Belmont Forum-G8 Initiative Collaborative Research: Drought Impacts Vulnerability Thresholds in Monitoring and Early Warning Research

该奖项为参与一个项目的美国研究人员提供支持，该项目由贝尔蒙特论坛（Belmont Forum）和八国集团（G8）国家研究首长理事会（Heads of research council）通过13国全球变化研究计划竞争性地选出。贝尔蒙特论坛是一个由全球环境变化研究和国际科学理事会的世界主要和新兴资助者组成的高层组织。它的目的是通过协调和调动国际资源，加速进行最迫切需要的国际环境研究，以消除可持续发展的关键障碍。八国集团研究理事会负责人制定了一个资助框架，以支持以超出国家或双边活动能力的方式应对全球挑战的多边研究项目。每个伙伴国在一个联盟中为它们的研究人员提供资金，以减轻对跨越国际边界的资金的需求。这种方法有助于有效利用国家资源，支持对全球相关主题的优秀研究，最好通过多国方法解决，同时认识到全球挑战需要全球解决方案。在国际机会基金的首次呼吁下，贝尔蒙特论坛和g8horc共同努力，为研究项目提供支持，这些项目寻求提供行动所需的知识，以减轻和适应与淡水安全或沿海脆弱性有关的有害环境变化和极端危险事件。该奖项为美国研究人员在联盟中合作提供支持，该联盟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（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。该奖项支持的研究活动将开发一种结合使用水文气象和社会经济数据的创新方法，以改进干旱监测和预警系统以及相关的干旱风险管理战略。干旱对全球不同地区的淡水安全构成威胁。一系列干旱指标经常被用来分别描述这些事件对环境和社会的影响。本项目力求将这些自然和社会方法结合起来，制定更有效的干旱管理方法。本项目的目标包括：(1)比较和评估不同地理环境和治理结构的干旱影响指标；(2)确定并比较界定社会脆弱性和干旱影响的干旱指标阈值；(3)参与社会学习，探索各种利益相关者的框架、决策和干旱实践；(4)在改进干旱监测和预警系统、管理和培训的基础上，发展通往抗旱社区和生态系统的途径。研究人员将与不同的利益相关者和最终用户群体接触，以了解使社区易受干旱影响的特征，并提高社区适应不同社会、经济和文化背景的能力。通过更好地了解和评估干旱的影响，这些努力将有助于改善淡水安全。

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 an innovative methodological approach combining the use of hydro-meteorological and socio-economic data to improve drought monitoring and early warning systems and associated drought risk management strategies. Droughts pose a threat to freshwater security in diverse areas around the globe. A range of drought metrics is often used to characterize the impacts of these events separately in the environment and in society. This project seeks to bridge these natural and social approaches to develop more effective drought management approaches. The objectives of this project include (1) compare and evaluate drought impact indicators across geographic settings and governance structures; (2) identify and compare drought indicator thresholds that define social vulnerability and drought impacts; (3) engage in social learning to explore framing, decision making, and drought practices by a diverse range of stakeholders and (4) develop pathways to drought resilient communities and ecosystems based on improved drought monitoring and early warning systems, management, and training. Researchers will engage with a diverse group of stakeholders and end-users to understand the characteristics that make communities vulnerable to droughts and improve the capacity of communities to adapt in different social, economic, and cultural contexts. These efforts will contribute toward improved freshwater security by developing a better understanding and assessment of drought impacts.