Research

The CNRD network fosters interdisciplinary research addressing the challenges related to the UN Sustainability Goals (SDGs). The CNRD partners engage in consortia to develop competitive research proposals. These proposals target most interesting national and international calls and aim to strengthen the research capacities as well as widen the research portfolio at the partner universities. The network partners form consortia with key associates from international research institutions, and also others from outside academia: industry, NGOs, governmental development agencies, and other relevant stakeholders. In order to facilitate this cooperation between science and partners in politics and society, workshops are financed and implemented by CNRD.

 

Research Data Infrastructure (RDI)

Around the world, research institutions and funding agencies realize valuable benefits in publishing and sharing research data. The aim of our RDI is to support the development of the LNRD and respective case studies with appropriate means for storing and sharing research data. In the field of environmental information, data sharing seems to be particularly useful. Yet the actual implementation of data sharing mechanisms and principles is still in its infancy. The implementation of our network’s RDI is a major contribution of CNRD in this direction. The storage of data is provided by the implementation of a web-based River Basin Information System software (RBIS). The different case studies and respective RBIS are available for partners in the CNRD web-based Research Data Infrastructure (RDI).

 

Doctoral Program on Natural Resources and Development (DNRD)

The Doctoral Program on Natural Resources and Development (DNRD) was a semi‐structured doctoral program. The program was concerned with the major challenges of today’s societies and also inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which served as a reference for the program’s research portfolio. It was designed for a three‐year time frame and was structured to cover supervision, education, field research, and exposure components.

Funded by the CNRD exceed project (DAAD), between 2009 and 2019 the CNRD network was given the opportunity to support doctoral students from partner institutes with a scholarship of up to three and a half years, to integrate directly into the network. Being part of an international network of scientists offered the young scientists, in addition to financial support, the best possible career opportunities. Furthermore, the support of doctoral students through scholarships contributed to the objective of the CNRD, to provide young professionals and researchers with the necessary competencies to become responsible decision-makers and change agents in natural resources management. Until 2019 around 25 PhD students have received a CNRD scholarship and finished their studies.

 

Researcher Exchange

CNRD promotes the exchange of researchers between the partner universities. Next to the positive impact on the personal qualification of the scientist, it brings international research dialogue forward and supports the partners in conducting interdisciplinary research. The major goal is the development of scientific articles aimed at publishing in peer-reviewed journals.

South‐north, north‐south, and south‐south research cooperation are supported. The south‐south exchanges are realized within geographical regions, such as Chile‐Mexico, Jordan‐Egypt, Indonesia‐Vietnam, and between sub-Saharan African countries. Each researcher exchange stay is planned for a minimum of three weeks. At the end, a working paper summarizes the researcher’s work developed during the stay.

 

The Journal of Natural Resources and Development (JNRD)

The Journal of Natural Resources and Development (JNRD) is a peer-reviewed, free of charge and open access journal that publishes papers related to natural resources management and the analysis of socio-ecological systems. It is devoted to the publication of scientific, technical, and demand-driven original research papers that address societal challenges under global change.

Its aim is to enhance CNRD’s understanding of environmental, biophysical, and socio-ecological systems, primarily in data-scarce regions. We promote the communication of interdisciplinary research and stakeholder-oriented information to stimulate the dialogue between science, policy, and society.

We also strongly promote interdisciplinary approaches and work that has resulted in negative findings like obtaining inadequate results when applying a method or problems while using specific datasets. In addition to original research articles, JNRD also publishes review papers, data sets, infographics, and posters.

Topics within the scope of JNRD include:

  • Hydro-meteorological extremes and their impacts
  • Climate Change Adaptation
  • Integrated Water Resources Management
  • Land and Ecosystems
  • Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Management
  • (Agro)-Biodiversity
    Sustainable Energy Systems
  • The Water – Energy – Food Security Nexus
  • Environmental Governance

The JNRD was designed to provide CNRD with a platform for scientific publications and to make research results available to the public. The declared goal is to make JNRD a renowned journal that contributes to the reputation of the CNRD and the achievement of the SDGs in general.

Visit the JNRD page