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APN Strategic Plan
1999-2004

I. Introduction by the Director
II. Executive Summary
III. Mission and Vision
IV. Organisation History and Profile
V. Critical Issues and Core Strategies
VI. Goals and Activities
VII. The Partnership Approach
VIII. Operational Resources
IX. Implementation and Evaluation
X. Appendices
Appendix 1: The APN's Environment
Appendix 2: Contributors to the APN Strategic Plan
Appendix 3: Terms of Reference

I. INTRODUCTION

On behalf of the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) it is my pleasure to introduce this strategic planning document, which is the result of a great deal of work by those involved with the APN.

Since the original scoping workshop in 1992 which laid the foundations for the APN, there have been some major changes in the APN’s environment. The APN has grown to include a number of new members and the concerns of the global change community have undergone shifts in emphasis. In order to reflect these changes and to guide the APN in the longer term it was decided at the 3rd Inter-Governmental Meeting (IGM) of the APN, held in March 1998 in Beijing, China, to initiate a strategic planning process.

The IGM stated that producing a strategic plan for the APN would:
• clarify thinking on the most productive role for the APN;
• help countries decide how best they could contribute to the APN’s development;
• provide a satisfactory basis for dealing with outside funding agencies.

The plan was developed throughout 1998 and the early months of 1999. Our major concern was to ensure that the resulting strategy truly reflected the opinions of all those involved with the APN. The mainstay of the process was a thorough consultation of all APN stakeholders through a variety of methods – questionnaires, correspondence, working groups, face to face discussions and formal meetings. Many people from the global change community contributed their ideas to the planning process, and we hope that we have successfully reflected their input to our strategy.

There was a very strong message that the APN has a major role to play in the region, and that the essence of that role is unchanged – to act as a catalyst for regional cooperative global change research and its input to policy. The mission of the APN therefore remains largely unaltered.

As a result the plan blends continuity and change together. There are a number of changes proposed to the way in which the organisation operates, and to the administrative structure which supports it. However, there is a very strong continuity in the overall purpose of the APN. The strategy taken is one of building on the fundamentals of the successes to date, while fine tuning the means by which they are translated into action.

This document sets out the core strategies to be adopted by the APN. It does not attempt to be prescriptive, and there are few specific objectives detailed in it. Rather the APN will use this plan as a high level reference point, and on an annual basis will set objectives to meet the goals outlined here. This is a dynamic and flexible plan. Adjustments and changes in direction are inevitable as we move forward over time. I would like to thank all those who took part in the production of this plan. The good will and support we have received bodes well for the future of the APN.

Hideyuki Mori
Director, Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research
March 1999

II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The APN received a strong message in the planning process that its overall aims remain valid. This translates itself into a set of goals for the APN which are very similar to those previously held, but which have been prioritised and restructured to reflect more accurately the network’s capabilities. Particular emphasis will be given in future to the three areas where the APN can have most impact – developing regional cooperation in global change research, strengthening the science policy interface and building capacity in developing countries

The activities the APN will fund to achieve this will mainly be planning and scoping workshops, the production of policy focused publications and tools, capacity building exercises and research activities which meet specifically identified needs.

As well as the APN’s funding role, there is of course the work done by its staff and member country representatives. Far more emphasis will be put on expanding this aspect of APN activity through the introduction of APN facilitated research, proactive efforts to identify regional needs and other APN based initiatives. To strengthen the secretariat a full time Director and supporting staff will be recruited who will work to further improve the foundations of the organisation.

Scientifically, the broad research interests of the APN also remain in place. However, the APN’s concern with the economic and social aspects of global environmental change has been clearly articulated in a new Research Framework. Also, a number of scientific priorities will be selected for dedicated funding, and will be reviewed on an annual basis.

In short, the APN’s strategy for the next five years is to continue in the same broad framework but with more focus in terms of overall goals, scientific priorities and the types of projects funded. There will also be a much greater emphasis on proactive work led by a strengthened Secretariat focusing on network building, information provision and facilitating cooperative research. At the same time, the Secretariat will do more to strengthen the structure, staffing and funding base of the APN.

