General information:

In the last decade, environmental changes and awareness of the impact on society, economy, local and regional development have become important research topics in Southeastern Europe. The global environmental change and its implications for the future development in the region are nowadays hot issues for politicians and this accelerates the introduction of specific measures. Research networks in related fields emerged, driven also by diverse funding schemes, e.g. programmes of the European Union.

In 1997, the first Workshop on Global Change and Bulgaria was held in Blagoevgrad. Subsequently the papers and discussions of the Workshop were published by the SCCGC-BAS (Scientific Coordination Center for Global Change of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) (Hristov et al. 1999; Knight et al. 2000).

In the subsequent decade, global change science and Bulgarian participation in the global change community have grown. Thus, 10 years later it is important to again convene such a meeting to assess our knowledge of global environmental change and related impacts in Bulgaria and adjacent countries. That is why, the title of the conference, to be held in Sofia, 19-21 May 2008, is "GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: CHALLENGES TO SCIENCE AND SOCIETY IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE". This is not only because of globalization, but reflects extensive scientific cooperation in the region during the last decade.

 

Organizers:

 

Organizing Committee:

 

Scientific Committee:

 

Venue:

 

Language:

The official working language during the Conference will be English only.

 

Topics and subtopics:

Global change is the term used to encompass a multitude of environmental and ecological changes that have been noticed, measured and studied on Earth. Global environmental change encompasses the study of climate change, species extinction, land use change, changes in the carbon cycle and hydrologic cycle, air quality, etc.

– Climate Change: Includes research papers on global, regional (especially SEE) and local (particularly in SEE) climate variability and change – in the past, present and future; observations, indices and indicators, models, scenarios, trends, theories

– Global Change: Includes research papers on global, regional (especially SEE) and local (particularly in SEE) environmental changes (beyond climate change) – in the past, present and future; observations, indices and indicators, models, scenarios, trends, theories.

– Environmental Impacts: Includes research papers on global change (including climate change) impacts on global, regional and local environmental issues such as water resources, forests, agriculture, various terrestrial and managed ecosystems

– Includes research papers on global change (including climate change) Impacts on Global, Regional and Local Scales in Respect to Society and Economy; e.g. Impacts on human health, insurance services, infrastructure, financial and commodity markets (e.g. of agricultural production), industry, etc.  These effects may be direct or an indirect  result of environmental impacts.

– Global Change and Private Sector: In the era of free market economy in SEE the private sector plays an important role in the socio-economic conditions as well as environmental issues. The impact of private sector activities on global environmental change is expected to increase in the future. At the same time, the private sector seeks clear guidelines under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreements so they can plan for investments and meeting greenhouse gas reduction obligations.

– Global Change and Civil Society: Recently and in the future, SEE will become increasingly sensitive to global change. Beyond the work of scientists and actions of government, civil society has a major stake in such changes, as well as an obligation for information and action to address resulting stress as well as to exploit new opportunities

– Local Challenges: Includes research papers on local challenges as a result of global environmental changes, e.g. necessities of local measures for adaptation and mitigation due to global climate change

– From Global to Local and Vice Versa: Places and regions in aggregate create global change, and global change is experienced in human communities at similar scale. This subtopic addresses the scale differences and linkages between local, regional and global dimensions, including cross-boundary challenges within and between SEE nations

 

Keynote lectures:

 

Important dates and deadlines:

 

Proceedings:

The Organizing Committee works in 3 directions:

Instructions for authors regarding the full versions of the reports/posters can be downloaded here

Posters to be presented during the Conference must not exceed the following size: 90 cm (width) x 150 cm (heigth)

 

Sponsors:

 

 

Financial support:

 

Accommodation:

25 Nezabravka Str.

BG-1113 Sofia

for more information:  global_conference@meteo.bg

 

Social events:

 

Contacts:

5 Moskovska Str., BG-1000 Sofia

Tel. +359 2 987 20 69

Fax: +359 2 986 17 54

 http://www.aso.zsi.at

66 Tzarigradsko shose Blvd., BG-1784 Sofia

Fax: +359 2 988 44 94

E-mail: global_conference@meteo.bg

http://global-change.meteo.bg/global_en.htm