Welcome to UGEC

Today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities. It is clear that the development of urban areas holds the key to many of the challenges we face in our interactions with the environment. The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) exhibiting its increased focus on urban areas initiated recently the Urbanization and Global Environmental Change core project.

This IHDP core project seeks to provide a better understanding of the interactions and feedbacks between global environmental change and urbanization at the local, regional, and global scales through an innovative conceptual and methodological framework. To capture the benefits of urbanization and mitigate as well as adapt to negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts, a stronger collaboration between academics, political decision-makers and practitioners is encouraged. As urbanization represents a critical topic of special policy relevance in today's world, the UGEC core project represents an unrivalled opportunity for addressing critical issues of worldwide importance that have not received adequate attention so far.

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UGEC News

UN HABITAT WUF6 - Call for proposals and event applications

The Sixth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF6) will take place in the ancient southern Italian city of Naples – Italy, from 1 to 7 September 2012 under the theme The Urban Future.

The WUF6 theme The Urban Future will be deliberated under six domains, which will form the dialogue sessions of the Forum as follows:

Dialogue 1 – Productive Cities: Urban job creation
Dialogue 2 – Livable cities and Quality of life
Dialogue 3 – Urban Planning: Institutions and Regulations
Dialogue 4 – Equity and Prosperity of cities
Dialogue 5 – Culture and Prosperity of cities
Dialogue 6 – Urban mobility, Energy and Environment

Dates to note:
•The call for online application for Networking events is ongoing and will close on 10 March 2012.
•In addition, the call for application for Training proposals is as well ongoing and will close on 1 March 2012.

E-debates:
On site debate and discussions on these themes will be preceded by an on-line debate to be launched towards the end of February 2012. You are invited to join this debate and be part of a vibrant virtual global community whose contributions go to shape the final output of the Forum.

More information can be accessed at the Forum website: www.unhabitat.org/wuf and in the First Announcement Brochure.

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Annual Conference of the Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers)- Call for Session Abstracts

Adapting to Climate/Environmental Change: the Urban Challenge Edinburgh, September 3-5, 2012
Conveners: David Simon and Hayley Leck (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Mark Pelling (King’s College London)

This session seeks to focus attention on the challenges of adaptation to changing climates and environments in urban areas. Amid the burgeoning urban research literature, considerable attention is now being focused on mitigation, governance and future urban growth scenarios. Although we do not accept the UNFCCC position that mitigation is exclusively the duty of OECD countries because many Southern countries have heavy urban emissions concentrations, mitigation measures and emissions trading schemes are now relatively well understood. There is much talk about adaptation and a recent growth in adaptation based studies but we still lack nuanced and detailed research-based evidence on how to promote and achieve it in different contexts. This is not merely some distant future concern: clear evidence is already emerging of climate/environmental change impacts on some people in towns and cities around the world. Accordingly, we are seeking conceptually informed studies addressing adaptation policies and practices at household, community and urban levels in one or more urban areas in any part of the world, and on future directions for adaptation research. We specifically look forward to exploring the scope for mutual learning across urban areas of different sizes and in diverse geographical regions.

Offers of papers or short interactive presentations, with title and an abstract of not more than 200 words, should be sent to Hayley Leck (Hayley.Leck.2008@live.rhul.ac.uk) by January 9, 2012.

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IUCN WCPA Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines - Survey

IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the Global Protected Areas Programme (GPAP) want your advice on how to make the IUCN WCPA Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines as useful and relevant as possible. In addition, in terms of the request by the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan, October 2010, IUCN is mandated to advise state parties on how best to implement the CBD Strategic Plan and the Programme of Work on Protected Areas. An updated series of Best Practice Guidelines endorsed by both IUCN and the CBD will be an important contribution to this task.

Links to the survey are below. The results will help determine how to best update the BP Protected Area Guidelines to meet your needs in such areas as new Guideline topics and Guideline translation priorities.

SURVEY
In English
In French
In Spanish

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IHDP Scientific Committee Membership - Call for Applications/Nominations

The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) is an international, interdisciplinary science programme, dedicated to promoting, catalysing and coordinating research, capacity development and networking on the human dimensions of global environmental change. Its mandate is to provide international leadership in framing, developing, and integrating social science research on global environmental change and to promote the application of its key findings. The full article with details on how to apply can be accessed at the IHDP website

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International Journal of Geographical Information Science Special Issue on Land Change Modelling: Moving Beyond Projections - Call for Papers

Papers are sought concerning land change modelling from applied perspectives concerning geography, ecology, planning, and related environmental studies, as well as from technical perspectives concerning process stationarity and model validation that are relevant to the above mentioned features. Of special interest are unique and new ways of conceptualizing, processing, and modelling land change. The deadline for submission of papers is May 31, 2012.

Download the full pdf announcement here.

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New Publications from within the UGEC network

Parnell, S. and Walawege, R. (2011). Sub-Saharan African urbanisation and global environmental change. Global Environmental Change, 21S, S12–S20.

Bai, X., Chen J., Shi, P. (2011). Landscape urbanization and economic growth in China: Positive feedback and sustainability dilemmas. Environmental Science & Technology, just accepted. doi: 10.1021/es202329f

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PhD Vacancies, VU University Amsterdam

The Institute for Environmental Studies of VU University Amsterdam has 3 vacancies for PhD students in the field of Urban Development, Landscape Management, Land Use Change and Climate Adaptation.

PhD Coastal Cities and Flood Risk
PhD Values of Landscape and Landscape Management
PhD Supporting Sustainable Urban Development

For more information:
Prof. Dr. Ir. Peter H. Verburg
Head of Department Spatial Analysis and Decision Support

Institute for Environmental Studies - Instituut voor Milieuvraagstukken (IVM) Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences (FALW), VU University Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tel: +31(0)205983594; Fax: +31(0)205989553; Email: peter.verburg@ivm.vu.nl

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Call for Contributions, "Resilient Cities 2012 3rd World Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change"

The Resilient Cities 2012 3rd World Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change which is sponsored by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the World Mayors Council on Climate Change and the City of Bonn will take place May 12-15, 2012 in Bonn, Germany along with the UNFCCC Bonn Climate Talks (May 14-26, 2012).

