German BMBF launches new funding programme on integrated land management.
The effects of the biofuel boom on the global food economy drastically show how little we actually understand about the interplay of factors and consequences of our decisions in land use. They leave no doubt about how strong ensuing economic and social upheavals can be when a daily meal becomes a commodity hard to attain for a family in a poor country.
It is reasonable to assume that climate change will come on top. It will not only alter the appearance and functions of our landscapes, but also the conditions for land use and the demands placed upon it. This will result in new forms of, or regional shifts in land management. We will have to consider the interplay between different factors and the consequences of decisions at different temporal and spatial scales. At the end of the day, this will also be about balancing adaptation and climate protection strategies. It is important, thus, to understand better how things work before we take far reaching political action in either direction.
This is certainly not an easy task. Many interests collide, and decisions often have a complex web of consequences that are difficult to keep track of. The considerable complexity of these questions seem to exceed the capacities of our existing management and policy instruments, which many hold are not made to tackle problems of such an integrated and trans-border nature. Consequentially, political decision makers and other stakeholders increasingly turn to science to provide the basis for knowledge-based approaches to resolve key social challenges. It is clear, however, that scientists do not have easy answers to these questions, either.
These are some of the considerations which lead the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) to launch a new programme in support of research on integrated land management as part of its High-Tech Strategy for Climate Protection. It was strongly influenced by a concept paper put together by the German National Committee on Global Change Research (NKGCF). BMBF also established a dialogue with the German Science Foundation (DFG) on complementary funding schemes.
This initiative will aim at stimulating the knowledge necessary to make decisions for sustainable land management under conditions of climate change. It will be looking for holistic solutions, innovative technologies and integrated management approaches. The focus will not be Germany or Europe alone, but also on the hotspots of land change across the world. A first BMBF thematic call on the connection between climate change, land management and ecosystem services is about to be published.
KLIMZUG (Managing climate change in the regions for the future) started
During summer 2008, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research started the first two network projects of its latest funding programme on adaptation to climate change “KLIMZUG – Managing climate change in the regions for the future”. The objective of KLIMZUG is to integrate climate change and resulting extreme weather phenomena in processes of regional planning and development. Innovative strategies shall be developed and implemented through regional cooperation networks, thus pooling strengths and expertise of science, economy, society and politics in the respective region. Herewith KLIMZUG will suggest future oriented options for living under conditions of a future climate.
The network project REGKLAM focuses on the area of Dresden / Saxony. It contributes to three main areas of support for the development and implementation of adaptation strategies, firstly, the development of an action- and implementation oriented Integrated Regional Climate Change Adaptation Programme (IRKAP), including all fields of adaptation identified by the Region and the Municipalities; secondly, the initiation and support of key projects and additional adaptation measures by the stakeholders; and thirdly, the advancement and consolidation of the regional actor network. REGKLAM is realised by seven main partners from the fields of research, public administration and public services.
The network project “KLIMZUG Nordhessen” is located in the centre of Germany around the city of Kassel. It will develop, implement and test structures, institutions and procedures for the adaptation to climate change in the model region of northern Hesse. The research-practice project aims at close cooperation between researchers, local enterprises, political decision-makers, administrations and other social groups. The KLIMZUG-Northern Hesse network intends to identify regional and urban vulnerabilities in the sectors of natural resources (agriculture, forest- and water-management), transport, tourism, education, health care and energy. Furthermore, researchers from the social sciences (law, politics, economy and psychology) will enhance the development of applicable and sustainable solutions for regional decision-makers and stakeholders, as well as the establishment of a common view on the challenges. In addition to these local activities an international transfer partner (Waldviertel / Austria) is part of the network.