III. MISSION, VISION AND RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

Mission

The Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) is an inter-governmental network whose mission is to foster global environmental change research in the Asia-Pacific region, increase developing country participation in that research, and strengthen interactions between the science community and policy makers.

We believe that international cooperation among governments and scientists will help increase the understanding of the complex mechanisms and impacts of global environmental change on ecosystems and human society in the Asia-Pacific region. This is necessary to identify and address the problems that may arise from that change.

Vision

The vision of the APN is that scientists and institutions within the countries of the Asia-Pacific region will together conduct high quality, cooperative, multi-disciplinary research on the region’s key global environmental change issues and that the countries will use the results of that research in their policy making processes.

Research Framework

This sets out the broad framework of the research interests of the APN. The primary concern of the APN is to provide an input to policy through the integration of the natural and social sciences with a view to developing a better understanding of the relationship between the causes and impacts of global change, and human society and ecosystems.

IV. ORGANISATION HISTORY AND PROFILE

History

The APN was established as a result of the 1990 White House Conference on Science and Economics Research Related to Global Change, at which then US President Bush invited the countries of the world to join the United States in creating three regional networks.

After a series of planning workshops the APN was formally launched in 1996 with the first Inter-Governmental Meeting (IGM) and Scientific Planning Group (SPG) meeting. The main focus of the APN has been the support of global environmental change research projects which cannot be conducted on a national basis and require regional cooperation and which strengthen research capability at the national level.

In 1997 the first official Call for Proposals was launched and 24 proposals were submitted to the APN, half of which were funded. In 1998 a further 69 proposals were received. By March 1999 the APN had provided over $1.7 million in direct contributions to 27 global change research and capacity building projects, and helped to promote in-kind contributions from a number of countries for this work.

Profile

Overall policy for the APN is decided by the annual Inter-Governmental Meeting, supported by the Scientific Planning Group and the Steering Group.

(a) Inter-Governmental Meeting (IGM)

This annual meeting, the highest decision-making body of APN, is attended by governmental representatives of participating countries, currently Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and the USA.

Observers are invited from other organisations involved in global change research. Usually they include the international secretariat of the Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training (START) and its regional committees, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and the sister organisations of the APN – the Inter American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and the European Network for Research In Global Change (ENRICH).

(b) Scientific Planning Group (SPG)

The Scientific Planning Group has the following mandate:

The Scientific Planning Group consists of members from APN participating countries, START Regional Committees, and the International START Secretariat. Observers are invited from global change research organisations such as the IGBP, IHDP, WCRP, IAI and ENRICH.

(c) Steering Group (SG)

The Steering Group assists in the management of the APN between meetings of the IGM.

This group consists of three representatives elected annually by the IGM (one of whom is elected Chair), the Co-Chairs of the Scientific Planning Group, and the Director of the Secretariat, as well as an observer from START. If not already elected by the IGM, the Focal Point from the host country of the subsequent IGM also becomes a member of the Steering Group.

Besides the above bodies, APN provides funding for a Liaison Officer for each START Regional Committee, i.e. Oceania, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Temperate East Asia.

V. CRITICAL ISSUES AND CORE STRATEGIES

1. Focus

If the APN is to successfully meet its goals without a large and immediate increase in staff and other resources, a key issue will be a selective and prioritized approach which clearly gives more weight to some issues than others. To address the issue of focus the APN will adopt the following core strategies:

Prioritising its goals. The goals of regional cooperation, strengthening science policy links and capacity building are the three areas which APN members felt were most important for the region and which APN is best placed to deal with. The remaining three areas of data and information, cooperation with other networks and facilitating technology transfer will receive lesser priority except where they are clearly contributing to the priority goals.

Identifying Key Scientific Priorities. The APN will set aside funding each year for research projects falling within a selection of Key Scientific Priorities. These will be decided upon at the Inter-governmental Meeting, with input from the Scientific Planning Group, and will be re-assessed on an annual basis.