Proposals are welcome for presentations, panels, workshops, posters and co-events.

Adaptation and resilience-building experts willing to contribute shaping the Resilient Cities 2012 program are invited to submit their contributions using the online submission system available on the congress website.

The themes for the call for contributions are:
•Urban risk assessment and management
•Socio-economic dimensions of climate change adaptation
•Institutional dimensions
•Strategy, policy integration and mainstreaming
•Urban adaptation planning and practice: Experiences and solutions (including urban design)
•Resilient infrastructure (including urban logistics)
•Financing the resilient city

The submission deadline is December 31, 2011. Send your contribution now.

For additional information, visit the Resilient Cities 2012 website or contact: resilient.cities@iclei.org

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Call for Abstracts, "Community Adaptation to Climate Change" | Hanoi, Vietnam, April 16-22, 2012

Based in Hanoi, the conference includes three days of field visits to projects to see how communities living in different ecosystems have adapted to climate change, and three and a half days of interactive discussions on different thematic areas in Hanoi.

The conference aims to:
•bring together stakeholders and practitioners to share and discuss knowledge of community-based adaptation (CBA) planning and practices from different parts of the developing world, particularly from Vietnam,
•capture the latest learning and good practices in CBA from developing countries,
•integrate lessons learned into national and international development programmes in order to ultimately enhance the capacity and improve the livelihoods for some of the most vulnerable groups in developing countries,
•disseminate lessons learned at the Conference through daily communications, proceedings and an immediate conference summary.

The abstract submission deadline is November 30, 2011. For further details please download the conference brochure here.

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Call for Abstracts, "Climate Change Mitigation with Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples: Practices, Lessons Learned and Prospects" | Cairns, Australia, March 26-28, 2012

United Nations University (UNU), in collaboration with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) seeks submissions for a workshop on “Climate Change Mitigation with Indigenous Peoples: Practices, Lessons Learned and Prospects”.

The workshop aims to reflect the wide and diverse range of perspectives concerning indigenous peoples, local communities and climate change responses (including mitigation); support the build-up of understanding and peer-reviewed literature and to compile regional and local data and grey literature that are relevant for understanding climate change mitigation at the local level. It will also support indigenous peoples’, local communities’ and developing country scientists’ engagement and research in international climate dialogues. The workshop also intends to provide policy-makers with information on mitigation issues relevant for indigenous peoples and local communities. Selected papers will be published in a Special Issue of a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The workshop will be held from 26-28 March 2012 in Cairns, Australia and is the second workshop of the series. The first workshop on Adaptation and Vulernability was held in Mexico City in July 2011.

Abstract deadline: November 30, 2011 | Download the Call for Abstracts
Download the Workshop Description

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Urban Environmental Pollution: Creating Healthy, Liveable Cities | Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 17-20, 2012

People all over the world are migrating to cities in search of jobs and cultural advantages, especially in Asia. This has resulted in the formation of huge megapolitan areas and surrounding periurban environs.

The effects of cities on people are not well-understood. Cities require huge amounts of energy, resulting in large quantities of waste products, causing unsustainable environments. Cities are sources of air, water and soil pollution. Light and noise pollution are now known to adversely affect urban people. The role of urban heat islands and air pollution, Pm 2.5 and ozone, on human health is beginning to emerge. Lack of green space may have psychological effects for urban dwellers.

The nature of the urban environment and pollution on human health and well-being was explored at UEP2010 in Boston in June of 2010. UEP2012 aims to pick up where UEP2010 left off and continue the exploration of the urban environment and how to create healthy and liveable environments in cities.

Abstract submission deadline: January 16, 2012. Leaern more at the conference website.

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REAL CORP 2012: RE-MIXING THE CITY – Towards Sustainability and Resilience? | Schwechat, Austria, May 14-16, 2012

Cities worldwide are facing rapid social, economic, environmental, technological and cultural changes such as: rapid urbanisation, aging of society, security issues, housing emergency, new solutions on mobility, integration of immigrants, food and water shortage, etc.

Especially in times of economic crisis and demographic changes in cities, it is necessary to think about how to best handle what we have, and therefore “RE-MIXING THE CITY” is a challenge to manage and re-combine the elements which make our modern cities in order to better respond to change. REAL CORP 2012 in Schwechat will offer the possibility to collectively discuss a wide range of topics in different panel groups and workshops.

Abstract deadline: December 23, 2011. View the conference website for more information.

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UGEC Viewpoints VI - Addressing Grand Challenges for Global Sustainability: Monitoring, Forecasting, and Governance of Urban Systems

This sixth issue of UGEC Viewpoints highlights how the dimension of urbanization and global change fits into the envisaged objectives and scientific agenda of the new ICSU-supported Earth System Sustainability Initiative (ESSI). The five Grand Challenges posed by ESSI (forecasting, observing, confining, responding, and innovating) are areas to which UGEC project researchers and practitioners are increasingly turning their attention and this current issue showcases several examples. In particular, we include articles that are representative of the work occurring within the UGEC network, address three of the five major challenges posed by the ESSI, and apply them to urban systems.

