Conference on Water-Ecosystem Services, Drought, and Environmental Justice - U. of Georgia; November 9-12, 2009

生态学拥有衡量和预测干旱对与水有关的生态系统服务的影响所需的工具和方法，进而帮助分析这些影响的大小和社会分布。社会科学可以为我们提供了解人类机构如何影响和应对干旱的工具。解决日益紧迫的干旱问题需要生态学和社会科学相结合的知识和方法。然而，这两个学科在很大程度上是独立开展干旱研究的。了解干旱对水和其他相关生态系统服务的影响，是有效预报和教育干旱在社会生态系统中的作用的关键。了解社会进程如何促进或改善干旱的影响，对于维持生态系统服务至关重要。迫切需要促进对干旱采取综合办法，将其作为一种社会生态进程。这个项目的学术价值在于它研究了水资源使用的社会决定因素，以及水文、经济和政策组成部分的整合。欧空局首届千年会议“水生态系统服务、干旱和环境正义”将于2009年11月9日至12日在佐治亚大学举行。有效的公共决策需要应用生态和社会学科所产生的知识。水生态系统服务、干旱和环境正义将把生态和社会科学家和学生聚集在一起，探索制定科学和社会合理的解决方案，以解决干旱时期的水分配问题，包括家庭和农业需求。这次会议将有助于对本科生和研究生进行关于干旱作为社会生态问题的综合专题的教育。它将首先让来自不同背景的有前途的学生参加会议。第二，会议的见解将在适合高中和大学使用的课程材料中广泛提供。综合的科学和政策影响将在一份白皮书中提出，该白皮书适合支持向决策者和管理人员宣传，并将在至少一份学术出版物中提出。会议的更广泛影响归根结底在于减少用水者之间的冲突、加强环境正义和更有效地管理公众对缺水的反应的目标。

Ecology has the tools and methods needed to measure and predict the impacts of drought on ecosystem services related to water and in turn to help analyze the magnitude and social distribution of those impacts. Social science can provide us with the tools to understand how human institutions affect and respond to drought. The combined knowledge and approaches of ecology and social sciences are required to solve the increasingly pressing problem of drought. Yet, the two disciplines have pursued the research on drought largely independently. Understanding the implications of drought for water and other related ecosystem services is key to effective forecasting and education about the role of drought in socio-ecological systems. Understanding how social processes contribute to or ameliorate the effects of drought is crucial for maintaining ecosystem services. Promoting an integrated approach to drought as a socio-ecological process is urgently needed. The intellectual merit of this project lies in its examination of the social determinants of water use and integration of hydrologic, economic, and policy components. The first ESA Millennium Conference, Water-Ecosystem Services, Drought, and Environmental Justice, will be held at the University of Georgia, November 9-12, 2009.Effective public decision making requires application of the knowledge generated by both ecological and social disciplines. Water-Ecosystem Services, Drought, and Environmental Justice will bring together ecological and social scientists and students to explore the development of scientifically and socially sound solutions to water allocation, including both household and agricultural demands, in times of drought. The conference will contribute to educating undergraduate and graduate students in the integrated topic of drought as a socio-ecological issue. It will do so first by including promising students from diverse backgrounds in the Conference. Second, insights from the Conference will be made widely available in curricular materials suitable for high school and college use. The combined scientific and policy implications will be put forth in a white paper suitable to support outreach to policy makers and managers, as well as in at least one academic publication. The broader impact of the Conference ultimately consists in the objective of reducing conflicts among water users, enhancing environmental justice, and more effectively managing public responses to water scarcity.