International Conference on Urban Dimensions of Environmental Change: Science, Exposure, Policies, and Technologies, Shanghai, China, May 2004

关于人类和自然系统之间复杂相互作用的研究越来越强调需要谨慎的合作和比较见解。 特别有价值的是在美国东北部和中国东部等人口稠密地区探索人与自然相互作用的努力。 该项目的重点是举办一次会议，讨论环境变化的城市层面，协调对科学、暴露、政策和技术的审查。 本次会议由新泽西蒙特克莱尔州立大学和华东师范大学联合主办，将于2004年5月在中国上海举行。 与会者将审查世界主要城市和城市地区环境变化的原因、影响和应对措施。 与城市环境变化的科学和管理有关，会议的主题将包括政策，法规，技术，影响适应，缓解和补救。 会议将分为两个平行部分。 其中一部分将是邀请中美学者参加的研讨会，他们将介绍和讨论当前关于城市环境变化的研究。 会议的第二部分将是城市环境变化界的一次“公开会议”，由更多的学者和从业人员在有组织的论文和海报会议上发表演讲。 会议将讨论有关当代城市环境管理的具体问题，例如需要建立综合管理结构，以解决城市地区环境问题的复杂性、多重性和相互关联性;全球气候变化等新的和正在出现的环境压力的影响;以及需要更多的利益攸关方参与城市政治讨论。 会议将讨论的第二组问题包括当前城市环境变化和管理的进程如何与脆弱性、可持续性和公平性问题相互交织，这三个问题都是发达国家和发展中国家正在出现的关键问题。 这些产品应提供对当前和未来城市环境问题的理论结构的更好理解和定义，以及对其管理的潜在基础。 通过设计，会议活动将鼓励研究人员和利益相关者从业人员之间的对话。 会议的具体成果将包括一个示意图，说明在重新构想的框架中的关键要素和相互联系，以了解城市环境变化和管理;一套可能的经验性措施和指标，用于比较研究城市环境变化的特点和相关的管理战略;一套关键的研究和信息需求的具体说明;以及对满足研究和信息需求最有用的一套研究工具、方法、途径和技术的规范。

Research on the complex interactions among human and natural systems increasingly has emphasized the need for careful collaborative and comparative insights. Especially valuable have been efforts to explore human-natural interactions in densely populated regions like the northeastern U.S. and eastern China. This project focuses on the conducts o a conference that will deal with urban dimensions of environmental change, which coordinated examinations of science, exposures, policies, and technologies. The conference will be jointly sponsored by Montclair State University of New Jersey and East China Normal University, The conference will be held in Shanghai, China, in May 2004. Conference participants will examine the causes, impacts, and responses to environmental change in the world's major cities and urban areas. Relating to both the science and the management of urban environmental change, topics for the conference will include policy, regulation, technology, impact adaptation, mitigation, and remediation. The conference will be organized into two parallel parts. One part will be a workshop meeting of invited Chinese and U.S. scholars who will present and discuss current research on urban environmental change. The second part of the conference will be an "open meeting" of the urban environmental change community involving a larger group of scholars as well as practitioners giving presentations in organized paper and poster sessions. The conference will address specific questions regarding contemporary urban environmental management, such as the need for integrated management structures that address the complexity, multiplicity, and interlocking nature of environmental problems in urban areas; the implications of new and emerging environmental stresses such as global climate change; and the need for increased stakeholder involvement in urban political discourse. A second set of issues to be discussed at the conference include how do current processes of urban environmental change and management intersect with issues of vulnerability, sustainability, and equity, all three of which are emerging as crucial issues in both the developed and the developing worlds.The products of workshop and open meeting should have immediate utility in both academic and broader societal settings. The products should provide a better understanding and definition of the theoretical constructs of current and future urban environmental problems, as well as potential foundations for their management. By design, the conference activities will encourage a dialog between researchers and stakeholder practitioners. Specific products of the conference will include a schematic diagram illustrating key elements and interconnections in a reconceptualized framework for understanding of urban environmental change and management; a set of potential empirical measures and indicators to be used for comparative study of the character of urban environmental change and associated management strategies; the specification of a set of key research and information needs; and the specification of a set of research tools, methods, approaches, and technologies that would be most useful for addressing the research and information needs.