The authors address questions of monitoring/observing (Javed Mallick, Atiqur Rahman, Maik Netzband and Sunil Bhaskaran; Lucy Hutyra, Steve Raciti, Nathan Phillips and J. William Munger; Xiangrong Wang, Shixiong Wang, Yuan Wang, Huanran Ling and Zhengqiu Fan), forecasting (Burak Güneralp; Helber López Covaleda and Tyler Frazier) and governance/responding (Anna Brown and Sam Kernaghan; JoAnn Carmin, David Dodman and Eric Chu; Mauricio Domínguez-Aguilar and Federico Dickinson Bannack; Peter Elias; B.K Singh and Shiraz Wajih). The overview article by Libby Wentz, Karen Seto, Soe Myint, Maik Netzband and Michail Fragkias, which introduces a special section of articles authored by workshop participants, summarizes the findings of the two recent jointly-held UGEC-sponsored workshops and addresses the issue of the synthesis of research on monitoring, forecasting and governance in urban systems. We hope you enjoy!

Download pdf

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Mediating Climate Change in the City: Experimenting with Urban Responses - Workshop for Early Career Researchers | Durham University, March 19-23 2012

The aim of the Mediating Climate Change in the City workshop is to provide a focal point for dialogue and collaboration for early career researchers working in the broad area of urban responses to climate change and to develop capacity for advancing scholarship in this field. Researchers undertaking doctoral or postdoctoral research with interests in a broad range of theoretical perspectives that seek to engage with the ways in which climate change is being governed, addressed, and encountered in the urban arena, including those focused on institutional theory, policy studies, political economy, governmentality, practice theory, actor-network theory and science and technology studies, are invited to participate.

Prospective participants should submit a short abstract (300 words) detailing their current research in the broad field of urban climate change governance by December 15th 2011 to Gareth Edwards (Gareth.Edwards@durham.ac.uk).

Click here to read the full workshop announcement.

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New publication from the 2010 GLP Open Science Meeting: “Paying for Ecosystem Services - Promise and Peril" in Science Magazine

The authors which include Ann Kinzig, Charles Perrings, Terry Chapin III, Steve Polasky, V. Kerry Smith, Dave Tilman and B.L. Turner II take a critical look at the opportunities and possible pitfalls related to existing environmental markets and market-like mechanisms. The authors touch on issues including lessons learned from existing payment schemes, uncertainties in the science underpinning the various schemes in question, and the dangers of perverse incentives. The authors also look at the tradeoffs resulting from the interdependence between various ecosystem services produced on public lands or seas beyond national jurisdiction, as well as requirements for observations and measures of the importance and condition of ecosystem services.

Download the pdf of the full article here.

Read the IHDP press release.

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Kjosavik, D.C., & Vedeld, P. (2011). The political economy of environment and development in a globalised world: Exploring the frontiers. Trondheim: Tapir Academic Press.

"This book is a critical exploration of the theoretical and thematic frontiers of environment and development studies in the context of globalisation." Chapter 9, "Reconciling development with the challenges of climate change: Business as usual or a new paradigm?" authored by UGEC SSC member David Simon provides insight into whether or not it is possible to address the current climate and other environmental challenges under existing paradigms and whether we can continue implementing development models and policies even with modifications.

To read the full chapter click here.

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Univeristy of Waterloo | Job opportunity

"The School of Planning at the University of Waterloo, invites applications for a tenure-track position in planning, specializing in environment and health. We seek an exceptional colleague, teacher, and applied researcher with a strong connection to planning practice. The ideal candidate will apply their knowledge of relevant biophysical/ecological and socio economic processes in any of the following areas related to the above specialization: built environment (including natural elements) and public health, sustainable, healthy, liveable, communities, rural and resource planning, and infrastructure development. The position requires an excellent knowledge of both urban and natural ecologies and a strong theoretical and practical understanding of planning."

For further details view the pdf of the full job description.

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University of Georgia Department of Geography | Faculty Position Open

"The Department of Geography at the University of Georgia seeks applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in GIScience with specialization in Remote Sensing to start August 2012. Ph.D. required at time of appointment. We seek applications from scholars with expertise in remote sensing and image processing, including but not limited to active remote sensing (e.g., LiDAR and RADAR), hyperspectral imaging and emerging areas of geovisualization and geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA). Application areas for a successful candidate could include urban systems, biogeography, conservation, landscape evolution, environmental change and public health, at local to global scales. The successful candidate should have a promising or established program of research and a record of, or potential for, securing funding from external sources. Excellence in teaching and graduate mentoring is expected."

For more information about the position and how to apply read the full announcement here.

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Understanding the Drivers and Consequences of Global Urbanization using Emerging Remote Sensing Technologies

By Dell'Acqua et al., posted on September 30th, 2011 in Articles, Earth Observation, Urban Monitoring

Eariler this year in April, two complementary workshops were held in tandem: NSF funded Urban Remote Sensing (URS), organized by Dr. Libby Wentz and Dr. Maik Netzband, and the NASA funded Forecasting Urban Growth (FORE) workshop, organized by Dr. Michail Fragkias and Dr. Karen Seto.

This recently published article in Earthzine, a contribution of the IEEE Committee on Earth Observation (ICEO) in support of the Group on Earth Observations and its mission, is an on-line source for news, articles, information and educational materials about Earth Science, Earth observations and users of Earth information for the international Earth-observing community. The article which is written by workshop participants provides an overview of the event and also a disucssion of outcomes and what's needed for future work. Read the full article here.

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TEEB Manual for Cities: Ecosystem Services in Urban Management

ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability has created the TEEB Manual for Cities: Ecosystem Services in Urban Management, in partnership with the TEEB for Local and Regional Policy Makers team. This is an excellent publication that builds upon the TEEB reports and tailors the information specifically for an urban context. It highlights how a focus on ecosystem services and their valuation can create direct benefits for urban areas and can be performed even with limited resources. This handbook is an essential tool for local and regional policy makers everywhere.

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32nd International Geographical Congress (IGC)| August 26-30, 2012 | Call for Abstracts

Under the motto "down to earth", the IGC 2012 will have Four Key Topics providing the framework for discussing geography’s contribution to central challenges of humanity: Global Change & Globalisation; Society & Environment; Risks & Conflicts; Urbanisation & Demographic Change. Approximately 35 sessions will focus on each of these core themes.

