Part 7 features contributions from the International Social Science Council’s (ISSC) members, programmes and partners, including international disciplinary associations and unions, the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) and the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) programme.

Planet Earth has entered a new epoch, the Anthropocene, in which human influence dominates nature, even on global and geological scales. This reinforces the importance of anthropology. Anthropology studies the human species, from its co-evolution, genetics and biology, to our prehistory and early civilizations, and onwards to contemporary human cultures. It examines social settings from hunter-gatherer, pastoralist and subsistence agricultural communities to multinational corporations and global institutions. It is a vital part of efforts to limit the catastrophic effects of anthropogenic environmental change, as the World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA) and the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) report.

Psychology offers valuable insights into human appreciation of climate change and ways of encouraging desirable environmental behaviour. Research includes understanding perceptions of global environmental change, motivation and strategies to encourage pro-environmental action, as the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) reports.

Environmental economics studies the use of the Earth’s natural resources, in particular those not valued in the marketplace and which therefore tend to be overused – such as clean air, water, ecosystems, oceans and the atmosphere. Economists try to provide insights into alternative paths of development such as low-carbon growth without imposing extra costs and impeding economic growth, as the International Economics Association (IEA) reports.

The environmental humanities make an important and original contribution to environmental issues by investigating the human dimension in global environmental change. Environmental humanities research questions what it means to be human in the age of the Anthropocene and helps develop a better understanding of human agency and human beings’ relationship with their natural and built environments.

Sociologists are moving beyond concern with green issues with a distinctive social aspect, and are posing transdisciplinary questions about ecological, social and technological systems. But they need to challenge existing power relations more deeply, and should be more involved in debates and decisions on climate change, as the International Sociological Association (ISA) reports.

Geography explores how environments emerge through natural processes, how societies produce, organise, use and misuse such environments, and how society is influenced by the environments it occupies. It sits at the interface of the natural and social sciences, and is thus in a unique position to understand global change and its implications for humanity and the environment. Geographers can help bridge and even close the gap between the social and natural sciences to resolve the global environmental crisis, as the International Geographical Union (IGU) reports.

Political science is key to understanding national and organisational responses to climate change by states and other actors. Recent learning about globalisation has many applications for political scholarship in the context of global environmental change, as the International Political Science Association (IPSA) reports.

The Earth System Governance project is a project of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change. It is a major social science research network whose members look beyond current government and political systems and towards the structures needed to manage human societies in the Anthropocene. Their many international activities work towards social justice as well as ecological sustainability.

The Global Water System Project (GWSP) produces evidence on the scientific and human aspects of water use in an era of global environmental change. It looks at water governance, water conflict and water shortages, and aims towards sustainable and equitable water use.

Global Environmental Change and Human Security (GECHS) was a core project of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). It examined the interaction between environmental and human security, linked to climate-induced migration, disease and poverty. It also examined how people and societies can address these problems and influence their future development.

Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE) is a joint project of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). It links the human and environmental histories of the Earth – too often kept separate – into an integrated whole. This will help improve understanding of the past and produce new tools to cope with present and future change.

The Industrial Transformation (IT) project aims to develop industrial activity without malign environmental effects. It sees industry in its social and technological setting. It is especially active in Asia, where rapid economic growth offers the potential for green choices about industrial development.

The Urbanization and Global Environmental Change project is internationally known for identifying, coordinating and synthesising important research related to the interactions and feedbacks between urbanization and global environmental change at local and regional levels.

The Earth’s coastal zones contribute significantly to our life support systems. Yet they are changing rapidly, in particular as a result of human activity. Land–Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ), a core project of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), aims to understand regional and global changes affecting coastal systems, to guide management and decision-making and achieve a more sustainable future.

The Global Carbon Project (GCP) is a joint project of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), DIVERSITAS and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). It aims to model carbon flows on all scales in the Earth system and to help guide policy and behaviour to reduce and stabilise greenhouse gas emissions.

The Global Environmental Change and Food Systems (GECAFS) project, part of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), was a pioneer on global food challenges in the context of environmental change. It worked with a wide range of stakeholders at global and regional levels, to examine how changing food systems will affect future food security.

Global environmental change poses hazards to human health, as does major social change, such as the current rapid rate of urbanisation around the world. The Global Environmental Change and Human Health (GECHH) project, part of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), examines these issues and develops mitigation strategies to maintain human health under conditions of environmental stress.

The Global Land Project (GLP) is a joint project of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). It looks at human and ecological aspects of land use, including current and future land use change.

The Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) programme uses a range of scientific, technological, health and policy approaches to cope with hazards and disasters. It aims to improve and standardise disaster research, to devise approaches that prevent hazards turning into disasters.