IHDP’s Activities:
IHDP’s activities focus on three principal areas: developing and sustaining cutting-edge research; developing world-wide capacity to understand and deal with these challenges; and promoting interaction between scientists and policy makers on these topics. The programme’s strategy for the conduct of cutting-edge research emphasizes the importance of both linking research to prominent concerns in the social and economic sciences and of collaborating with colleagues in the natural sciences to develop a greater understanding of the dynamics of complex socio-ecological systems. IHDP’s capacity development activities ensure the continued future and growth of human dimensions research by engaging with young scientist. We encourage new generations via training and networking on workshops and the triennial international science conference “Open Meeting”. We also provide research and career opportunities for young scholars to spend time working at the IHDP Secretariat in Bonn, and seed grants designed to encourage the initiatives of groups of scientists in developing countries. Science-policy interaction is an important aspect for IHDP’s work as a science facilitator to enhance the two-way communication between scientists and members of the policy community and the attentive public. Another aspect is to ensure the awareness of practitioners of policy-relevant science and the motivation to take the results of rigorous research into account in framing issues for consideration, selecting policies, and implementing them in various settings.
Sustainability: The transition to a sustainable world is one of the fundamental principles addressed in IHDP’s three pillars . IHDP has been successful in the generation of new knowledge on the human dimensions of environmental change. The challenge is to now undertake knowledge generation strategically such that it can support decision making at various levels on the critical environmental challenges that humanity faces now and in the immediate future. IHDP is strongly emphasizing the synthesis of knowledge and building the capacity of scientists, especially young scientists and scientists from developing countries the ability to use the sustainable knowledge for policy support. The transition to sustainability clearly requires an improved understanding of human values and behaviour as they are related to global environmental change. The next generation of social scientists, which IHDP fosters through strategic partnerships with academic and scientific organizations, will be the road to policy relevant guidance and support for a sustainable future.
Website: http://www.ihdp.unu.edu/