Call 1: Paper Sessions by the Commissions and Task Forces
Submission of papers is possible for some of the sessions organised by the IGU Commissions and Task Forces between July 1, 2011 and December 15, 2011. An overview of those sessions with an open call for papers is available on the IGC 2012 website.

Call 2: Paper Sessions on the Four Key Topics
Papers for the 144 sessions organised under the four key topics can be submitted between July 1, 2011 and December 15, 2011.

Call for Posters
Posters can be submitted under one of the four key topics from June 1, 2011 until January 15, 2012 via the IGC website.

Students' Presentations
Students from Cologne will organise a special event where students from around the world will have the chance to present their project ideas or research results in two different formats: Either a "speed presentation" or a poster presentation. The submission of proposals and the procedures are explained on the website of the Cologne students’ organisation, links to which are on the IGC 2012 website.
More information can also be found in the online pdf.

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2011 START Grants for Global Environmental Change Research in Africa Announced!

START’s Global Environmental Change Research Program in Africa awards one-year grants for global environmental change research projects to 3 or more natural science and social science research investigators. The 2011 theme is climate change, agriculture, and food security with an emphasis on the sustainability of ecosystem services.

This year the Program is supporting 16 research teams with investigators coming from 16 African Nations and 3 Developed Nations. The 2011 research projects focused on 4 main areas: forests, water, climate, and agriculture.

The high quality interdisciplinary GEC research contributes to international collaborative research partnerships and strengthens African research networks. The project outcomes contribute to knowledge sharing and inform decision-making among communities of science, policy and practice within Africa.

The START Grants for GEC Research in Africa are provided only to research teams with investigators who are associated with an African institution of higher learning or with an African non-governmental organization.

Funding for the grants is provided by: the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security research program and the US Climate Change Science Program, administered by the US National Science Foundation.

Click here to find a list of funded projects and their investigators including “The Role of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Enhancing Food Security and Climate Change Resilience in East and West African Cities” - led by UGEC SSC member Shuaib Lwasa with co-PIs: Michail Fragkias, UGEC project Executive Officer and David Simon, UGEC project SSC member.

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South Dakota State University Department of Geography | Faculty Position Open

The Department of Geography at South Dakota State University seeks applications for a full-time, tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level to begin August 22, 2012, in the area of sustainability and cultural adaptability in a globalized context. We invite candidates with an active research program that engages in such areas as urbanization and world city systems, urban-rural dynamics, and/or transnational labor, capital, and resource systems and flows. Applications of geospatial information technologies as an analytical tool is desirable. Special consideration will be given to candidates who focus on any of these areas with a concern for the sustainability of and cultural adaption within a continually globalizing world.

To Apply: For a list of qualifications and directions for online application, visit https://yourfuture.sdbor.edu, position #0003799. For questions on the electronic employments process, contact SDSU Human Resources at (605) 688- 4128. Position is open until filled. Screening will begin October 17, 2011. SDSU is an AA/EEO employer and encourages applications from women and minorities.

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Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies | Job Opportunity: Faculty Position in Political Science or Sociology

Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies has an open-rank, tenure-track opening for a social scientist trained within political science, sociology, or a related discipline, whose research and teaching address the human dimensions of environmental and resource stewardship. Ideal candidates will have an outstanding scholarly record and will also demonstrate potential for collaborating with natural and physical scientists within the School and more broadly at Yale.

Candidates should have strong expertise in such fields as: the policy-making process; science policy relations; international or comparative environmental governance; environmental institutions and movements; and public administration. Candidates are sought who apply disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to significant environmental challenges such as: conservation and protected area management; food security
and agriculture; urban/rural relations; land use change; environmental justice; climate change; energy; water; North-South issues; environmental security; or societal responses to risk, hazard,
and pollution.

The successful candidate will be expected to develop an internationally recognized research program that involves graduate students, to work across disciplinary boundaries in a collegial environment, and to teach both graduate and undergraduate classes.

Deadline: October 31, 2011
To Apply: Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a statement of research and teaching interests, and the names and contact information of four references via email with the subject line “Environment Faculty Searches – Social Scientist” to fesdeansoffice@yale.edu or via surface mail to:

Environment Faculty Searches – Social Scientist
c/o Pilar Montalvo, Dean’s Office
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
195 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Prior to applying, candidates should explore the School’s website.
and consider how their expertise can strengthen or complement the strengths of the existing faculty of the School.

Applications received by October 31, 2011 will receive full consideration.
Senior faculty applications considered under exceptional circumstances.
For more information about the position, contact Assistant Dean Pilar Montalvo at pilar.montalvo@yale.edu.

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UGEC flagship research paper on risks of global urban growth published in PLoS One

Researchers from the UGEC project just co-published a meta-analysis in the scientific journal PLoS One, revealing the risks that the explosive growth of cities poses to people and the environment. The paper predicts that by 2030 urban areas will expand by 590,000 square miles to accommodate the needs of 1.47 billion more people living in urban areas. According to Karen Seto, the study’s lead author and UGEC co-chair, these cities will likely be developing and expanding into most biologically diverse, sensitive areas, such as forests, savannas and coastlines – the latter being the most vulnerable, exposing people and infrastructure to environmental disasters such as flooding or tsunamis.

The meta-analysis provides the first estimates of how fast global urban areas are currently growing, and how that growth may develop in the future. It is drawn from peer-reviewed studies that used satellite data to map urban expansion, and found that from 1970 to 2000 the world's urban footprint had grown by at least 22,400 square miles.

