IGBP II – great challenges ahead

The third IGBP Congress was an important step towards IGBP's second decade of research, as it brought together all Scientific Steering Committees and Transition Teams of IGBP projects and representatives of the joint projects as well as IGBP's partner programs and agencies. The Congress finalized the major scientific questions and has developed further the new implementation strategies. In addition the Chairs of IGBP- or Global Change National Committees discussed their role in the next decade of the program's research. In total about 300 scientists, representing about 50 countries, were present in Banff for the Congress.
From policy relevant to scientific questions
Which direction will IGBP take in its second phase? The leading questions of the IGBP second phase focuses on the policy relevant question: How dangerous is the human experiment with the functioning of the Earth System?
This question translates into more science driven questions:
What are the anthropogenic disturbance regimes and teleperturbations that matter at the Earth System level? Which are the vital elements and functions of the Earth System that can actually be transformed by human action? What are the accessible, but for humans intolerable, domains in 'Earth System phase space'?
While more science driven, these questions are still far too general for actual research projects. IGBP has thus phrased four major research challenges:
1. What is the role of the biology in the functioning of the Earth system?
2. How important is chemical and biological complexity in the functioning of the Earth system?
3. How can societies understand, anticipate and adapt to the cascading impacts of multiple interacting stresses?
4. Can human activities inadvertantly trigger abrupt changes in the Earth System, and if so what are the consequences?
In addressing these questions IGBP must continue to host a wide spectrum of approaches and studies. IGBP needs to acquire a more exploratory character than in the past and define imaginative hypotheses involving potential complex mechanisms.
How to approach these questions?
The Earth System will have to be viewed as a single system in which interactions between natural and social systems play a crucial role. Since societies act in a regional setting, regional aspects will become more important in the next phase of IGBP. IGBP will thus strengthen the interaction with the national IGBP committees and regional research structures.
IGBP recognizes that research requires a balance between integrative initiatives and process studies. This since the foundation of interdisciplinary research remains the information provided by disciplines.
Without observations and monitoring such research challenges cannot be addressed. IGBP thus stresses that we need to develop a global Earth monitoring capability that captures the «heart beat» of the Earth and provides the basis for Earth system stewardship. The International Global Observation System (IGOS) and related initiatives will thus be further supported by IGBP.
New approaches
Besides the core projects, IGBP plans to initiate another tool to advance scientific knowledge, the Fast-track Studies. Fast-track Studies address a specific scientific question in an integrated fashion. Such studies are established for a defined period (often 2-3 years) and produce a seminal paper or 'milestone' book that substantially advance the field.
The challenge for IGBP
IGBP will have to prove in the next few years, that it is able to establish structures, which lead to scientific excellence that cannot be reached without international coordination. At the same time it must prove to reach out into the regions and integrate the ongoing research which predominantly focuses on regional issues and that it is able to provide policy relevant results.
by Christoph Ritz, based on the concluding statements of Guy Brasseur, chair of the IGBP