E-mail Archive

ICSU

FYI

ICSU is requesting your input on:
1.  the proposed Grand Challenges in Global Sustainability Research over the next decade, what current research efforts can be woven into the challenges, and what international research coordination is needed to get the job done.  This consultation is open from 21 December 2009 to 21 February 2010.  www.icsu-visioning.org
2.  ICSU Foresight Analysis -- What will be the key drivers that influence international science over the next 20 years?  . The consultation website  is open until 25 January 2010.
Please contribute to these discussions.  Also, please distribute this call widely in your core project network and beyond and encourage the broader community to engage in this consultation.
Best regards,
Sybil Seitzinger
---------------------------------------
More detailed information from ICSU
Grand Challenges in Global Sustainability Research
What are the challenges in Global Sustainability Research for the next decade? ICSU and its partners are inviting organizations and individuals for their input via an online consultation beginning 21 December. Grand Challenges in Sustainability Research is a focused global initiative centred on five grand challenges that must be addressed over the next decade if society is to manage the global environmental change that is now underway and cope with the change that we cannot manage.
The proposed initiative is a result of the first step of the Earth system visioning process, which began with an online consultation that yielded more than 300 research priorities and contributions from more than 1000 people from 85 countries.
The consultation process is now at a crucial stage and, once again, we seek the opinions of the global community. We would like your reflections on the proposed Grand Challenges, on what current research efforts can be woven into the challenges, and on what international research coordination is needed to get the job done. The draft document and online consultation are available at www.icsu-visioning.org, from 21 December 2009 to 21 February 2010.

Strategic Planning
Second Strategic Plan
At its meeting in September, the Committee for Scientific Planning and Review (CSPR) agreed on a timetable and process for developing the second ICSU Strategic Plan, 2012–2017. This process was subsequently debated and agreed by the Executive Board. The process includes a number of structured consultations with the ICSU community over the next 18 months. The ongoing visioning exercise for Earth system science and a new Foresight analysis are critical elements of the overall strategic planning.
Foresight Analysis
As part of the development of ICSU’s second strategic plan, CSPR is conducting a foresight analysis, based on scenarios that explore potential future developments in international science. To help define the scenarios, ICSU has launched a broad consultation asking: What will be the key drivers that influence international science over the next 20 years? To learn more or to contribute your ideas, visit the consultation website. The consultation is open until 25 January 2010.
Earth System Visioning Process
Earth system visioning is a three-step process spearheaded by ICSU in cooperation with the International Social Science Council (ISSC). The first step involved an online consultation that asked: What is the most important research question in Earth system research that needs answering in the next decade? Why? The proposed research priorities formed the background for a workshop held in September involving senior researchers, early-career scientists, science-policy experts and funders. The workshop resulted in the draft document ‘Grand Challenges in Global Sustainability: A Systems Approach to Research Priorities for the Decade’ that is going out to the global community through an online consultation (21 December 2009–21 February 2010). The goal is to produce a widely shared vision of the scientific priorities for global sustainability research in the coming decade. The second step in the visioning process will begin on 22 June 2010, with an open forum in Paris to discuss the institutional structures that will facilitate the new Earth system research strategy.
--

Sybil P. Seitzinger, Ph.D.
Executive Director
International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP)
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Lilla Frescativägen 4A
Box 50005
SE-104 05 Stockholm
Sweden

Phone: +46 8 673 9558
FAX: +46 8 16 6405
Email: Sybil.Seitzinger@igbp.kva.se
Website:  www.IGBP.net

Back to Main E-mail Archive Page