CfP - Earth System Governance Norwich Conference

CfP - Earth System Governance Norwich Conference

Earth System Governance Norwich Conference: Access and Allocation in the Anthropocene

University of East Anglia, 1-3 July 2014

We invite you to the 2014 Norwich Conference on Earth System Governance on "Access and Allocation in the Anthropocene", to be held 1-3 July 2014 at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. This event will be the fifth in a global conference series organized by the Earth System Governance Project, a ten-year research programme under the auspices of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). The 2014 Norwich Conference on Earth System Governance will be jointly hosted by the University of East Anglia and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research on behalf of the Earth System Governance Project.

About Earth System Governance

The challenge of establishing effective strategies for mediating the relationship between humans and the natural world represents one of the most daunting tasks in the quest for environmental sustainability at all levels, from the local to the global. Environmental problems, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, water quality and access problems, soil erosion and others, call into question the fundamental viability of how humans have organized the relationship between society and nature. There is an urgent need to identify and develop new strategies for steering societies towards a more sustainable relationship with the natural world.

The Earth System Governance Project was launched in 2009 to address these problems of environmental governance. In this project, "earth system governance" is defined as the interrelated system of formal and informal rules, rule-making mechanisms and actor-networks at all levels of human society (from local to global) that are set up to steer societies towards preventing, mitigating, and adapting to global and local environmental change and earth system transformation, within the normative context of sustainable development. The Earth System Governance Project's Science Plan (available at www.earthsystemgovernance.org) is organized around five analytical themes. Architecture relates to the emergence, design and effectiveness of governance arrangements. Agency addresses questions of who governs the earth system and how. Adaptiveness research explores the ability of governance systems to change in the face of new knowledge and challenges as well as to enhance adaptiveness of social-ecological systems in the face of major disturbances. Accountability refers to the democratic quality of environmental governance arrangements. Finally, access and allocation deal with justice, equity, and fairness.

The 2014 Norwich Conference on Earth System Governance will address these five analytical themes with a special focus on access and allocation.

Conference Themes

Access and Allocation of Resources (Water, Food, Energy, Health and Wellbeing, Forests and Carbon Rights)

Access and Allocation not only relates to material resources (e.g. water, forests) but also to the access and allocation of immaterial values such as rights, benefits, responsibilities and risks. Issues of access and allocation demand new answers in times of the Anthropocene, an era of human-dominated ecosystems. Such responses need to be interdisciplinary and reconcile with governance effectiveness. Conflicts about natural resources such as water, forests, food, energy and carbon are in essence questions related to the allocation of and access to these resources, and often linked to concepts of security, i.e. "food security" and "water security".

Transformative Pathways to Sustainability

This theme is one of three themes under Future Earth and attempts to understand transformation processes and options across sectors and scales to identify strategies for the sustainable governance of the global environment and the relationship to human values, emerging technologies and economic paradigms. It will address the various blockages to these transformations and how to overcome them. This analysis will also involve new forms of localism and collective self-reliance at the scale of community across the whole planet.

Papers addressing the other analytical themes of architecture, agency, adaptiveness and accountability as well as methodological issues relevant for earth system governance research, the science-society interface and interdisciplinarity are also invited.

Submission Process

Abstracts must be submitted electronically by 15 November 2013 and not exceed 300 words.

Key Dates

Deadline for abstract submission: 15 November 2013
Notifications sent: 1 February 2015
Paper submission deadline for Oran R. Young Prize for best early-career paper (see below): 15 May 2014
Announcement of Oran R. Young Prize winner: 1 July 2014

Review Process - For more information see here.

2014 Oran Young Prize - For more information see here.

Conference website: http://norwich2014.earthsystemgovernance.org/ 

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Registration open for "Biodiversity Resilience" symposium

Oxford Biodiversity Institute is holding its third annual symposium on the subject of "Biodiversity Resilience" on the 2nd and 3rd of October, 2013. You are warmly invited to register for this event , which is open to all. Online registration is via the symposium webpage at http://bit.ly/OxBiosym2013 .

