The Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change International Program Office

对综合地球系统中人类和自然组成部分之间复杂的相互作用进行的研究突出表明，需要了解人类的个人和集体观念和行动，因为人既是个人，也是群体和机构的成员。 体制作为大规模环境变化的原因，以及通过直接反应和通过建立对不断变化的环境条件作出反应的框架，都占有突出地位。 该奖项为全球环境变化的机构层面项目的国际项目办公室（IPO）提供了新的支持。 IDGEC是国际全球环境变化人文因素方案（IHDP）的四大核心项目之一，IHDP是由国际科学联合会理事会（ICSU）监督的国际合作研究方案，与国际社会科学理事会（ISSC）合作。 IDGEC旨在了解机构在引起和应对一系列环境变化方面所发挥的作用。 IDGEC为来自广泛国家的社会科学家进行的一系列合作研究活动提供了一个框架。 该框架侧重于三大类问题：（1）因果关系（生态系统状况的差异有多少可归因于人类制度？）; (2)业绩（为什么某些机构对环境问题的反应比其他机构更成功？）;（3）设计（院校应如何架构以达致最佳表现？）。 IDGEC-IPO通过促进和协调追求共同研究议程的全球科学家网络，在该研究项目的成功中发挥了关键作用。 通过继续支持IPO，将加强当前和未来针对这一系列重要问题开展国际合作的基础设施，美国将向其他国家发出关于重大国际合作努力的价值和效用的积极信号。

Research on the complex interactions among human and natural components of the integrated Earth system have highlighted the need to understand both individual and collective perceptions and actions of human beings, because people operate both as individuals and as members of groups and institutions. Institutions figure prominently both as causes of large-scale environmental changes and through direct response and through establishment of the frameworks of responses to changing environmental conditions. This award provides renewed support for the International Project Office (IPO) of the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (IDGEC) project. IDGEC is one of four major core projects of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change Programme (IHDP), which is an international collaborative research program overseen by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), with cooperation from the International Social Science Council (ISSC). IDGEC seeks to understand the roles that institutions play in causing and confronting a range of environmental changes. IDGEC provides a framework for a series of collaborative research activities conducted by social scientists from a broad range of nations. That framework focuses on three major sets of issues: (1) Causality (How much of the variance in the condition of ecosystems is attributable to human institutions?); (2) Performance (Why are some institutional responses to environmental problems more successful than others?); and (3) Design (How should institutions be structured to maximize their performance?). The IDGEC-IPO plays a critical role in the success of this research project by catalyzing and coordinating a global network of scientists pursuing a common research agenda. Through continued support for the IPO, the infrastructure for the conduct of current and future international collaborations focusing on this important set of problems will be strengthened, and the U.S. will give a positive signal to other nations regarding the value and utility of major international collaborative efforts.