Limiting the types of project for which funding will be provided. The APN will only provide money for the following types of proposals – capacity building and networking, planning and scoping workshops, policy products (synthesis reports, impact assessments, climate models, integrated assessments, etc.) and targeted research which meets specifically identified knowledge gaps in important areas. APN project funding is primarily for collaborative proposals that involve scientists from at least three countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Figure 1: Outline of the APN’s strategy for allocating project funds

2. Networking and Partnership

The APN is a network of governments and scientists, and encouraging cooperation and interaction is at the heart of its values. If the goals of developing regional cooperation and science policy links are to be realised it is critical that the APN stimulates the networking of individuals and institutions both nationally and internationally, benefiting all member countries of the APN. To address the issue of networking and partnership the APN will adopt the following core strategies:

Linking people through provision of information. Through the global change research programmes and START, many scientists are already part of research networks through which they can collaborate and exchange views. Despite this there are many scientists in APN countries that are isolated from these networks and from other practitioners in their field of interest. The APN will develop mechanisms to enable those involved in global change research to identify and contact their colleagues.

Stimulating interaction among scientists and policy makers. At APN meetings government officials involved in global change research gain the opportunity to discuss regional issues with other policy makers and scientists. The APN will aim to bring together scientists and policy makers with an interest in or impact on global change research in both national and international fora to discuss issues of key importance.

Developing partnerships with the global change research community. The APN has already built strong partnerships with the major scientific global change programmes (IGBP, IHDP, WCRP) and the other intergovernmental global change organisations (ENRICH, IAI). This partnership approach will now be extended to other relevant organisations within the region to ensure that there is the maximum cooperation possible on issues of joint interest, and to prevent any duplication of effort.

Facilitating new partnerships and opportunities. The APN’s network of global change research contacts enables it to provide a number of services to member countries, and to act as a catalyst in encouraging new partnerships in the region. Recently the APN used its network to advertise the Japanese Environment Agency’s Eco-Frontier Fellowship programme, and a large number of applications for fellowships were received from member countries. The APN aims to expand its role in forging new links between research institutes and providing a service to those seeking new research partners in the region.

3. The Profile of the APN

The APN was created outside of any existing international framework. Its member countries cover a wide geographical and political spectrum. Furthermore, global environmental change research is not always high on the political agenda, making it difficult to gain attention for APN activities. To address the issue of its profile the APN will adopt the following core strategies:

Facilitating the formulation of research projects. Under the present system of funding research activities through a competitive proposals process, cooperating groups of scientists tend to submit proposals and member governments are usually distanced from the research, even if it involves their own country. In the future, although the APN will continue its competitive proposals process for scientific research, it will also devote more attention to actively facilitating research. The APN can provide a forum for countries to come together to formulate an agenda for dealing with key issues and for designing cooperative research projects to meet that agenda. (See figure 2)

Production of more visible APN outputs. Until now the APN has supported a great deal of research and capacity building activity. While the APN will continue to support research activities on the basis of the value they add to the understanding of global environmental change, in the immediate future more emphasis will be put on those activities which will deliver visible outputs to member countries such as printed and electronic publications, the Internet web site, press conferences and presentations at workshops and conferences. The APN secretariat will also strive to ensure that recipients of APN funding clearly attribute the APN’s support in publications, etc.

Figure 2: Model for APN facilitated research

Development of a formal document. It was felt that flexibility would be essential in the early development of the APN, but the organisation has now progressed beyond that stage. The development of a formal document is considered useful for the official recognition of the APN in member countries to ensure they are committed to supporting the development of the APN. Such a document may articulate the significance, objectives and membership of the APN. This process might in the future lead to the development of a formal arrangement to strengthen the APN.

4. Funding

The vast majority of the APN’s direct core and programme funding comes from just two sources – the Environment Agency of Japan and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Given the high number of developing country members and the current economic situation in the region, it is unlikely that much direct funding will be forthcoming from other member countries in the near future. To address the issue of funding the APN will adopt the following core strategies:

Targeting other sources of funding. The APN will focus on the private sector, local government and government agencies who have not traditionally provided money for global change research within the developed member countries. In doing so it will utilise its Special Fund which allows donors to make contributions that may be used for specified activities and which may not be set against core operating costs.