 

The symposium will bring together over 30 international speakers, presenting the latest research and developments surrounding the resilience of populations and ecosystems.

Sessions will include:

·         What is the role of biodiversity in ecosystem function and resilience?

·         Policy Trade-offs for Biodiversity Resilience

·         How does genomic biodiversity contribute to ecological resilience?

·         Landscape resilience and biodiversity in arid environments

·         Resilience in Oceans

·         The importance of long-term ecological studies

·         Factors influencing the resilience of populations and ecosystems to perturbation

·         Landscape resilience and biodiversity in arid environments

·         Governing for resilience

 

A formal poster session will also be held, please consider presenting one when you register.

Details of sessions and speakers is on the symposium webpage at http://bit.ly/OxBiosym2013

Registration costs (which includes lunches, refreshments and a wine reception):

Early Bird Registration (available until 1st September 2013) - £75.00
Standard Registration - £100.00
BCM Alumni or any student - £30.00

 

You can book accommodation in Oxford colleges by following links on  the symposium website.

We will be posting updates of the symposium programme on Twitter at @bioinstituteox so please follow us and participate in the pre-symposium discussions with the hashtag #BioSymOx

Please feel free to forward this invitation to any of your colleagues who might find it interesting.

For further information, please contact oxbiodivsymp@zoo.ox.ac.uk

 

 

Ruth Brandt, symposium administrator

Biodiversity Institute

Department of Zoology

The Tinbergen Building

South Parks Road

Oxford OX1 3PS

Tel +44(0)1865 281851

Asia Pacific Youth Forum: Mountain issues and Post 2015 Development Agenda, 30 September - 4 October 2013, Kathmandu, Nepal

Asia Pacific Youth Forum 2013 on Mountain issues and Post 2015 Development Agenda 

Kathmandu, Nepal 

30 September - 4 October 2013

Through its Asia-Pacific Mountain Network (APMN), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has been engaging youth and building their capacity to bring about positive changes in society through several different initiatives. Since it began in 2009, the global membership of the Youth Engagement in Sustainable Mountain Development (Y4SMD) initiative has grown to 5,000 members, a majority of which are from ICIMOD's regional member countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. In 2010, ICIMOD started organizing youth forums in member countries to build the technical capacity and leadership skills of youth in the region as well as to enhance their knowledge on the most burning issues in mountain development. The Asia-Pacific Youth Forum on Climate Actions and Mountain Issues in 2011 and the Asia Pacific Graduates' Youth Forum on Green Economy in 2012 were expanded to include the entire Asia-Pacific region, and the Global Youth Forum on Mountain Issues and Sustainable Actions in 2012 held in conjunction with the Rio+20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, included participants from around the globe. As the preparation and follow-up of the Rio+20 process, In 2012/13 ICIMOD organized a series of National Youth Forums on Green Solutions in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan, ran awareness campaigns in Nepal, Pakistan, and other countries by mobilizing local youth initiatives and ICIMOD Youth Ambassadors. ICIMOD has partnered with more than two dozen regional, national, and global institutes in promoting youth activities and have organized several e-conferences, Climate Cafés, knowledge sharing workshops, the Earth Debate, capacity building events, and promoted networking-advocacy on the sideline of important international events. Some of the youth ambassadors were sent to Rio+20 conference in Brazil, the UNFCCC COP 18 in Doha, and the 2nd Asia Pacific Adaptation Forum in Bangkok to advocate for mountain issues in the context of ongoing debates on  sustainable development and climate change adaptation.

Building on the success of these ventures, ICIMOD is now preparing for the Asia Pacific Youth Forum 2013 on Mountain issues and Post 2015 Development Agenda, which will take place in Kathmandu, Nepal from 30 September to 4 October 2013. The event will bring together young scientists, early career professionals, young politicians and youth initiative leaders from the region and develop their knowledge on mountain issues and the Post-2015 Development Agenda as an input towards global processes on the development of the Post-2015 Development Agenda .

Asia Pacific Youth Forum 2013 will bring together 40 participants from more than 15 countries who are engaged in sustainability issues. With technical support from several leading institutions, the five-day programme will include capacity building and knowledge exchange sessions, leadership exercises, and excursions to nearby environmental projects. 

