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Introduction
Research on the human dimensions of global environmental change
requires international, multi-disciplinary collaboration. In
1995 the first in a series of Open Meetings of the Human Dimensions
of Global Environmental Change Research Community was held
at Duke University in the United States. Scientists gained
so much from that encounter that subsequent Open Meetings were
organized and held at the International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria (1997), and the Institute
for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan (1999). These
have served as important vehicles for information exchange
on current research and teaching, and have provided an opportunity
for community building in this emerging field. Without a forum
where the leading scientists can meet, present their research
and form networks, a comprehensive and dynamic international
research agenda will not develop in the right direction.
The fourth Open Meeting of the
Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Research Community
was hosted by the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and a consortium
of Brazilian Universities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October
6-8, 2001. The major themes included the following:
MAJOR THEMES
Challenges of Integration in Human Dimensions Research
Urban Sustainable Development
Vulnerability - a core human dimensions theme
Poverty and the Environment
Trade, the State and the Environment
Integrating Human Dimensions Research Into Climate Change Assessments
OTHER TOPICS
Attitudes and Behavior
Consumption and the Environment
Energy
Environment and Health
Environmental and Ecological Economics
Environmental Governance
Environmental Security
Industrial Transformation
Integrated Assessment
Land Use and Land Cover Change
Population and the Environment
Science-Policy Interface
Sustainable Development
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