The inter- and multi-disciplinary framework of the UGEC project aimed to bring together research communities from different disciplinary realms and foci to this field of study. It also seeked to provide a platform for close interaction between practitioners and researchers at different scales.
The UGEC Science Plan was designed to be flexible and to evolve and change over time through this interaction. It situated global environmental changes in the context of urban systems and translates abstract knowledge about global environmental change into a local context of decision-making by synthesizing case studies and research informed by local knowledge and action. Practitioners and end-users of knowledge were important actors in this process.
The project encouraged parallel studies to build knowledge across regions and the subtopical areas of the interactions and responses to global environmental change in urban areas. It also sought to gradually construct thematic networks for cross-project cooperation around subject areas linking urbanization projects to the various initiatives mentioned in the scientific plan.
The UGEC Project was a leader in developing:
- Original, high impact research publications
- International and national assesment reports
- Research synthesis and meta-analyses
- Comparative case studies
- Research, training, and science-practice workshops
- International conference ans fora including panels, sessinos, special side-events, and networking events
- Policy briefs, white papers, and newsletters
- Resources and tools for knowledge integration, synthesis and dissemination
- Listservs, webites(s) and electronic newsletters