Dear Network of the Earth System Governance Project,
As the year draws to a close, we wish to thank you, on behalf of the Scientific Steering Committee and the International Project Office, for all your contributions over the course of the year to this vibrant network. A particular highlight has been the annual conference at Radboud University, the largest gathering in our network’s history. The network continues to grow at an impressive rate, both in terms of membership numbers and participation in capacity-building, outreach, and scientific events across the globe. The flagship publication platforms have become important outlets for scholars, and Earth System Governance, our peer-reviewed open-access journal, has positioned itself as a leading Q1 journal in the Scimago Journal Rankings. None of these achievements would have been possible without the collective dedication and contributions to the work we do together and the community we seek to build and nurture.
As we go into 2024, the International Project Office will transition away from Utrecht University (UU), its host for the past five years. We’re grateful for this great partnership built with the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at UU. We welcome still bids from interested future hosts of the project. We are excited for the Earth System Governance Forum in October 2024. The hybrid, partly decentralized format will encourage broad participation across and beyond the network and will showcase the vibrancy of our taskforces, working groups and research centres, as well as being a timely opportunity to grapple with what earth system governance means in an era of polycrisis. With existing governance practices struggling to respond to accelerating and intersecting crises, the network’s collective efforts are more important than ever. We warmly invite everyone to join us in this exciting journey that lies ahead. For now, we wish you all a peaceful and joyful festive season, which we also hope will be a time to rest well and to recover from an intense year.
With all our best wishes,
Co-Chairs of the Scientific Steering Committee
Louis Kotzé and Jonathan Pickering
|and with thanks to this year’s outgoing co-chair, Aarti Gupta
The Earth System Governance Project in 2023: An illustrated review