Further network projects of KLIMZUG will be started in the beginning of 2009.
http://www.klimazwei.de/Home/tabid/36/language/en-US/Default.aspx
Climate 2008 Online Conference
The online conference Climate 2008 / Klima 2008 introduces to the latest findings on scientific research on climate change, including elements related to its environmental, social, economic and policy aspects. During November 3-7 2008 a big number of new projects and innovative initiatives being undertaken in both industrialised and developing countries by universities and scientific institutions, government bodies, NGOs and other stakeholders can you refer to.
CIRCLE ERA-Net was given the opportunity to participate during that online conference as the Chair of a 30 Minutes Chat Session on the theme “Research Topics for Climate Change Impacts and Response”.
Many thanks to Climate 2008 team!
For more details, please visit the Climate 2008 webpage
Climate 2008 CIRCLE Chat Session
CIRCLE_Climate2008_chatsession.pdf (PDF-Download, 227 K)
Germany launches the “High-Tech Strategy on Climate Protection”
May 2008
For the first time, a Strategy on Climate Protection was developed in close cooperation with partners in science, industry and politics. The focus of the High-Tech Strategy on Climate Protection is to bundle their main forces in terms of research capacities. This strategy links climate protection with innovations that create jobs and ensure prosperity. It defines the research policy guidelines for the coming years, taking into account scientific, technological, economic and financial factors.
Within the strategy there are a number of innovation alliances and new partnerships which agreed on concrete measures; for example the innovation alliance "organic photovoltaic": Spotlights are alternatives to be concentional solar technology using expensive silicon as raw material. Another alliance develops the potantial of lithium-ion batteries for the effective use and storage of renewable energy.
In the next ten years the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will invest an additional billion Euro for various fields of climate research, including the development of technologies and strategies for climate protection and adaptation. Partners from business and industry are already prepared to invest at least twice as much from its own resources.
Responding to climate change means embarking on a long trip and a lot of staying power in research policy will be needed to eventually yield success. The German High-Tech Strategy is guided by a vision for Germany, one that combines the demands of climate protection with the development of a free, dynamic and innovative knowledge society; a knowledge society that knows how to think in terms of interrelated systems and to develop them to its own benefit as well as that of future generations.
http://www.bmbf.de/pub/hightech_strategie_fuer_klimaschutz.pdf
To obtain information in English please write to: hightech-strategie-klimaschutz@dlr.de
Klimazwei has been kicked off
February/March 2007
Within the research programme Klimazwei, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany is funding more than 40 research projects with ideas on how to deal with climate change. Klimazwei looks at aspects of adaptation and mitigation.
The kickoff conference of klimazwei took place in Berlin on February 28 and March 1, 2007. About 250 participants met for this event. The funding programme, its aim and context was presented, but, above all, the persons in charge introduced and discussed their projects. On the first day, every single project was presented and discussions were deepened during an extensive poster session in a casual atmosphere. On the second day, ideas and concepts of the projects were discussed under over-arching and cross-cutting questions in six discussion forums. It turned out that even for the topic of how to deal with climate change being far-ranging and wide-spread, possibilities of cooperation between projects evolved. Moreover, in the adaptation part of klimazwei two workshops are being planned as a result of this kickoff conference: one about “Methods in Regional Networking” and one about “Decision Support Systems”.
Information about the funding programme and details on the projects in Klimazwei
KLIMZUG – Managing climate change in the regions for the future
March 2007
Call for Papers
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research launched the call KLIMZUG (Managing climate change in the regions for the future) in March 2007. Its objective is to integrate anticipated changes in climate and resulting extreme weather phenomena in processes of regional planning and development. Here, the development of regional cooperation networks (or further development of existing ones) is intended to pool the scientific, planning, technical and entrepreneurial strengths in a region and to actively establish structures for a new, state of the art approach to managing climate change, in particular improved adaptation to climate trends and extreme weather conditions. In addition, partner regions throughout the world may be enlisted in order to ensure the international transfer of the know-how developed in the projects.
Funding of up to 3 million € per year each will be provided to 5 German regions over a period of 5 years. Partner regions abroad are expected to provide their own funding towards the regional partnership.