IHDP aimed to frame, develop and integrate social science research on global change, and promote the application of its key findings.
It strived to develop research approaches that put societies at the center of the debate, looking at then-current global environmental problems as social and societal challenges.
IHDP was initiated as the Human Dimensions Programme (HDP) in 1990[3] by the International Social Science Council (ISSC).
In 2006, the United Nations University joined ISSC and ICSU as an institutional sponsor of IHDP.
A large part of the research agenda of the former International Human Dimensions Programme has been carried forward by the Earth System Governance Project.