The authors also discovered that fewer than half of the world’s largest 100 urban areas have been studied in-depth, with findings published in peer reviewed journals. Furthermore, the analysis found that coastal cities have higher rates of urban land expansion than non-coastal urban areas. The projected four-fold increase in global urban extent by 2030, with urban extent growth rates surpassing the rate of urban population growth consistently across regions for the next two decades, poses significant global environment risks.

Click here to read the full article.

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Urban Growth in High Mountains: Understanding the Process and Options for Management under Global Change - A Synthesis Workshop (Nainital, India 1-5 November 2011)

The Mountain Research Initiative and Kumaon University, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India will bring together a small number of development-oriented scientists from different regions of the world with experience in urbanization in mountain environments to participate in a synthesis workshop in Nainital, India between November 1st and 5th, 2011.

The main objectives are to specify the drivers and trajectories of urbanization in the world's mountains, assess the impacts of urbanization on both social and ecological systems, and examine the options for more sustainable management of urbanization in different mountain ecosystems of the world with possible recommendations for the research and
the donor communities. The main vehicle for this review and synthesis will be a peer-reviewed paper (or papers) to be published in a high-ranking international scientific, but development-oriented journal. Please read the full concept note for more information. For inquires email Dr. Prakash Tiwari: pctiwari@yahoo.com

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Adaptation Futures: Second International Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2012 | May 29–May 31, 2012 | University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Co-hosted and convened by the University of Arizona (www.arizona.edu) and by UNEP’s Programme of Research on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation (PROVIA www.provia-climatechange.org), the conference focuses on adaptation to climate variability and change. The conference will bring together researchers, policy makers, and practitioners from developed and developing countries to share insights into the challenges and opportunities that adaptation presents. It will showcase cutting-edge research from around the world, focusing on themes of equity and risk, learning, capacity building, methodology, and adaptation finance and investment. It will explore practical adaptation policies and approaches, and share strategies for decision making from the international to the local scale.

All updates will be posted to the conference website.
Call for papers and posters will be posted on web site and circulated by email July 2011. Click here to learn more about the conference, themes, and important dates.

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2012 Planet under Pressure Conference Call for Abstracts Open / UGEC Sessions accepted

The UGEC project in collaboration with other IHDP projects recently submitted sessions during the call for the 2012 Planet under Pressure Conference. We’ve learned so far that a number of them have been accepted to which you may submit abstracts online at the conference website. The sessions and days to which they are assigned are:

Day 1: State of the world’s cities: An overview of interactions between cities and global environmental change
Day 2: Urbanization as an opportunity for a sustainable future
Day 2: Transforming our way of living: Risk and opportunity in urban coasts
Day 3: Urban governance challenges for sustainability and global environmental change

Session descriptions and further information, available here.

The abstract submission process for the conference has begun - it is an open call for participants and for abstracts for presentations and posters to be submitted against the session topics described on the conference website under the following outline:

Day 1: State of the planet: the latest knowledge about the pressures on the planet
Day 2: Options and opportunities: exchanging knowledg e about ways of reducing the pressures on the planet, promoting transformative changes for a sustainable future and adapting to changes in the global system
Day 3: Challenges to progress: clarifying what is preventing or slowing humanity from implementing potential solutions
Day 4: Ways ahead: a vision for 2050 and beyond, and exploring new partnerships and pathways towards global sustainability

Each day will include relevant aspects of the conference themes:

•Meeting global needs: food, energy, water and other ecosystem services
•Transforming our way of living: development pathways under global environmental change
•Governing across scales: innovative stewardship of the Earth system

The closing date for abstract submission has been extended through September 16, 2011.

Additional sessions will be advertised over the next few weeks.

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IHDP Writing Contest

The IHDP Secretariat (UNU-IHDP) is pleased to announce its first scientific writing contest for a new magazine to be launched in late fall 2011.

The contest is open to young scholars from all over the world (graduate students, PhD students or postdocs). Scholars from developing countries are particularly encouraged to take part. The Secretariat will select five winners to be awarded a cash prize - and will publish their work in its magazine’s first issue.

Articles should address a significant scientific topic relating to the human dimensions of the 'Green Economy'. While the subject matter may be technical, contestants should seek to write an article that is understandable to a non-scientific audience.

Entries are not to exceed 3,000 words and must be submitted via e-mail to secretariat@ihdp.unu.edu by August 31, 2011. Please make sure to include “Writing Contest” in the subject line.

Cash prizes will be as follows:

•1st Place - $ 500
•2nd Place - $ 200
•3rd - 5th Place - $ 100 each

Employees of the IHDP Secretariat (UNU-IHDP) and their dependants are excluded from entry. No recourse to legal action is permitted.

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Funding Awarded to "The Role of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Enhancing Food Security and Climate Change Resilience in East and West African Cities"

Shuaib Lwasa (UGEC project SSC member) is spearheading a collaborative research project as a result of an awarded START grant for Global Environmental Change Research in Africa. This research is a meta-analysis of food security in urban and peri-urban areas in African cities and will assess how the provision of food within peri-urban and urban areas affects, and is affected by, climate change (Michail Fragkias, UGEC project Executive Officer and David Simon, UGEC project SSC member are both co-PIs). The project’s goal is an assessment and evaluation of UPA’s contribution to food security and enhancement of eco-system services for climate change resilience in African cities. Objectives include:

1. To analyze from completed studies the contribution of UPA to livelihoods and food security
2. Assess eco-system services derived from and/or enhanced by UPA in urban and peri-urban areas
3. Synthesize the contribution of UPA towards climate change mitigation and adaptation in African cities
4. Identify possible pathways for UPA’s role in urban ecological resilience to climate change in different environmental settings of African cities

This research will evaluate based on published literature the role that UPA plays in enhancing food security and building climate resilience. The evaluation will synthesize the progress in UPA as a mediating activity that will not only enhance eco-system services, but also contribute towards food security in urban and peri-urban areas of East African and West African cities. Through extensive review of literature on African cities complemented by field visits to selected cities in East and West Africa, the multi-disciplinary, international team will analyze the literature to generate knowledge that will better our understanding of the UPA role in earth systems processes identifying limits and entry points for policy. The research will also involve graduate students at four participating institutions thereby contributing to capacity building of the next generation of global environmental researchers.