Maximising opportunities for in-kind contributions. Developing member countries and the partners in APN activities are often willing to make in-kind contributions. Already many countries have been major in-kind contributors, and many other countries have contributed by covering salaries and other research expenses. We envisage that more APN work will be carried out through the development of APN facilitated research projects and other cooperative activities as outlined above which will maximise the opportunity for in-kind contributions.

Other strategies that are expected to help address this issue are the appointment of a full time Director and dedicated secretariat, the development of a more formal framework, the expansion of the number of member countries and an increased emphasis on demonstrable APN outputs.

5. Staffing

The APN has a small secretariat to support its activities. However, virtually all the staff including the Director devote only part of their time to the APN. This makes it difficult to meet successfully the needs of a growing organisation. To address the issue of staffing the APN will adopt the following core strategies:

The appointment of a full time Director. The appointment of a full time Director will have financial implications, but at this stage in the APN’s development the benefits are expected to outweigh the costs.

The establishment of a dedicated APN secretariat. To support the growing number of APN activities and the strategies proposed in this plan, it will be important to retain staff whose attention is solely focused on the APN. It is envisaged that such a dedicated secretariat might be located in Japan with the financial and administrative support of a Japanese prefectural authority, thereby broadening and increasing APN funding.

Strengthening the role of Liaison Officers. The APN provides funding for a Liaison Officer in each of the START regions. The scheme is relatively new and as yet the full potential of the role has not been realised. The Secretariat, together with the START regional chairs, will develop a plan for increasing the scope of the role, thereby increasing the APN’s presence in the sub-regions.

VI. GOALS AND ACTIVITIES

Goal 1. Support regional cooperation in global change research on issues particularly relevant to the region.

This is the highest priority goal for the APN, and addresses the APN’s core belief that international cooperation is essential to identify the causes, and address the impacts, of global environmental change. Activities to be conducted under this goal include –

Goal 2. Strengthen the interactions among scientists and policy makers, provide a scientific input to policy decision making and scientific knowledge to the public.

As an inter-governmental network it is a high priority goal of the APN that the results of research be used to give an input to policy making. Accordingly the APN will only fund primary research where it is considered to meet an important gap in current knowledge. Instead the APN focus will be on supporting activities to synthesise research results and translate them into formats which are of use to policy makers.

At the same time we recognise that policy decisions are taken in a complex environment where many factors must be considered, and as such there is no guarantee that the results of research will necessarily be translated into policy. It is therefore just as important that the science and policy communities develop strong interactions, personal connections and a mutual understanding of each other’s perspective.

Finally, the APN realises the importance of public awareness but recognises the difficulties of making an impact in this area given its structure as a regional network. Accordingly the provision of scientific knowledge to the public is a lower priority element in this goal, but the APN will take steps to achieve this when appropriate opportunities arise. Activities to be conducted under this goal include:

Goal 3. Improve the scientific and technical capabilities of nations in the region.

It is vital that APN member countries have the capacity to conduct high quality global change research. The APN believes that research must involve local scientists and they must be given the capacity to continue the research and analyse and manage the data themselves. Accordingly the APN’s primary activity through which to achieve this goal is to give priority to funding research proposals which involve developing country scientists. Other activities planned to help develop scientific and technical capacity include:

Goal 4. Facilitate the standardisation, collection, analysis and exchange of scientific data and information relating to global change research.

In the period covered by this plan it is not envisaged that the APN will engage in the collection and analysis of data, other than that resulting from APN sponsored research activities. Continuous monitoring, while clearly vital to the global change research effort, is far beyond the financial capabilities of the APN. Instead, the focus will be on standardisation and exchange, for example the inter-calibration of data and the production of meta-data catalogues.

With regard to the provision of information, APN is well placed to increase the amount of useful information available to scientists and policy makers. The specific activities which are planned include:

Goal 5. Cooperate with other global change networks and organisations.

As a network it is vital that the APN develops strong links with the other global change networks and organisations, and has an awareness of the relevant work being conducted in the region and throughout the world. This goal will support each of the 3 priority goals above, enabling the APN to conduct its operations in an efficient manner. In order to achieve this goal the APN will conduct the following activities:

Goal 6. Facilitate the development of research infrastructure and the transfer of know-how and technology.

