Earth System Governance is the largest social science research network in the area of governance and global environmental change. The Earth System Governance research alliance takes up the challenge of exploring political solutions and novel, more effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the biogeochemical systems of the planet. The normative context of this research is sustainable development; earth system governance is not only a question of institutional effectiveness, but also of political legitimacy and social justice. The Earth System Governance Project is a core project of Future Earth.

The 2018 Utrecht Conference stands in a long tradition of global conferences on earth system governance, from Amsterdam (2007 and 2009) to Colorado (2011), Lund (2012), Tokyo (2013), Norwich (2014), Canberra (2015), Nairobi (2016), and Lund (2017). In this long-standing event series, the Utrecht Conference will have a special status: in 2018, the Earth System Governance Project’s current Science and Implementation Plan will be replaced by a new 10-year science plan; and new, enthusiastic leadership will take over the helm of the project.

The proGIreg project will be represenated at the session "Agency 10 – Governing Urban Nature for Sustainability: Complex Architectures and Emerging Agency – II" Fuzzy Concept or Robust, Elastic Approach? Framing Urban Green Infrastructure by Rieke Hansen, Emily Rall, Werner Rolf, Martina van Lierop and Stephan Pauleit.