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Call for Absracts - AGU Fall Meeting | San Francisco, CA | December 5-9, 2011

Colleagues are invited to submit an abstract to a special session focusing on the dynamics of urbanization: GC14 "Regional Climate Impacts 5. Urbanization Dynamics across a Changing Planet" (Co-conveners: Geoff Henebry, South Dakota State University; Dale Quattrochi, NASA; Chris Small, Columbia University; Libby Wentz, Arizona State University).

Already concentrating population, wealth creation, resource flux, and innovation, cities will continue to grow and develop into the foreseeable future. Yet the urbanization process and the dynamics of cities have been understudied to date. We welcome contributions on comparative urban morphology and scaling, the spatio-temporal evolution of cities, remote sensing of urban/suburban/exurban dynamics, urban-rural fluxes, urban biodiversity and invasive species, the seasonality of the urban thermal environment, and all aspects of urbanization, process and pattern within and between cities, and vulnerability, adaptation, and mitigation in urban environments in the face of global environmental change.

The session is sponsored by the Global Environmental Change (GC), and co-sponsored by the Atmospheric Sciences (A), Biogeosciences (B), Hydrology (H), Natural Hazards (NH). Confirmed invited presenters include Prof. Keith Clarke, UC Santa Barbara and Dr. Chris Elvidge, NOAA.

The deadline for abstract submissions is 4 August 23:59 EDT/03:59 +1 GMT.

AGU allows only one contributed presentation at the meeting (whether requesting poster or talk). The guidelines and policies about abstract submissions can be found here:
http://sites.agu.org/fallmeeting/scientific-program/submit-policies/

When you submit your abstract ( http://agu-fm11.abstractcentral.com/), be sure to select the GC section and the special session entitled GC14 "Regional Climate Impacts 5. Urbanization Dynamics across a Changing Planet".

If you have questions, or if you are not an AGU member and need to have your abstract submission sponsored by a member, please do not hesitate to contact any of the following co-conveners:

Geoff Henebry (geoffrey.henebry@sdstate.edu)
Dale Quattrochi (dale.quattrochi@nasa.gov)
Chris Small (csmall@columbia.edu)
Libby Wentz (wentz@asu.edu)

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Training Workshop: Urban Response to Climate Change in Asia – Understanding Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies

National Taipei University, Taiwan
November 10–15, 2011

Climate change is now widely recognized as a major environmental challenge facing the world. The impacts of climate change, including increases in extreme weather events, elevated temperatures, sea level rise, biodiversity loss, and declines in water availability and supply, pose threats to urban areas where people, resources, and infrastructure are concentrated. Given the rapid population and urban growth in Asian cities, there is an urgent need to understand how climate change is likely to affect these regions, and what viable mitigation and adaptation strategies may be taken to reduce their vulnerability and increase their resilience to climate change.

This training workshop is funded by the National Science Council of Taiwan, and organized collaboratively by the UGEC project, SARCS (Southeast Asia Regional Committee for START), and the National Taipei University. It is open to young scholars from SARCS member countries. Scholars from other countries with relevant background and field of study are welcome to apply as well.

The workshop will focus on urban responses, including mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change in Asian cities. The goal of the workshop is to collect the studies from different countries and integrate them into synthesis or research papers in hopes of providing valuable references for drafting IPCC AR5.

Workshop applications must be submitted no later than July 29, 2011. Any incomplete or delayed application submission will not be considered. Admission of selected applicants will be announced by the end of August, 2011. The application package will only be accepted in an electronic file attached to an e-mail, including:

(A) A letter of intent
(B) Curriculum vitae (academic background, research interest and recent publications)
(C) The application form and a summary of current research (please visit the official website to download the application form)
(D) Other materials of your previous work (e.g. published or unpublished manuscripts.)

All materials (in PDF format) should be sent to Ms. Hui-Chen Lin at the following e-mail address: hclin.ntpu@gmail.com

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Asia Pacific Network’s 2011 Annual Calls for Proposals

The APN is inviting proposals under two separate programmes, the Annual Regional Call for Research Proposals (ARCP) Programme and the Scientific Capacity Building/Enhancement for Sustainable Development in Developing Countries (CAPaBLE) Programme, for funding from April 2012, and is able to provide a limited amount of financial support for research and capacity development activities that fall within its areas of interest.

For further information on these Calls and to view the guidelines for application, you may visit the following page on the APN’s website.

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Sustainable Land Systems in an Era of Urbanization Workshop | Copenhagen, Denmark, June 27-30, 2011

The land community has historically focused on rural and frontier landscapes, with relatively little attention on urbanization or the rural-urban connections across time and space. This workshop, organized by the UGEC Project and the Global Land Project will bring together key researchers from both communities with the aim of developing re-conceptualizations and analytical frameworks for the study of land that incorporates urban and urban-rural dynamics explicitly. Many of the current analytical frameworks take a negative view of urbanization and its impact on land. However, urbanization can also present opportunities for increased efficiency of land and resource use, and yet there is no conceptual framework that fully addresses the linkages and bi-directionalities between urban and non-urban uses of land.

Key questions that the workshop will address include:

1) What are the pathways by which changes in non-urban land systems affect urban systems?
2) How does urbanization affect land uses in the peri-urban space?
3) How can we conceptualize and quantify urban-rural teleconnections?
4) How can we conceptualize sustainable land use in a rapidly urbanizing world?

The envisioned outcomes of this workshop include publications in the form of report and a peer reviewed journal paper.

