Events
Call for abstracts: Global Land Project Open Science Meeting 2010 - Land Systems, Global Change and Sustainability
The aim of the GLP 2010 meeting is to bring together large parts of the international research community working on land change issues, showcase the width and scope of ongoing research, help build a community in this highly interdisciplinary field, inspire new research and facilitate review, theory building and extrapolation.
Date: October 17-19, 2010
Venue: Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 15th April 2010
For more details, please see: www.glp2010.org
Advanced Institute in Ecosystem Services Valuation and Modeling held in Sapporo
With funding from the Integrated Field Environment Science - of Global Center of Excellence, Hokkaido University ((http://www.ees.hokudai.ac.jp/gcoe/en/index.html), the Sapporo Nodal Office of the Global Land Project recently completed training for young scientists on techniques for valuing and mapping ecosystem services. The institute which was held from August 9-13, 2010 at the Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan featured 30 fellows from 14 countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and the United States.
The overall goal of the Institute was to enable fellows identify and apply appropriate techniques for representing and modeling ecosystem services on the landscape. Gil Pontius (Clark University) covered the philosophy and practice of land change modeling with extensive practical on model calibration and validation. Akiko Satake (Hokkaido University) taught modeling forest management decision-making from the perspective of developing a theory of coupled human-environment dynamics and advancing solutions to environmental problems. Takenori Takada (Hokkaido University) treated Advanced Markovian models of land-use change. Prof Runsheng Yin (Michigan State University) covered specific techniques applicable to various ecosystem services ranging from provisioning, regulating, and cultural to supporting services before examining payment for ecosystem services as an environmental conservation tool. Insights for design of payment for ecosystem services and certifications schemes were also provided. Ademola Braimoh from the Global Land Project lectured on Multivariate statistical techniques and application to ecosystem services management and multifunctional land use modeling.
There was a general consensus that the Institute helped to resolve some nagging issues in the fellows’ research and that the knowledge gained will significantly enhance their research outputs. A google group was instantaneously set up to enable fellows to continue to interact for mutual benefits.
The GLP acknowledges the assistance rendered by IFES-GCOE and Prof Takashi Kohyama in particular in making the program a success.
Please find here the details of the institute.
Fundamentals of Land Change Science at Center for Sustainability Science
An intensive course for Graduates and Postdocs on the essentials of land change science was held at the Center for Sustainability Science, Hokkaido University from 25 – 29 January 2010. The course was part of the Sustainability Science series of the Center. The course covered systemic and global environmental change, and the implications for Earth Systems functioning. It also examined the land system as a coupled human-environment system with human activities as the central driving force of its dynamics. Methodological issues in land change research and vulnerability assessment that includes the full synthesis of assessing the potential impacts of multiple drivers on the coupled human-environment system and its ability to cope were considered.
Photos are available here.
Climate Policy Discourse on Beyond Copenhagen: Climate, Ecosystems and Human Well-Being
On 21 October 2009, United Nations University and GLP Sapporo Nodal Office will host a policy discourse on Beyond Copenhagen: Climate, Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being at Hokkaido University. The policy discourse will cover the gamut of drivers of climate, the trend in these drivers, how climate change will affect ecosystem services, and the implications for human well-being. It will also explore research architecture in a time bound manner that utilizes the capacities of different leading global change research organizations on this topic. Speakers are drawn from United Nations Environment Program, United Nations University, Ministry of Environment Japan, Hokkaido University and Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japan.
Download program information here. Flier is also available here.
Workshop on Vulnerability and Resilience of Land Systems in Beijing
In June 2009, the Global Land Project Nodal Offices in Beijing, China and Sapporo Japan co-organized a Workshop on Vulnerability and Resilience of Land Systems in Asia. The workshop integrated knowledge on the vulnerability of land systems to multiple stressors in Asia. Papers on models, metrics and measures of land system vulnerability and resilience, scales and vulnerability teleconnections, institutional change and urban ecosystems and vulnerability were presented.
Group photo is here.
Earth System Science for the Sustainable Future
The GCOE International Lecture Series on "Earth System Science for the Sustainable Future” was held at Hokkaido University in April 2009 to commemorate the successful hosting of the 24th Science Committee Meeting of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program (IGBP) at Otaru in Hokkaido, Japan. The Lecture Series attended by about 45 scientists featured an exclusive synthesis of knowledge on the Earth System based on historical records, contemporary field observation data, and predictive models.
Detailed report can be downloaded here.
Advanced Prediction of Biome Boundary Shifts in Dynamic Vegetation Models, March 2008
This workshop provides a forum to summarize the present status of predicting future dynamics of vegetation patterns at large spatial scales as affected by rapid climate change and pressure through land use, in particular at biome boundaries. The long-term goal is to improve existing vegetation models or to develop new models that are reliable and robust and can be included in Earth System models for studying biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks
Participants drawn from leading global change research centers around the world exchange knowledge and views of ecological processes, model requirements, theoretical issues and computational methods and simulation protocols required for model development and testing. Plant reproduction and dispersal processes, plant functional type representations, eco-physical effects of boundaries and modeling biome boundary shifts, interactions with land-use change, and inclusion of fine to medium scale heterogeneity in the models are discussed.
Special Discourse on Climate Change and Human Security
In February 2008, a special discourse on Climate Change and Security was held at GLP premises in Sapporo. The program provided a forum for interacting with experts on contemporary climate security issues. Speakers from Waseda University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and United Nations University discussed the utility of the concepts of climate security and environmental scarcity to promote climate change policies. The prospect of stable and sustainable energy supply in the face of increasing energy demand and associated greenhouse emissions were examined. Lastly, linkages between drought and armed conflict in societies primarily dependent on rain-fed agriculture and hence more vulnerable to environmental stress were explored. Presentations can be downloaded here.
Design Criteria for Integrated Models, February 2007
Models are required to formalize knowledge about land systems. They are important tools to explore human-environment interactions, and answer the vital questions of Earth System’s sustainability. During an International Workshop at Sapporo in 2007, Richard Aspinall, GLP Scientific Steering Committee member expounded 4 major fundamental issues that can aid integrative land systems modeling. The presentation can be downloaded here.
Advanced Institute in Land Systems Modeling, August 2007
The summer institute in Land Systems Modeling organized by the Global Land Project was held from 13 - 17 August 2007 at the Information Initiative Center in Hokkaido University. As a capacity building initiative of the GLP, the institute’s goal was extension, application and diffusion of knowledge about land systems modeling in the context of global change.
Twenty-four fellows resident in ten countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States completed the training. Instructors for the Institute comprised renowned persons within the global change research community. The Institute provided a period of intense study on global change topics. It examined methodological issues in global change vulnerability assessment, fundamentals of companion modeling, statistical techniques for analyzing drivers and locations of land change, multi-agent applications, land change projection and simulation techniques, and scenario modeling for land-related policies.
After the awarding of certificates, fellows expressed great delight for the opportunity to participate in the Institute. One remarked that the experience gained would help him to initiate a project in human-environment vulnerability assessment in coastal areas upon returning to his country.
The material can be downloaded here.
International Workshop on Governance and Land System Sustainability, February 2007
This is a cross-section of participants. The Workshop Presentations are available here.
