Project Prof. Dr. Hans Gebhardt

Global Change and Globalisation

The project "Global Change and Globalisation" tries to understand processes and actors in the process of globalisation in a theoretical way as well as in empirical case studies. In a first phase two themes are taken into consideration: a) climate change and process in the higher atmosphere (greenhouse gases) in connection with historical climate research (geo-archaeology) and b) global change, vulnerability of societies and water resources.

The geographical project has two research aims:

1.   To develop theoretical concepts about the interconnections between global change and globalisation. Geography as "bridge science" between natural and social sciences is especially qualified to such questions. Physical geographers have developed models of global change which do not fit simply to the ideas of social geographers and their theories about actors and political discourses on global change and globalisation. But in the last few years several new concepts like political ecology, human ecology, resilience of natural and social systems have been discussed which offer a basis of further research.

2.   An empirical research project about water problems and international tourism in countries of the Middle East. In arid areas in the Middle East as in Jordan or Egypt conflicts on water resources are an important economic and political issue. Especially the increasing water consumption of agriculture and private households in the main cities, but also the use of rare fossil groundwater for international tourism projects of an international tourism (Dubailand, Red Sea and Dead Sea in Egypt and Jordan) cause massive problems with severe ecological results. The planned research project will study existing and planned projects of tourism, the actors and interests of investors and the types of governance in the three countries Jordan, Egypt and Dubai.