Participants

Barbara Solich, Weiqun Dong, and Shalini Kanwar

Nine hundred and thirty eight participants came to Bonn for the IHDP Open Meeting 2009. With extremely varied backgrounds both geographically and professionally, the mix of researchers presenting at the IHDP Open Meeting 2009 created a motivating and rewarding dialogue. Participants from 85 countries shared their knowledge during the conference. Of those who provided relevant information, 43 percent were female, highlighting a fair gender distribution among the delegates.

The body of participants was dominated by scientists from 31 to 40 years of age, with scientists from 41 to 50 years of age making up the second largest group present, and more than 16 percent of the participants were students of academic levels (Bachelor, Master, PhD). These numbers show that the 7th International Science conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change succeeded in attracting both the young and the experienced, so as to best provoke global discourses on the social challenges of global change.

A great number of researchers who presented their research, 11.5 percent in all, received stipends that largely secured their participation costs. Thanks to the financial support provided by various donors, IHDP was able to provide 80 stipends. This was a major contributing factor to the conference’s remarkable presence of participants from developing countries.