This forum has been made possible with support from the  the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Eco-region (CONDESAN), and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Who can apply? 

Youth between the ages of 18 and 29 from the Asia-Pacific region with an academic or a professional degree in related fields are eligible to apply. Those with demonstrated leadership in sustainable development issues are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Sponsorship?

Selected participants will be provided with International airfare, accommodation, food and local transport.

Selection

The names of selected participants will be posted on the event page andFacebook page. Selected participants will also be notified via email.

                  

Selected participants will be required to present a copy of their valid passport/national identity card from their stated country of origin. Inability to do so will result in disqualification from the programme.

How to apply?

Please click here for the application form. 

Deadline for Application

10 September 2013

For further information, please write to:

Event Focal Point: Smita Ghimire

PhD announcement: Multi-scale Remote Sensing Retrieval Methods for Carbon Stock Estimates

PhD Student - Multi-scale Remote Sensing Retrieval Methods for Carbon Stock Estimates

 

International Max Planck Research School for Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Germany, Jena

 

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Christiane Schmullius

 

Project description

This PhD project targets to develop a robust methodology to support the assessment of carbon stocks and to monitor carbon changes along a Savannah-to-rainforest transect in Mexico using in situ measurements and remote sensing data. The proposed monitoring tool will facilitate quantitative estimations in loss of carbon storage and support the selection of terrestrial (e.g. tropical dry forests, shrublands) sites for conservation priorities with high value for the national carbon budget. 

For terrestrial products, algorithms and models using high spatial resolution satellite data will be trained and calibrated with site-specific data. Up-scaling to coarser resolutions is important for operational monitoring of intra- and inter-annual processes and can be performed using satellite time series data. The products will be jointly generated with the local authorities to ensure their use for the ecosystem service component carbon stocks, i.e. an objective process of providing incentives to land owners, the monitoring of the compliance of the obligations, and the budgeting of carbon in the landscape. 

The successful candidate is expected to develop a monitoring strategy that takes full advantage of Earth observation data and will lead to a system that can be used by the concerned Mexican authorities (CONAFOR, CONABIO) for their REDD-programme (Reducing Emissions by avoiding Deforestation and Degradation). The monitoring strategy shall exploit satellite images from different sensors with a variety of spectral and geometrical resolutions in conjunction with the available Mexican environmental databases. Further field and laboratory work is planned in order to capture state variables of the forest parameters. The scientific objective is the development of a new set of retrieval algorithms for the upcoming ESA-satellites Sentinel-1 and -2 by exploiting synergistic radar-optical interaction mechanisms with the surface conditions and by taking advantage of higher temporal repetition frequencies and various, higher-resolved geometric resolutions. This work is imbedded in the Global Forest Observation Initiative (GFOI) of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Mexico is one of GEO’s Forest Carbon Tracking National Demonstrator countries.

 

Working group & planned collaborations

The Department for Earth Observation at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena was established in January 2000 and employs now 18 remote sensing scientists. Research focuses on land applications ranging from operational vegetation mapping (specifically biomass) to crop and soil moisture monitoring. The Department is internationally recognized for its radar modelling approaches based on interferometry and hyper-temporal datasets, large area mapping exercises and exploitation of multi-scale radar-optical synergy. 

Recently, the algorithm workbench was extended to deformation mapping with persistent scatterer techniques and an optical data assimilation system.

 

The Research School

The successful candidate will become a member of the International Max Planck Research School for Global Biogeochemical Cycles (IMPRS-gBGC). The school provides excellent research possibilities for students to obtain a PhD degree in a 3-years graduate program.

The elements key to life such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen are continuously exchanged among the land, ocean and atmosphere in what are known as global biogeochemical cycles. Research in the IMPRS-gBGC discovers how these cycles function, how they are interconnected, and how they can change with climate or human activity. 
In their thesis projects, students deal with various crucial aspects of global biogeochemical cycles and participate in ongoing research comprising field observations, method development, experiments, and modeling. Students will also benefit from a three-month external research visit, specialised courses in e.g. statistics, Earth observation, modelling and analytical techniques, as well as in soft skills and will have ample opportunity to develop their personal career networks. 
The school is thus an excellent starting platform for a successful career in a field related to global biogeochemical cycles and Earth System Science.

