through 1993.

Listings of national global change programs--including this one--are far from complete. CIESIN welcomes suggestions and contacts for other national, international, or institutional research efforts. Please send them via e-mail to thematic.guides@ciesin.org.

Many other international organizations are working on issues related to global environmental change. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) assesses how humans affect the biosphere. A major aspect of MAB's program is establishing biosphere reserves in various nations for long-term studies of human-environment interactions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) studies human contributions and responses to possible greenhouse warming and serves as the scientific advisory panel to the Framework Convention on Climate Change. The United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Global Resource Information Database (GRID) collects and distributes global and regional environmental data, especially for use in developing countries. Another UNEP program, the Harmonization of Environmental Measurement (HEM), seeks to make data from diverse international research programs more comparable and compatible. HEM examines standards, common indexing schemes, and other classification systems to facilitate sharing of knowledge and data among researchers in various programs.

Universities and Other Research Institutes around the world pursue global change research, often providing the individuals and facilities that contribute to national and international programs. Although no comprehensive survey is available, a listing of some leading centers and programs is included here.

A number of computer networks also share data for global change research. For example, the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme Data and Information System (HDP/DIS) is the data management portion of HDP and links social science data centers and scientists researching global change. The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Data and Information System (IGBP-DIS) coordinates the resources of existing international data centers to support IGBP projects. The Global Change Master Directory and International Directory Network combines the data catalogs of several satellite data agencies into the Global Change Master Directory. And the U.S. Global Change Data and Information System (GCDIS) provides access to data resources from U.S. agencies.