GAN Problem Domains

GANs act to address some particular problem or set of problems. From an organizing point of view, these problems can thought of as operating within a "problem domains" that is inhabited by a number of organizations trying to address the problem.

There are four problem domains that were defined in the initial GAN-Net project, and key international policy organizations operating within them were "mapped" to help better understand the sorts of "systems" in the domains and their degree of organization.

Given the scale and complexity of the domains and the resources for this project, the maps should not be considered "complete" or "comprehensive". However, they are illustrative of a useful way to think about the current "system" (or, more properly put, lack of it).

The problem domains are:
Food Security (312 K) - organizations working to support the goal of all people having at all times access to the food they need for an active and healthy life. For the purposes of this mapping exercise, we have concentrated rather strictly on core food security issues.

Climate Change (560 K) - Organizations in this domain are working on issues of human activity and how it is influencing the atmosphere.

Sustainable Development (344 K) - Sustainable development policy exists at the intersection of a number of policy arenas: energy, biodiversity, poverty, economic development, public health, biotechnology are but some. As a policy issue, it is enormous. Therefore the mapping is necessarily incomplete. We approach sustainable development using the broad definition of the Brundtland report - namely "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Trade (616 K) - This domain may be the most contentious global policy domain studied. The debate on globalization and trade liberalization is raging in many, formerly disparate circles, partly in response to the opacity of the World Trade Organization (WTO).