Ten years down the line: a critical assessment of the Earth System Governance Project

Publication

The Earth System Governance Project, which since January 2019 has been based at Utrecht University, is the largest social science research network in the area of governance and global environmental change. In a recent publication in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, leaders past and present critically reflect on both the successes and failures of its dynamic ten-year history, with insights that hope to carry the network towards a fruitful future.

The Earth System Governance Project  explores political solutions and novel, more effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the socio-ecological systems of the planet. As it stands, it is the largest social science research network in the area of governance and global environmental change, and was originally founded by Utrecht University's Prof Frank Biermann. Since January 2019 the International Project Office, which handles the day-to-day running of the research alliance, has been hosted at Utrecht University, relocating after eight years at Lund University in Sweden.

Elizabeth Dirth launching the Earth System Governance Journal at the 2018 Utrecht Conference. Photo: ESG Project

A global, self-sustaining network of thousands of scientists

The project has its origins in the now defunct International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change. After ten years of operation it has matured into a global, self-sustaining network of thousands of scientists, with annual conferences, numerous taskforces, affiliated research centers, regional fellow networks, three book series, its own peer-reviewed flagship journal, an affiliated foundation, and a lively presence in social media.

A critical review

In their recent publication, Biermann et al. critically review the experiences of the Earth System Governance project network over the past decade. What are the experiences of the earth system governance research community? Where did the community succeed and fail, what innovations flourished or did not take off, and which strategies achieved what they were designed for? What lessons can be drawn for building, maintaining and transforming research networks in global change and sustainability science? And how can global research networks become more global, in terms of both membership and capacity building?

The publication supports the project’s new Science and Implementation Plan, which aims to spur the global community into its second decade and on to new research questions and new ways for researchers to engage with society in order to address the global and political challenges of governance for sustainability.

Further reading

Biermann, F., Betsill, M. M., Burch, S., Dryzek, J., Gordon, C., Gupta, A., ... & Olsson, L. (2019). The Earth System Governance Project as a network organization: a critical assessment after ten years. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 39, 17-23.