Call for Proposals: Modeling Aspects on Sustainable Human Development

Request for Proposals

Modeling Aspects of Sustainable Human Development

The Advanced Consortium for Conflict, Cooperation, and Complexity (AC4) is soliciting proposals from across the Columbia University community to construct statistical, computational, or simulation models that operationalize and test the parameters of sustainable human development (SHD) described below. AC4 will provide seed funding of up to $10,000 to fund graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and research scientists, individually or in teams, to develop proof-of-concept statistical models, computational models, or simulations that advance the scientific community’s understanding of sustainable human development.

Background and Rationale

Throughout recent decades, concepts of human development and sustainable development have become central goals in global, national, and corporate development discourses. Despite this near ubiquity, finding pathways for achieving SHD remains a key challenge inside and across various sectors and disciplines. Great progress has been made in understanding discrete components of the interconnectivity of environmental/ developmental/ social systems, but research and models have yet to adequately integrate complex social and ecological processes across the range of temporal and spatial scales required to fully articulate meta-models of sustainable human development (SHD).

Over the past year, AC4 has been engaged in an interdisciplinary investigation of SHD in partnership with the Agirre Lehendakaria Center for Social and Political Studies (ALC) at the University of the Basque Country. As a result of our research, which has included literature reviews, an analysis of current indices of human development and sustainability, and related disciplinary reviews by members of the Columbia University community, we understand SHD to be:

“a series of values, [institutions], and public-private partnership projects that allow society to build its own future, in a socio-economically balanced way that respects both the environment and human rights” (ALC, 2014).

Additionally, based on our extensive disciplinary literature reviews and assessment of sustainability-related indices, we hypothesize that the following four propositions are essential to pursuing SHD:

1. SHD involves the prevention of deprivation of basic human needs;
2. SHD involves the promotion of individual agency, equity, and the opportunity to define and pursue individual values at multiple levels of social aggregation;
3. SHD involves the safeguarding of public, social, and environmental goods at multiple spatial and temporal scales; and
4. SHD involves resolving conflicts between competing interests and needs via the creation of cooperative social, political, economic, and environmental institutions.

(Fisher & Gimenez, 2014. Manuscript submitted for publication)

We invite proposals for modeling initiatives that operationalize one or more of the above propositions, and seek to validate/falsify them through empirical, computational or simulation- based exploration.

Terms of Award

AC4 will award seed-funding grants for the Spring 2015 semester to develop proof-of-concept models. If awarded, teams are required to submit a midterm progress report demonstrating progress to-date, and a final report describing the modeling effort and results, with appendices including replication files, code, and data as applicable. Proposals will be accepted for initiatives exploring a range of scales/topics/variables.  However, the proposal must demonstrate how the units of analysis and research approach will address one or more of the propositions above.
Preference will be given for innovative approaches to operationalizing Proposition 3 and/or Proposition 4.

Exact terms of the award include:

• Seed funding up to $10,000
• Award dates Jan. 1 2015 – June 30 2015
• Eligible applicants include graduate students, postdocs, Associate Research Scientists & Faculty
• Successful proofs-of-concept may request additional funds for model refinement at the end of the award.
• Award recipients retain all intellectual and publication rights to their models. Mid-term and final progress reports required, with relevant replication files.

Submission Requirements

Proposals should be no greater than 5 pages in length. They must include:

• A cover page including the names, department affiliations, and degree programs (if applicable) of all team members. Please indicate which member will serve as contact person throughout the application and research process. All graduate students must also include a letter of support from a faculty advisor.
• A hypothesis and proposed methodology.
• A brief description of the level(s) of social-environmental aggregation that will be modeled including: units of analysis (individuals, states, etc.) and potential social, institutional, and/or environmental variables to test.
• Data required and available to implement the model.
• Methodology
• Citations/References
• A timeline of anticipated progress and key milestones. Research must be conducted between January 1 and June 30, 2015.
• An itemized budget, including fringe at 32.5% for all postdocs, Associate Research Scientists, and faculty members.

Please send proposals and letters of support (if applicable) to Kristen Rucki at kar2174@columbia.edu before Monday, November 10, 2014, midnight EST.

Award letters will be issued by December 1, 2014.

Please direct any questions to Kristen Rucki (kar2174@columbia.edu).