Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (UGEC) International Project Office

城市研究在社会科学、工程科学和规划方面有着悠久的传统。最近，自然科学和健康科学的贡献扩大了对城市问题的了解。到目前为止，还没有一个整合这些学科贡献的框架。一个跨学科的方法和一个有效的网络将全球各地的研究人员联系在一起，对于理解全球环境变化和城市进程之间的复杂相互作用至关重要。学者和政策制定者之间还需要更强有力的合作，以制定能够减轻这些互动的后果的政策。为满足这一需求，2005年，国际全球环境变化人因方案(IHDP)启动了城市化与全球环境变化项目。第二年，亚利桑那州立大学成立了国际项目办公室(IPO)，以协调和促进该项目的工作。在过去的三年里，UGEC项目IPO一直在建立一个扩大的国际学者和实践者网络，他们致力于城市地区和全球环境变化的接口工作。UGEC项目被设想为一项为期十年的努力，旨在加强对全球环境变化与地方、区域和全球规模的城市化之间的相互作用和反馈的了解和理解。为此，UGEC协助制定概念框架和方法，以支持对这些相互作用的研究和分析；它指导研究全球环境变化和城市系统之间的相互作用，最终目标是促进改善指导城市发展的决策过程；它确定相互作用的点和强度、变化的门槛和耦合的人-环境城市系统的因果关系的方向。IPO旨在通过组织国际研讨会和会议以及使用列表服务器、时事通讯和网站等传播工具，促进研究与公共政策之间的联系，从而在该项目中发挥催化作用。它还将有助于加强在美国的UGEC学者和从业者网络与他们的国际同行之间的联系。通过让城市从业人员、决策者和利益攸关方参与进来，首次公开募股计划旨在在UGEC网络成员之间在国家和国际范围内进行积极、合作的对话。UGEC项目将通过鼓励创新的概念和方法方法，将社会科学与自然科学、工程、规划和金融联系起来，为创造新的跨学科知识的进程做出贡献。首次公开募股将把这些综合研究成果传达给地方、国家和国际层面的决策者、从业者和其他最终用户，从而将尖端学术研究与公共政策联系起来。通过将越来越多、更多样化的全球环境变化问题学者群体聚集在一起，IPO将有助于开发促进跨学科研究的理论、战略和方法，并鼓励年轻科学家跨越社会科学和自然科学的鸿沟。

Urban studies have a long tradition in the social sciences, engineering sciences, and planning. Contributions from the natural sciences and health sciences recently have expanded knowledge about urban issues. Absent thus far has been a framework that integrates these disciplinary contributions. An interdisciplinary approach and an effective network that links researchers from across the globe are essential to understanding the complex interactions among global environmental change and urban processes. A stronger collaboration among academics and policy makers also is needed to craft policies that can mitigate the consequences of those interactions. To meet this need, the Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (UGEC) project was launched in 2005 by International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) on Global Environmental Change. The following year, the International Project Office (IPO) was established at Arizona State University to coordinate and facilitate the work of the project. For the last three years, the UGEC project IPO has been building an expanded international network of scholars and practitioners that work at the interface of urban areas and global environmental change. The UGEC project is envisioned as a ten-year effort designed to enhance knowledge and understanding about the interactions and feedbacks between global environmental change and urbanization at local, regional, and global scales. Toward this end, UGEC assists in developing conceptual frameworks and methods that support the study and analysis of these interactions; it guides the study of the interactions between global environmental change and urban systems with the ultimate goal of contributing to the improvement of decision-making processes directing urban growth; and it identifies the points and strength of interaction, the thresholds for change, and the direction of causality in a coupled human-environment urban system. The IPO seeks to play a catalytic role in the project by facilitating connections between research and public policy by organizing international workshops and conferences and by using communication tools such as a listserv, newsletter, and website. It also will assist in increasing the connections between U.S.-based networks of UGEC scholars and practitioners with their international counterparts. By engaging urban practitioners, decision makers, and stakeholders, the IPO intends to generate an active, collaborative dialogue among members of the UGEC network on both national and international scales.The UGEC project will contribute to the process of creating new interdisciplinary knowledge by encouraging innovative conceptual and methodological approaches that link social sciences with natural science, engineering, planning, and finance. The IPO will communicate these integrative research results to decision makers, practitioners, and other end-users at local, national, and international levels, thus linking cutting-edge academic research to public policy. By bringing together an ever-larger and more diverse group of scholars on global environmental change issues, the IPO will help develop theories, strategies, and methods that foster interdisciplinary research and encourage young scientists to reach across the social-natural science divide.