Belmont Forum Collaborative Research: Integrated Analysis of Freshwater Resources Sustainability in Jordan

该奖项为参与一个由13个国家通过贝尔蒙论坛和八国集团研究理事会的全球变化研究计划竞争性选择的项目的美国研究人员提供支持。贝尔蒙特论坛是由全球环境变化研究和国际科学理事会的全球主要和新兴资助者组成的一个高级别组织。其目的是通过协调和调动国际资源，加速开展最迫切需要的国际环境研究，以消除对可持续性的关键障碍。八国集团研究理事会负责人制定了一个筹资框架，以支持多边研究项目，这些项目以超出国家或双边活动能力的方式应对全球挑战。每个伙伴国都在一个联合体内为其研究人员提供资金，以减轻跨越国际边界的资金需求。这一办法有助于有效利用国家资源，支持对具有全球相关性的专题进行出色的研究，最好通过多国办法加以解决，认识到全球挑战需要全球解决办法。贝尔蒙论坛和G8HORCs在国际机遇基金的首届呼吁中共同努力，为寻求提供必要知识以采取行动减轻和适应有害环境变化和与淡水安全或沿海脆弱性有关的极端危险事件的研究项目提供了支持。该奖项为美国研究人员在财团中的合作提供支持，该财团由至少三个参与国的合作伙伴组成，并将自然科学家、社会科学家和研究用户(例如，政策制定者、监管机构、非政府组织、社区和行业)聚集在一起。该奖项支持研究活动，这些活动将建立一个框架，以约旦为模范国家，了解和评估缺水国家的水资源管理选择和战略。约旦是水资源可获得性最低的国家之一，也是中东跨界水问题的核心，这使约旦成为可能导致广泛淡水安全挑战的许多有形和社会结构的代表。现有的模型通常忽视水文和社会经济系统之间的相互作用和反馈，从而限制了理解长期管理战略和水资源可获得性变化的影响和反馈的能力。该项目将开发量化评估工具，以探索如何通过各种社会和经济机制加强淡水系统的可持续性。模型将纳入自然过程和人类决策和管理标准。这些努力将用于评估广泛的淡水管理备选方案。这项工作将有助于了解和预测水管理战略以及自然和社会系统之间的反馈。该项目将涉及一系列政府机构、民间组织和研究机构，以加强约旦水资源部门的个人和机构能力，并对各地缺水州的水资源管理战略产生影响。

This award provides support to U.S. researchers participating in a project competitively selected by a 13-country initiative on global change research through the Belmont Forum and the G8 countries Heads of Research Councils. The Belmont Forum is a high level group of the world's major and emerging funders of global environmental change research and international science councils. It aims to accelerate delivery of the international environmental research most urgently needed to remove critical barriers to sustainability by aligning and mobilizing international resources. The G8 Heads of Research Councils developed a funding framework to support multilateral research projects that address global challenges in ways that are beyond the capacity of national or bilateral activities. Each partner country provides funding for their researchers within a consortium to alleviate the need for funds to cross international borders. This approach facilitates effective leveraging of national resources to support excellent research on topics of global relevance best tackled through a multinational approach, recognizing that global challenges need global solutions.Working together in an inaugural call of the International Opportunities Fund, the Belmont Forum and G8HORCs have provided support for research projects that seek to deliver knowledge needed for action to mitigate and adapt to detrimental environmental change and extreme hazardous events that relate to either Freshwater Security or Coastal Vulnerability. This award provides support for the U.S. researchers to cooperate in consortia that consist of partners from at least three of the participating countries and that bring together natural scientists, social scientists and research users (e.g., policy makers, regulators, NGOs, communities and industry). This award supports research activities that will develop a framework to understand and evaluate water management options and strategies in water-stressed countries using Jordan as a model state. Jordan has one of the lowest water resources availability and is the heart of Middle East trans-boundary water issues, making it representative of many physical and social structures that can lead to widespread freshwater security challenges. Existing models typically neglect interactions and feedbacks between hydrological and socioeconomic systems, thereby limiting the ability to understand the implications and feedbacks of long term management strategies and water availability changes. This project will develop quantitative evaluation tools to explore ways to enhance sustainability of freshwater systems through a variety of social and economic mechanisms. Models will incorporate both natural processes and human decision making and management criteria. These efforts will be used to evaluate a wide range of freshwater management options. This work will contribute new tools to understand and forecast water management strategies and feedbacks between natural and social systems. The project will involve a range of government agencies, civil organizations and research institutes to strengthen individual and institutional capacity of the water sector in Jordan, with implications for water management strategies in water stressed states everywhere.