The theme of the 7th Open Meeting of the International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, “Social Challenges of Global Change,” responds to important changes in the perspective of the scientific community on the challenges that we are currently facing and outlines the new research agenda for IHDP’s second decade.

IHDP is a joint programme of the International Council for Science (ICSU), UNESCO’s International Social Science Council (ISSC), and the United Nations University (UNU). The 7th Open Meeting will be the first one under the overall guidance of IHDP’s Strategic Plan 2007-2015 and a major contribution to its implementation.