At this stage of its development the APN is not in a position to make significant progress on this goal and does not have sufficient funds to actively conduct technology transfer or to develop research infrastructure in member countries. However, we recognize that this is an important issue that needs to be addressed and so we have included this as a low priority goal with a view to developing our work in this area in the longer term.

As a network, however, there may be activities related to the agenda of the APN that it can conduct, such as assisting member countries to achieve their goals in these areas. Primarily, however, the APN will attempt to build this goal into its research projects. Other possible activities include:

VII. THE PARTNERSHIP APPROACH

The APN and START

START is an international non-governmental science community initiative aimed at building indigenous capacity to conduct global change research throughout the world, with particular focus on the developing regions. It does this through a system of regional networks, four of which lie within the Asia-Pacific region (Oceania, South Asia, South East Asia and Temperate East Asia). The primary mission of these networks is: (i) to conduct research on regional aspects of global change; (ii) to assess the impacts of the regional findings; and (iii) to provide regionally important integrated and evaluated information to policy-makers and governments.

The APN has since its inception had a very close working relationship with START. The Chairs of each START region sit on the APN’s Scientific Planning Group, and the APN provides funds for a liaison officer in each regional START office. This has been of great benefit to both organisations. START has benefited from APN funding for many of its projects and from the governmental exposure it receives through the APN, and the APN has benefited from the strong institutional and personal network of the START programme, as well as the scientific expertise of START scientists. The APN hopes the links with START will continue to strengthen.

Although the goals, methods of working and scientific priorities of the APN and START overlap in a number of areas, the nature of the two organisations is essentially different. As indicated above, START is an international non-governmental scientific programme under the sponsorship of the global change science community. Its major function is to catalyze and help implement the science research programmes of IGBP, WCRP and IHDP and conduct related capacity building activities. The APN, on the other hand, is a regional governmental organisation whose main concern is the impacts and causes of global change in the Asia-Pacific for the purposes of informing policy makers. As such the APN has its own research framework and goals. In many cases, however, the areas of interest overlap and in such cases the APN and START can cooperate in a mutually beneficial manner. An outline of the ways in which START and the APN will work together in future is outlined below.

The APN will:

START will:

APN and the global change research programmes

The three main scientific global change research programmes – IGBP, IHDP and WCRP – aim to provide an understanding of the causes, impacts and opportunities for adaptation and mitigation of long term global environmental change. Each is responsible for a number of research projects, some of which are organised cooperatively.

Much of the work sponsored by the APN feeds into these projects, and by definition any scientific research sponsored by the APN should bear some relationship to one or more of these programmes, either directly or by providing an input to the understanding of global processes. There are many opportunities for the global environmental change science programmes and APN to collaborate, as research activities carried out at global, regional and local scales may each contribute to the work of others and facilitate our understanding of global and regional change.

Therefore the relationship between the APN and the global change research programmes is essentially one of partnership, and we envisage that partnership to be characterised by the following features:

APN and other organisations involved in global change research

With regard to the other organisations involved in global change research the APN will need to decide the best partnership approach on a case by case basis. However, in general the APN will endeavour to:

The APN and the private sector

The APN is already a recipient of private sector funding for some of its research projects. In the period covered by this plan, the APN will make greater efforts to explore the opportunities for active partnership with the private sector. There are many instances where global change could have an effect on the private sector (such as an increase in the severity and frequency of extreme weather events) and the APN will assess on a case by case basis the opportunities for active collaboration.

VIII. OPERATIONAL RESOURCES

Financial Resources

The major strategies for increasing APN funding have been addressed in the Critical Issues and Core Strategies section (7), and so will not be repeated here. Instead more detail will be given on the financial goals of the APN.

The financial requirements of the APN must be considered in the light of its scope. The Asia-Pacific region contains over half the world’s population which coupled with the rate of economic development makes it perhaps the most important region in the world for the causes and impacts of global environmental change.