 

Requirements

Applications to the IMPRS-gBGC are open to well-motivated and highly-qualified students from all countries. For this particular PhD project we seek a candidate with completed academic studies (University or University of Applied Science, M.Sc. or equivalent) and substantiated knowledge in the field of optical and radar remote sensing. The candidate should have very good experience in dealing with remote sensing software (e.g. PCI Geomatics or ENVI IDL and Gamma) as well as R, IDL or Matlab and the processing of large data volumes. High competence in advanced radar applications (polarimetry, interferometry) for Savannah and/or tropical environments is required. 

Motivation, teamwork capacity, the willingness to enter new subject areas (e.g. other programming languages, radar backscattering theory) and a keen interest in spatio-temporal and synergistic optical-radar retrieval algorithms are a prerequisite for the successful realisation of the project. 

The candidate is expected to carry out the necessary technical and theoretical work with a high degree of self-organisation. Due to the necessary field work in Mexico, fluency in English and good communication skills in Spanish are necessary. The work shall start on January 1st, 2014.

 

How to apply

Application deadline for these fully funded PhD positions is September 30, 2013. Top candidates will be invited to take part in our selection symposium (December 03-04, 2013).

Apply online: www.imprs-gbgc.de

 

After you have been selected

The IMPRS-gBGC office will happily assist you with your transition to Jena.

Successful applicants are expected to join us in winter 2013/14 and will receive a PhD stipend to cover their living expenses. There are no tuition fees.

Handicapped persons with comparable qualifications receive preferential status.

 

Deadline approaching July 15th, Global Change Ecology, graduate program, M.Sc.

To those in search of an interdisciplinary master program,

Global Change Ecology is devoted to studying, researching and understanding the most important and consequential environmental concern of the 21st century; Global Change and its ecological and societal consequences.


The application deadline for next winter term will be on July 15th, 2013. As the application deadline is approaching, please feel free to send your applications via e-mail.
For further inquiries please feel free to contact us gce@uni-bayreuth.de, we are looking forward to your application!


Here are more details about the program:

We focus on educating and training highly qualified leaders for science, environmental protection, political or economic decision making.
The elite study program is unique in Germany and at the forefront with respect to international efforts.
In this graduate program, courses are taught exclusively in English, encouraging internationalization amongst students and lecturers. It is a part of the Elite Network of Bavaria, an initiative of the Bavarian Ministry of the Sciences, research and the arts. Furthermore, Global Change Ecology combines the expertise of the Universities of Bayreuth, Augsburg and Würzburg, with that of Bavarian and international research institutions, as well as economic, administrative and international organizations.
Courses within Global Change Ecology are combined in modules on topics of "Environmental Change", "Ecological Change" and "Societal Change". Mandatory Internships and Science Schools compliment the curriculum alongside Method-base courses that support the three main fields of Global Change Ecology. Finally, a Master Thesis (duration 6 months) is to be completed on a topic of interest, related to Global Change Ecology. The completion of the Master of Science (M.Sc.) will take 2 years or 4 semesters.
Please find a brochure with further information under the following link: http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/gce/de/intern/fm/docs/47637/GCEINFOe.pdf. Interested students can contact us (e-mail addresses below) if they need further information about the study program, enrolment and visa issues or scholarships. Details are also available on our website: http://www.global-change-ecology.de, or follow us on twitter (@gcebayreuth).
If you are interested in this field of research, or know someone who may be, and holds at least a Bachelor degree in a field related to "Global Change Ecology", we hope you or they will take a closer look at the above links.

Best regards,
Global Change Ecology Coordinators
-------
Coordination Global Change Ecology
University of Bayreuth, Department of Biogeography Universitätsstr.

30, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany Tel. ++49-(0)921-55-2364 Fax ++49-(0)921-55-2315 gce@uni-bayreuth.de www.global-change-ecology.de