IHDP Update

No. 2/01

Abstract

This issue of "Update" focuses on various aspects of vulnerability research. It presents an overview of how human-nature systems can endure and produce sustainable outcomes in the face of social and biophysical changes. Eight articles by international scientists involved in vulnerability aspects of global environmental change research cover this topic by addressing perspectives from social geography (H. G. Bohle, University of Heidelberg); an integrated study of socio-natural phenomena (S. E. van der Leeuw, University of Paris and Santa Fe Institute); a research agenda for vulnerability science and environmental hazards (S. L. Cutter, University of South Carolina); the dynamics of vulnerability to global change (K. O''Brien, University of Oslo, and R. Leichenko, Rutgers University); human security and vulnerability as challenges for UNEP''s global environmental outlook (R. Langeweg, RIVM, and E. Guitierrez-Espeleta, University of Costa Rica); the role of institutions related to water scarcity, vulnerability, livelihoods and security (P. Mathieu, University of Louvain, and J. Trottier, Oxford University); vulnerability of African groundwater resources (H. Hoff, IGBP-BAHC); and vulnerability and food systems (A. Leon, University of Chile). A "Viewpoint" on vulnerability and global environmental change is presented by R. Kasperson of the Stockholm Environment Institute.