The APN currently operates from a total budget of approximately U.S. $1.2 Million (including funds from the Environment Agency of Japan; and from the U.S. Global Change Research Program, administered through the National Science Foundation and channeled through START). Of this budget approximately 2/3 is currently used for the funding of project proposals through a competitive process. The remainder covers the production of the APN homepage and newsletter, the organisation of the international meetings (IGM and SPG) and administration (approximately 15%).

The use of a proposals funding process to sponsor research is totally dependent on the quality of proposals made. In order to be able to fund quality projects the APN must ensure that quality proposals are submitted. This in turn means ensuring that good scientists are aware of, and interested in, the APN Call for Proposals.

Experience shows that scientists are likely to lose interest in a Call for Proposals if they believe the chance of being funded is small. This means that at least 20% of proponents should be successful in achieving funding. It was suggested that a realistic goal for the APN should be to fund 35% of proposals received.

In the 1998 Call for Proposals the APN received requests for $5.3 million of funding for the following year. Using the logic set out above, this would suggest a proposals budget of at least $1.85 million.

However, the number of proposals received in 1998 was almost 3 times as many as in 1997. Also, the scope of many projects was more ambitious, leading to higher costs. As the APN continues to grow and attract attention it is likely that the number of proposals received will continue to increase. Therefore the APN will require an increasing amount each year for the foreseeable future. Given that the number of applications for funding has roughly trebled for each of the last three years, it is not unreasonable to assume that they will treble again. This means the APN should aim to increase its proposals budget to approximately $5 million. This figure is consistent with the proposals budgets of the APN’s sister networks (the IAI and ENRICH) whose proposals budgets are several times larger than that of the APN.

As well as increasing the size of the APN budget, it will also be important to broaden the funding sources. Heavy reliance on a sole funder is not a sound financial basis, and the APN will attempt to diversify its funding sources over the next 5 years in order to reduce the proportion of the APN budget supplied by the Japanese Environment Agency.

As indicated in section V. the APN will target a number of non-traditional funders of global environmental research, as well as aiming to increase the number of member countries making contributions either directly or in-kind. In doing so it will utilise its Special Fund which allows for contributors to specify the way their funds are used.

Human Resources

As indicated in the Critical Issues and Core Strategies section, the APN’s key staffing priority is to put in place a full time dedicated secretariat, led by a full time Director. The initial intention is to have 5 full time staff as opposed to the current 3.2 staff years made up from a number of different people.

Other human resources related objectives include:

IX. IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION

This plan contains the broad strategies that will guide the APN over the next 5 years. As such it is intended to be flexible and generally does not include precise targets, timelines and milestones to be met, although there are some short term priorities which are outlined below.

In order for our overall goals to be achieved, however, they need to be translated into more specific objectives. This will be done on an annual basis and the activities to be pursued will be built into the budgetary process. With a small secretariat it is important that this approach be as straightforward as possible to minimise the administrative burden. It should therefore fit with the APN’s organisational infrastructure and achieve the goal of providing an efficient mechanism for measuring progress.

On an annual basis the secretariat will present to the SPG and IGM an overview of the progress made so far against the plan in each area, and a set of specific objectives for the coming year, complete with measures of performance, etc. This cycle of reporting and planning fits naturally into the APN calendar, and little extra is envisaged in the way of infrastructure to support the process.

Figure 4: Structure of APN Planning

Although this plan is intended to be flexible, there are some clear short term priorities for the APN which require action at an early stage, in order that the APN can go on to meet its longer term goals. As a short-term goal, therefore, the APN will aim to achieve the following:

X. APPENDICES

Appendix 1

THE APN’S ENVIRONMENT

The APN was established as a result of the 1990 White House Conference on Science and Economics Research Related to Global Change, at which then US President Bush invited the countries of the world to join the United States in creating three regional networks. At an early stage it was decided that the APN’s purposes would be threefold – to foster global change research, increase developing country participation in that research and to strengthen science-policy links.