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The African Climate Change Fellowship Program: Call for Applications

The Institute of Resource Assessment at the University of Dar Es Salaam (IRA-UDSM), in partnership with START and CCAA, announces the May 2011 Call for Applications for the African Climate Change Fellowship Program (ACCFP). The ACCFP offers experiential learning, education, and research and training opportunities to African professionals, researchers, educators and graduate students to enhance their capabilities for advancing and applying knowledge for climate change adaptation in Africa.

This May 2011 Call solicits applications for Adaptation Science Fellowships and Adaptation Policy Fellowships. For more information about each Fellowship type - including eligibility requirements, application guidelines and Fellowship duration and award amounts - please see the attached Call for Applications document. All applications are due to the ACCFP Secretariat no later than 5 June 2011.

Please note that this is the first of two ACCFP Calls for Applications expected in 2011. The next Call for Applications is expected in late 2011 and will include an education / curriculum development component.

For more information about the ACCFP and/or this Call for Applications and for application forms, please visit the ACCFP website at: http://www.accfp.org/

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Yale University Press Release -"Project Tracking China and India's Rapid Expansion"

A research project tracking China and India’s rapid urban expansion has received $1.3 million from NASA.

The three-year grant will allow researchers from Yale and other institutions to use satellite imagery to detect and measure the growth of urban clusters, which are urban areas linked economically, spatially or by their population. An urban cluster can be a single urban area surrounded by many smaller towns or several large cities of similar size. Because of these linkages, a single city cannot be analyzed independently of its cluster.
Read more...

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Young LOICZ Forum (YLF 2011) - Extended Deadline: May 31st

The YLF 2011, taking place 8-15 September, 2011, in Yantai, China, is a well-balanced combination of conference sessions and specific targeted activities for early-career scientists and young coastal managers, including training workshops and practical exercises. It brings together senior scientists, international organisations, and young scientists and coastal managers from various countries for both formal training and open discussions on relevant global environmental change topics. The training programme includes tutorials, exercises, and open-discussions to provide cross-disciplinary learning; original workshops provide both practical skills and scientific knowledge.

Special attention is given to career advice, including acquiring transferable and soft skills, training-through-research and one-to-one mentorship. A job shop offers the opportunity to network with and meet potential employers; field trips and social events will support cultural understanding. Other features are the YLF statement "The Future we Sea" and a carbon offset activity.

For more information please visit: http://www.loicz.org/young_loicz/YLF2011/

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UGEC Viewpoints V - Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainability in an Urbanizing World: Selections from the UGEC2010 Conference

In this fifth issue of UGEC Viewpoints, we share with you a selection of articles that provide an overview of the diversity of research presented and discussed at the recent 2010 UGEC Conference and ideas of how we can best move forward. One of the main take home messages from the 2010 UGEC Conference: Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainability in an Urbanizing World was the need to push harder in order to advance the concept of transdisciplinarity or convergence in the field of urban sustainability. This requires at a first level, a view across different scales, from the individual building to national or regional systems of cities. Also, fields of knowledge that require stronger synthesis include a wide range of natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, architecture, planning and design. In particular, fields such as materials engineering at the smaller scale, (landscape) ecology, complexity science, economics, geography and politics, seem especially critical. Many of the articles in the issue speak to the ideas of convergence and transdisciplinarity described here and point ways forward. Enjoy the read!
Download pdf

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GLP NEWS, Issue 7

This newsletter issue includes articles which reflect some of the research discussed at the Global Land Project 2010 Open Science Meeting held in tandem with the UGEC2010 conference. Download pdf

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2 Post-Doctoral Positions Available with CSAG

The Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, is looking for two (2) post-doctoral fellows to join its team. Full description of these opportunities is available at: http://media.csag.uct.ac.za/postdocs/csagpostdocs2011.pdf

The positions are to join two ongoing projects:

- Bridging the science-society interface on issues of climate information
- Regional climate projections and uncertainty (seasonal to decadal)

These projects closely complement a range of other work around climate services, impacts and adaptation, climate modeling, downscaling and climate processes. CSAG (http://www.csag.uct.ac.za/) is a vibrant multi-disciplinary group of ~ 40 members, one of the largest in Africa, and plays a leading role on climate issues in developing nations. Cape Town is also (in the opinion of current CSAG members) one of the most beautiful locations on earth!

Applications will remain open until suitable candidates are identified. Please see the position announcement (link above) for further details.

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March 25, 2011: Global Monitoring, Modeling, and Forecasting of Urban Growth - Researchers Convene at ASU

On April 1-3, approximately forty researchers from around the world and the country will convene at Arizona State University to discuss global monitoring and modeling of urban growth patterns in two parallel workshops along with local stakeholders. This initiative originates from workshop funding provided by NASA and NSF as well as coordination by the Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (UGEC) International Project Office at the Global Institute of Sustainability.

The Urban Remote Sensing workshop is organized by Elizabeth Wentz and Soe Myint, both Associate Professors in the School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning, and Maik Netzband, Senior Scientist at the Geographical Institute, Ruhr-University? Bochum. The workshop’s goal is to better understand of the drivers and consequences of global urbanization using emerging remote sensing technologies. This NSF funded workshop focuses on the need for better documentation and monitoring of urban land transformations and their consequences to the natural environment through remote sensing. It is divided into six major themes: tracking urban area growth and change (speed, density, direction, structures, impervious surfaces, land consumed); assessing the spatial arrangement of green/open space within cities and at the periphery (amount, distribution, connectivity); monitoring changes in peri-urban regions (farmland conversions, wetland infringement, biodiversity threats); tracking land-cover and land-use changes that influence urban climatology and atmospheric deposition (impervious surfaces, vegetation cover, dust); monitoring urban growth as it intersects with areas of potential environmental hazards (earthquake, subsidence, mudslides, floods, tsunami); mapping environmental parameters (microclimate, heat island, access to open space, percent of impervious surface, percent of green space; assess the geographic differences within the region; and, identify correlations with social, economic, and ethnic divisions).

