International collaboration schemes in earth and environmental sciences: IGEC programmes and UNESCO IHP

There is a lack of studies that investigate how internationalization of science can effectively contribute to the globalization of environmental knowledge. Two cases of international collaboration programmes are analyzed from a science and innovation research perspective: (1) The organizational scheme of the International Global Environmental Change (IGEC) programmes in the ICSU tradition, and (2) the International Hydrological Programme (IHP). led by the UNESCO. The paper draws on two analytical distinctions: Firstly, following Turner et al. (1990), systemic global change is distinguished from local or regional environmental change that becomes global by worldwide accumulation. Secondly, collaboration programmes that belong to the social system of science are distinguished from programmes at the intersection of scientific and political spheres. Both cases are compared in terms of their (a) rationales for international collaboration, (b) their organisational structure and fundings, (c) international participation and (d) linkages between problem structure and collaboration. Representative and contrasting examples, their juxtaposition illustrates actual strategies and various constraints faced by scientific and intergouvernmental agencies promoting international collaboration in S & T for sustainability and capacity development. The paper reports research of my ongoing dissertation project under the working title 'Internationalization in environmental research: The case of freshwater'.