A number of other organisations in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond are engaged in work which involves some or all of these purposes. For the APN to operate effectively and efficiently it is necessary that their work be taken into account when designing APN strategies and objectives. The amount of money available for global change research is limited and it is not in anyone’s interests to see duplication of activity. Furthermore, these organisations should all have some interest in the results of the APN’s work, and as such are stakeholders in the APN. Many are also partners with whom the APN actively cooperates.

The major bodies that constitute the APN’s operating environment are:

The nature of the inter-relationship between each of these types of stakeholder and the APN is outlined below. In most categories there are a large number of individual organisations and institutions at work and so only a broad picture of the type of relationship has been given, with specific examples where appropriate.

The governments of the region

As an inter-governmental organisation the governments of the Asia-Pacific region are the APN’s major stakeholders. Within the context of the APN’s operations those who are members have the final decision making power on APN policy. It is also they who are responsible for the legal and political framework within which the problems of global change are addressed on a national scale. They are also the parties to conventions such as the UNFCCC at which policies are discussed at the international level.

It is therefore the APN’s primary concern to ensure that its strategies meet the needs of its member governments. Of course each country has its own priorities and every government has a huge range of concerns to address. The APN cannot hope to meet all the global change needs of every member government. The purpose of this plan is to identify the key needs that the APN should aim to fulfill in the light of the gaps identified in relation to its own organisational capabilities.

Scientific organisations involved in global change research

The primary scientific stakeholders in the APN are the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training in Global Change Research (START).

The first three of these are the major scientific programmes instituted to provide a coherent, international approach to global environmental change research. Their work is made up of a number of different projects, each of which aims to answer specific questions relating to global environmental change. The fourth was formed by them to build indigenous capacity and implement their regional science programmes. From the outset it was decided to base the APN’s activities on these four organisations, as a means of giving the governments of the region an input to their work. They are the major scientific stakeholders in the APN. A blueprint for the relationship between them and the APN is outlined in Section VI “The Partnership Approach”.

There are of course other organisations and institutions directly involved in global change research all of whom have an interest in the activities of the APN. These include national and international research institutes, universities and so on.

Other national and international organisations involved in global change research

There are a large number of other organisations who have some interest in global change research, although their overall concerns may be broader. These include UN bodies such as UNEP, UNESCO and ESCAP and governmental fora such as ASEAN, APEC etc. There are also NGOs, think tanks, private companies and so on. These organisations fulfill a wide range of functions in relation to global change.

The inter-governmental global change research networks

Aside from the APN there are two other inter-governmental networks – ENRICH for Europe and Africa and the Inter American Institute (IAI) for the Americas. The fundamental agenda of these two organisations is very similar to that of the APN, although their individual strategies differ.

Funding agencies

A number of organisations provide funds for global change research, whether directly or as a means to meeting wider policy objectives. These include the GEF, ADB, national aid agencies, etc. The specific terms under which they grant funds differs according to their own missions, but there are areas in which their objectives overlap with those of the APN.

The media and the public

The media and the public, while not having a direct relationship with the APN, may of course have an interest in APN activities. As an organisation that aims to help provide a scientific understanding of global change and an input to policy decision making, the media and the public are of course potential recipients of that understanding and have in different ways an input to policy decision making.

The APN Niche

Within this environment the APN is the only inter-governmental organisation in the Asia-Pacific region which focuses purely on global change research. It is the principal means by which the governments and the scientific community of the region can collaborate in understanding how the global systems that sustain life on earth are changing, the human role in those changes, and the range of possible impacts upon human society of those changes. As such it has a distinct role to play. There are also other features which give the APN its distinctive identity:

The APN strategy has been constructed round these distinctive features, so that the APN maximises the opportunities they present.

Appendix 2

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE APN STRATEGIC PLAN

The following institutions and individuals actively contributed to this strategic plan either in writing or in discussions with APN staff.