The second NASA-sponsored workshop is focused on forecasting urban land-use change and Earth system responses, and is organized by Karen Seto of Yale University and Michail Fragkias of ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability. The purpose of this workshop is fourfold: (i) to present and compare methodological advances in forecasting urban land-use change with satellite data; (ii) to characterize impacts of urban land-use change on the Earth system (e.g., loss of agricultural land, habitat fragmentation, carbon sequestration and emissions); (iii) to assess the utility of current models and forecasts of urban land-use change for land managers, urban planners, policymakers, conservation agencies and other stakeholders who have an interest in identifying the likely location, size and shape of future urban growth; (iv) to facilitate a discussion among users and developers of models in identifying gaps in knowledge, methodologies, and typology of case studies.

The two workshop groups will meet jointly for part of each day to discuss overlapping concerns, common problems, and solutions. Both workshops will examine different disciplinary perspectives (e.g., geography, urban planning, remote sensing, economics, conservation, and landscape ecology) and methodological approaches (e.g., remote sensing, statistical and econometric modeling, system dynamics modeling, agent-based models). Workshop participants will include urban growth modelers, urban planners, users of urban growth models, and other stakeholders.

For more information about both workshops, participants, and bios, visit: http://urbangrowth.ugecproject.org/

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Cities at Risk II Conference: Call for Papers

Conference organizers are now accepting abstracts for paper presentations for the second international conference on Cities at Risk: Building Adaptive Capacities for Managing Climate Change Risks in Asian Coastal Cities (CAR II). The conference, to be held 11-13 April 2011 in Taipei, Taiwan, is part of the ongoing multi-year effort titled “Cities at Risk” (CAR), which aims to reduce risks and vulnerabilities of Asian coastal cities brought on by climate change and urban growth.

The first such conference, CAR I, was held in Bangkok in February 2009. Since then, a number of priority activities have taken place, including formation of active city teams working on vulnerability assessment issues and establishment of the IRDR Center of Excellence at Academia Sinica in Taipei. Other cities throughout Asia are also establishing national centers for disaster risk management. This second international conference – CAR II – is being organized to assess progress, to consolidate a network of researchers, decision-makers and institutions in the region and to identify priorities for the next several years.

Please see the attached Call for Papers for more information about this important event, including Conference Themes and abstract guidelines. Abstracts must be submitted no later than 17 February 2011 to be considered for the conference program.

CAR II is sponsored by the IRDR International Center of Excellence and hosted by the Academia Sinica, Taipei. The conference is co-organized by START, the East-West Center and CCaR (Canada). For more information, contact Clark Seipt at cseipt@start.org.

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LOICZ Open Science Conference: Coastal Systems, Global Change and Sustainability - Call for Abstracts

Yantai, China
September 12-15, 2011

The LOICZ OSC will be arranged around the overarching topic on “Coastal vulnerability and sustainability to support adaptation to global change”. Bearing in mind the grand challenges presented in ICSU’s visioning process (http://www.icsu-visioning.org), LOICZ invites contributions to the following scientific themes and encourages the study of vulnerability, dynamics and resilience of land-ocean systems at local, regional and/or larger scales:

•Social-Ecological Systems and Scales
•Vulnerability and Resilience
•Adaptive Capacity and Mechanisms
•Spatial/Temporal Scales
•Earth Observation and Monitoring
•Assessing, Modeling and Scenario Building
•Coastal Economics, Ecosystem Goods and Services
•Science-Practice-Policy Interface and Knowledge Transfer
•Coastal Governance
•River-Mouth Systems
•Coastal Urbanizations

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Young LOICZ Forum (YLF 2011)

Yantai, China
September 8-15, 2011

The YLF is a well-balanced combination of conference sessions and specific targeted activities for early-career scientists and young coastal managers, including training workshops and practical exercises. It brings together senior scientists, international organisations, and young scientists and coastal managers from various countries for both formal training and open discussions on relevant global environmental change topics. The training programme includes tutorials, exercises, and open-discussions to provide cross-disciplinary learning; original workshops provide both practical skills and scientific knowledge.

Special attention is given to career advice, including acquiring transferable and soft skills, training-through-research and one-to-one mentorship. A job shop offers the opportunity to network with and meet potential employers; field trips and social events will support cultural understanding. Other features are the YLF statement ‘The Future we Sea’ and a carbon offset activity.

For more information please visit: http://www.loicz.org/calender/ylf2011

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Recap of the IAI-ECLAC Training Institute on Urban Responses to Climate Change: Politics, Strategies and Instruments for Latin America and the Caribbean

Santiago, Chile
November 1-6, 2010

Thirty seven professionals from 15 countries attended the IAI Training
Institute (TI) on Urban Responses to Climate Change: Politics, Strategies and Instruments for Latin America. The main goal of the TI was to expand the knowledge and understanding of how urban areas are driving but also may respond to climate change and integrate those responses with their current and future urban development. These responses are fundamental to guide short and long-term socioeconomic and urban development coherent with the sustainability of the region.

Participants were practitioners working on urban and environmental planning; decision-makers formulating urban growth policies and scientists working on urban and climate issues. Many of them came from ministries of the environment, municipal and regional governments,
universities, research centers, as well as international organizations, development banks and technical cooperation agencies.

The event was co-organized in collaboration with the U.N. Economic
Commission for Latin America and Caribbean (ECLAC). Co-sponsors were the Spanish Government and the UGEC Project. IAI and ECLAC are discussing the development of a publication for policy makers as an output of the Training Institute. Further information about this event can be found at: http://iaibr3.iai.int/twiki/bin/view/TICitiesResponse2010

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2o CARTOGEO - II International Symposium New Paths to Cartography within Geography: the map as form of expression of the geographies

This international event will be directed to the academi