from the Earth System Science Partnership meeting – see blog page here.

To clear things up: the partnership was started in 2001 as a way to spur scientists across fields (from ecology to economy, geography to geophysics) to look not at humanity’s effect on planet Earth, but at planet Earth with humans as part of the overall equation. This shift is/was meant to bring clarity to understanding things such as the carbon and water cycles of the planet.

It sounds very Gaia-esque, and James Lovelock apparently once pointed to an ESSP document and said ‘looks like you’ve proved my theory’, says Will Steffen, one of the plenary speakers here and pro vice chancellor for research at the Australian National University in Canberra. But, he adds, ESSP research has shown many feedback systems that accentuate change, leading to tipping points past which the planet is a very different place, as well as Gaia-like feedbacks that serve to restore balance.

The partnership was born at the first Global Change Open Science conference in Amsterdam in 2001, at which they declared a need for more collaboration across fields, programmes, and countries. Five years on and they’re having their first meeting. Has it been a success?

Opinions here, from people high up in the organisation, range from “absolutely” (particularly in the area of carbon cycling, which many feel we have a far firmer grip on now), to “you can’t really tell – we didn’t do a controlled experiment in which we didn’t form a partnership”, to “well, we could have done better. It needs a kick-start again, really.” What everyone does agree is that it is good (even with the emissions from so many planes heading to Beijing) to meet up every now and then, especially for the younger scientists (ESSP has given grants to a number of bright young researchers who won a competition to be here and at a preceding conference). For some, it is their first time out of their native countries.

Having just had dinner at a table with researchers from Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa and the Netherlands, it is easy to see that this partnership is, at least, forging new international connections (even if the participants themselves don’t actually know what the ESSP is).

from the Earth System Science Partnership meeting – see blog page here.

To clear things up: the partnership was started in 2001 as a way to spur scientists across fields (from ecology to economy, geography to geophysics) to look not at humanity’s effect on planet Earth, but at planet Earth with humans as part of the overall equation. This shift is/was meant to bring clarity to understanding things such as the carbon and water cycles of the planet.

It sounds very Gaia-esque, and James Lovelock apparently once pointed to an ESSP document and said ‘looks like you’ve proved my theory’, says Will Steffen, one of the plenary speakers here and pro vice chancellor for research at the Australian National University in Canberra. But, he adds, ESSP research has shown many feedback systems that accentuate change, leading to tipping points past which the planet is a very different place, as well as Gaia-like feedbacks that serve to restore balance.

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