Government Departments, Agencies and Research Institutes

China Meteorological Administration
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippines
Department of Meteorology, Sri Lanka
Environment Agency, Japan
Environment Australia
Environment Canada
Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Malaysian Meteorological Service
Ministry of Environment and Forest, Bangladesh
Ministry of Environment and Forests, India
Ministry of Environment, Cambodia
Ministry of Environment, Indonesia
Ministry of Environment, Korea
Ministry of Environment, Local Government and Rural Development, Pakistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
Ministry of Forestry & Environment, Sri Lanka
Ministry of Nature and the Environment, Mongolia
Ministry of Population and Environment, Nepal
Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Thailand
Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Vietnam
National Institute of Aeronautics and Space, Indonesia
National Institute of Environmental Research, Korea
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd., New Zealand
National Science Foundation, USA
Planning Commission, India
Research Institute for Hydro-meteorological Information – World Data Center, Russia
Science, Technology and Environment Organisation, Laos
State Science and Technology Ministry, China

Inter-governmental organisations

Asian Development Bank (ADB)
European Network for Research in Global Change (ENRICH)
South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Regional Office Asia Pacific (UNESCO ROAP)
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (ESCAP)
United Nations Environment Programme, Environment Assessment Programme for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP/EAP.AP)

Scientific organisations and research networks

Biospheric Aspects of the Hydrological Cycle Core Project Office (IGBP BAHC)
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)
International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP)
International Ocean Institute South Pacific Regional Operational Centre (IOI)
Land Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone Project Office (IGBP LOICZ)
Oceania Regional Committee for START (START Oceania)
Past Global Changes Core Project Office (IGBP PAGES)
Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE)
South Asia Regional Committee for START (SASCOM)
South East Asia Regional Committee for START (SARCS)
Global Change SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START)
Temperate East Asia Regional Committee for START (TEACOM)
World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)

Academic individuals and institutions

Professor Keiji Higuchi, Co-Chair of the APN Scientific Planning Group
Professor Richard Rockwell, University of Michigan, USA
Professor Shuzo Nishioka, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan

Appendix 3

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. Background

The Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) is an inter-governmental network whose primary purposes are to foster global environmental change research in the Asia-Pacific region, increase developing country participation in that research, and to strengthen links between the science community and policy makers. It has undergone a process of development as a network since the first planning workshop in December 1992.*6

The 3rd Inter-Governmental Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), held in Beijing, China in March 1998, decided to initiate a strategic planning process to guide the APN in the longer term, i.e. 5 years starting in 1999.*7

The APN Secretariat was given the mandate of managing the strategic planning process with a steering group consisting of 4 persons (see below). The study is to result in a report and recommendations for the Scientific Planning Group in early 1999, and final approval at the APN Inter-Governmental Meeting in March 1999.

2. Objectives of the Strategic Planning Process

The objectives of the process are:

3. Components of the Strategic Plan

Based upon discussions at the 3rd IGM in Beijing, and comments received afterwards, the following have been identified as items to be covered by the Strategic Planning Process.

4. Implementation Arrangements

The consultation process will be conducted in the following way. Please see the Detailed Timetable for more details.

[1] Where possible the APN will try and host its SPG and IGM meetings back to back, providing an opportunity for the scientific and policy communities to strengthen their interactions.

[2] The APN intends to increase the content level of its newsletter, and use it as a vehicle for raising awareness in the region of global change research activities in general, not just those organised by the APN. Similarly the homepage’s role as a source of information will be developed.

[3] The APN will update the inventory of global change research produced in 1996 and will make it available in both paper and electronic formats. Alongside this it will also publish an inventory of global change researchers throughout the region and maintain a directory of the agencies involved in global change research policy.

[4] As yet there is no Liaison Officer for the Oceania or SARCS regions.

[5] In some member countries the APN Focal Point and SPG member are the same person or work in the same organisation. The APN would like to gradually change this situation so as to encourage networking within countries, and a wider input to APN policy

[6] For more information about APN refer to APN brochure and newsletters, etc. See the appendix about overall global change scientific programmes.

[7] The IGM stated that a strategic plan “would help clarify thinking on the most productive role for the APN, help countries consider how best they could contribute to APN’s development and provide a satisfactory basis for dealing with outside funding agencies.”
“It was recognized that to do this well would require preparation of a range of background documentation on matters such as the state of global change research activities in the region, indications of uncertainties or knowledge gaps relevant to decision making processes and international activities related to those of the APN.”