ABSTRACT
In examining the making and management of targeted programs of social environmental research in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Norway, and Canada, this chapter shows their role in generating policy relevant research activity in new interdisciplinary fields, and in forging closer links between researchers and research users. Nevertheless, the programs have one thing in common: all represent a concerted effort to foster social science relevant to the broadly-defined policy problem of understanding and managing global environmental change. At senior level, German social scientists contribute to directly-funded government research initiatives at national and local levels and, as in the United States, there are high-level linkages between policymakers and the research council. The new linkages model appears to offer more opportunities for steering agendas and encouraging policy relevance, yet it is important to acknowledge that program managers are still ultimately dependent on the research community.
