The abstracts of selected participants in this conference will have direct relevance in one of the four “social questions” of the 2008 Open Meeting and also show links to the other cross-cutting themes from the following concept note: the role of perceptions/values, relating across different temporal and spatial scales, system changes/transitions, and future directions. The four social questions are; How do we deal with demographic challenges? How do we deal with limitations of resources and ecosystem services? How do we establish social cohesion while increasing equity at various levels? How do we adapt institutions to address global change?