Das Projekt "Wissenschaftleraustausch PIK-Beijing" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung e.V. durchgeführt. This project funds the exchange of scientists from PIK and Tsinghua University in Beijing. In cooperation the scientists assess how much China is being affected by global warming and climate change, what the consequences are and what can be done to encourage China to enlarge efforts in the mitigation of climate change. Scientific cooperation between young scientists from China and Germany.
Das Projekt "Irkutsk Regional Information System for Environmental Protection (IRIS)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Jena, Institut für Geographie, Abteilung Geoinformatik und Fernerkundung durchgeführt. Background: IRIS builds on former Framework Programme 4 and 5 projects, extends their networks to Russia and adopts some of their findings to the specific needs of the involved governmental agency. This implements for the first time that the scientific results from former EC-funded scientific co-operations are being collected and transformed to tools for regional management by the administration. Consequently, the involvement of the potential IRIS user community is the most challenging objective and remains an ongoing process. Impacts: As a result of project implementation the prospective research initiatives for the creation of regional GIS, pollution transport models, industrial development scenarios and risk assessments will be formulated. IRIS will be useful for officials of the Russian Federation at different levels of state hierarchy, i.e. at regional level (Irkutsk Region), inter-regional level (since the neighbouring areas are also included in IRIS as the present/potential sources of pollution) and federal level (e.g. management of federally controlled nature resources and stress on the environment by enterprises held in federal property). The international dimension of project implementation is strongly connected with problems of climate change essential worldwide and, in particular, for EU Member States. There is no doubt today that the role of the boreal forests is essential. In this context the Siberian taiga, which is the largest forest region in the world, and Irkutsk region as a part of taiga is of vital importance. Thus the strategic impact of the project could be felt on both national and international levels, helping to manage the environment and develop effective solutions of regional and global problems facing the society. Objectives: The Irkutsk Regional Information System for Environmental Protection - 'IRIS' assesses the current status and dynamics of the Irkutsk Region's forestry environment, influenced by man-made changes and anthropogenic impact arising from pollution sources and other negative anthropogenic drivers located in the region and in adjacent areas. It will investigate the responsiveness and vulnerability of forestry environment within the region under different scenarios of industrial development and nature-preserving measures. The major goal of IRIS is to efficiently share Earth Observation data and domain-specific (ecologic and economic) information within earth science community and regional governance to identify environmental impacts that are both economic and socially responsible. Thus, for integrated environmental management methodical designs are necessary which refer to the complexity of the natural resource to be managed and the difficulty to predict the factors or driving forces influencing them.