Actions in business and society no longer have a purely local focus and impact but involve increasingly the earth as a whole. This process of globalization represents a challenge requiring new research strategies.

Global Change Research is done with the objective of revealing to politics, industry and society the causes of the global pattern changes observed and the interactions involved, the extent to which the natural variability of global environmental phenomena is influenced by humankind, the extent to which changes can be forecasted, and the implications of these changes for social systems, in particular with regard to the aim of sustainable development. Because global environmental changes alter the current and future living conditions of people, there is an increasing need to shift this research towards more direct practical applications in order to help to provide answers to the questions raised by stakeholders and decision-makers. As a major contribution to this effort the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has launched the program GLOWA. GLOWA is embedded in the BMBF research framework program on research for sustainability.

Scientific goals

GLOWA focuses on the problem of water availability. The medium and long-term availability of water is not only called into question by the continuous growth of the world population and in some areas by the excessive use of water resources, but is also increasingly influenced by global environmental changes. The aim of GLOWA is to develop simulation-tools and instruments which will allow to develop and to realize strategies for sustainable and future-oriented water management at regional level (river basins of approx. 100.000 km²), while taking into account global environmental changes and socioeconomic framework conditions.

Within GLOWA five large cluster projects have been started. Two of them are located in Germany (Danube, Elbe), the others are investigating river catchment areas in North and West
Africa (Drâa, Ouémé, Volta) as well as in the Middle East (Jordan). Each of these projects is tackling the following scientific core themes in an interdisciplinary and integrative research approach:

• Climate change, variability of precipitation, variations caused by human activities and their effect on the hydrological cycle
• Interactions between biosphere/ land use and the hydrological cycle
• Water availability and conflicting water uses

Research policy objectives

GLOWA aims to create a basis for the development of innovative technologies and costeffective services for the sustainable, farsighted management of water resources. In particular the GLOWA projects will:

• combine competence and capacities of various natural and social science disciplines thereby providing user oriented services on a sound integrated scientific and technical analysis
• develop scientific collaboration across different national as well as international programs, initiatives and sectors
• promote increased staff competence, in Germany as well as in the GLOWA partner countries, through special support for young scientists, exchanges of scientists and supporting vocational education and training in developing countries
• improve the transfer of knowledge between science and industry through cooperation, networking and staff exchanges

• Scientific goals
• Research policy objectives