Support us
Would you like to support cutting-edge research on earth system governance?
Consider supporting one of our priority areas:
The work of the earth system governance research community needs to rely largely on public funds from universities, public research institutions, and national and international funding agencies. Existing public funding, however, is often not sufficient to fully fund all research questions that are vital to understanding governance processes and the effects of policies at all levels. Also, policy-driven, solution-oriented research is not always fundable under the major public funding programmes. What is lacking is, in particular:
- Sufficient support for earth system governance scholars from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, including for the participation in international conferences;
- Support for solution-oriented, policy-driven research that advances out-of-the-box-thinking;
- Support for the free-of-charge dissemination of key research findings, including through the build-up of online collections of research papers, policy briefs, and webstream programmes; and
- Support for younger scholars in both South and North, among others with small research stipends;
- Support for the effective operation of the International Project Office of the Earth System Governance network.
In order to help address these gaps in current research fundraising, the Earth System Governance Foundation has embarked on an international innovative funding effort to support its research community and help disseminate its research findings: the “Support the Network” initiative.
The Support the Network initiative seeks to channel financial support in particular to five main causes:
At present, most research on earth system governance is conducted at institutions in richer countries in the “Global North”, with only marginal participation of scholars in particular from Africa. The participation of scholars from Africa, Asia, Indo-Pacific and Latin America in international research events, such as the Annual Conference of the earth system governance research community, is often unaffordable for Southern research institutions, and travel stipends are, at present, still limited. For this reason, we are seeking support for a special fund for travel stipends to be granted on a competitive basis to highly qualified scholars who are based in developing countries.
As a non-profit association, we are committed to advancing research and providing valuable resources to help organizations navigate the complexities of earth system governance. Most traditional research funding in the social sciences is restricted to disciplinary scientific research. In particular, evidence-based research on policy reforms, including more innovative “out-of-the-box” thinking, is difficult to obtain from national funding agencies, and often lies outside the normal career paths of young researchers. As a consequence, policy research is often weak, and only based on few studies by private think tanks without professional peer review and embedding in academic structures. For this reason, the Earth System Governance Foundation is seeking support for research and writing grants for teams of researchers who can help develop and critically evaluate novel, innovative and possibly ground-breaking policy proposals to address complex problems of earth system governance, aligning with the principles outlined in the The Nijmegen Agenda on Transformative Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity in Earth System Governance.
At present, most research findings are targeted at top-level scholarly journals and books with prestigious university presses. Many of these outlets, however, are available only based on expensive subscriptions, and often are written in an academic style that is not easily accessible to a wider, non-expert community. This disconnect between scientific research and public debate is often seen as a major problem limiting the political effectiveness of earth system governance. For this reason, the Earth System Governance Foundation is seeking support for its global research dissemination programme, which includes online education in earth system governance and the Earth System Governance TV initiative, featuring audiovisual content aimed at freely sharing crucial research findings.
National research funding has been decreasing in most countries in recent years. Especially hard hit are early-career scholars, who have difficulties in financing their doctoral and postdoctoral work. For this reason, the Earth System Governance Foundation is seeking support for a special fund to support on a competitive basis doctoral and postdoctoral work of highly qualified earlier career researchers who specialize in earth system governance research.
As a non-profit association, we are committed to advancing research and providing valuable resources to help organizations navigate the complexities of earth system governance. Your support will help us achieve these goals and drive positive impact in the field.
The administrative core of the Earth System Governance Research Alliance is its International Project Office (IPO), which provides essential support to ensure the successful functioning of the network. After initial hosting by the United Nations University in Bonn, Germany, the International Project Office was based from 2012 to 2018 at Lund University, Sweden, and is currently hosted (from 2019 to 2024) at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. The ESG research alliance is now inviting proposals from potential future host institutions for the period 2024 onwards.
At full capacity, the International Project Office comprises three full time staff members responsible for management, organization, administration, and communication of the network.
Hosting the next phase of the ESG research alliance’s International Project Office is a unique opportunity for global research institutions or consortia to be at the center of leading international scientific activities that advance cutting-edge social science and interdisciplinary research, innovation and broader stakeholder engagement in the politics and governance of sustainability. The next host of the International Project Office will play a central role in shaping further development of the network, its scientific initiatives, and the debates, impact and outreach activities of the network, in close cooperation with, and guidance by, the Scientific Steering Committee.
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE NETWORK?
We welcome contributions to our Foundation’s core programmes by bank transfer to:
Earth System Governance Stichting, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Account / IBAN number: NL36ABNA0545 027586, BIC/SHIFT ABNANL2A.
Please indicate in your bank transfer which of the five main programmes you seek to support: (a) Travel funding for qualified developing country scholars; (b) Support for research on innovative policy solutions; (c) Support for online dissemination of research findings, (d) Support for early-career researchers, (e) Support for the ESG Project’s International Project Office or (f) All programmes/No preference.,
If you envision any other means of cooperation with the earth system governance research community and its supporting Earth System Governance Foundation, please email directly the Foundation’s Director, Camille Thebaut, at director@earthsystemgovernance.org.