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

生态学拥有所需的工具和方法来测量和预测干旱对与水有关的生态系统服务的影响，进而帮助分析这些影响的程度和社会分布。社会科学可以为我们提供工具来理解人类制度是如何影响和应对干旱的。要解决日益紧迫的干旱问题，需要结合生态学和社会科学的知识和方法。然而，这两个学科对干旱的研究在很大程度上是独立的。了解干旱对水和其他相关生态系统服务的影响是有效预测和教育干旱在社会生态系统中的作用的关键。了解社会过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。迫切需要促进将干旱作为一个社会生态过程的综合办法。这个项目的智力价值在于它审查了用水的社会决定因素，并将水文、经济和政策组成部分结合起来。第一届欧空局千年会议“水生态系统服务、干旱和环境正义”将于2009年11月9日至12日在乔治亚大学举行。有效的公共决策需要应用生态和社会学科产生的知识。水生态系统服务、干旱和环境正义将汇集生态和社会科学家和学生，探索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。这次会议将有助于教育本科生和研究生关于干旱作为一个社会生态问题的综合主题。为此，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。科学和政策方面的综合影响将在一份适合于支持向决策者和管理人员进行宣传的白皮书以及至少一份学术出版物中提出。会议的更广泛影响最终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。

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.