I. FROM GREENWAY MAIL BOX
An Internet subscription list dealing with the issue of
environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been established by the
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). EIA sectors
covered are expected to include
Targeted at governments, academic and research institutions, and
NGOs, this new service is a joint collaboration between UNEP and
the Central European Environmental Data Request Facility. Users
will have access to the list via Gopher (pan.cedar.univie.ac.at)
and WWW home page (
http://pan.cedar.univie.ac.at
).
is in the process of building
a bank of curriculum vitae of experts on European environmental
education.
The purpose of this exercise is to develop a list of experts
interested in taking part in research and training initiatives in
both Europe and the developing world, specifying their
experience, areas of interest and expertise. A standard cv format
has been prepared and may be sent to those interested.
UNEP also launched OUR ENVIRONMENT THROUGH THE EYES OF CHILDREN,
a comprehensive global survey on children and environment. More
than 26,000 children aged 8-16 from 72 countries took part. When
asked which issues were the most damaging to the environment,
here's how they responded:air pollution (36%), ozone layer
depletion (14.3%), deforestation and desertification (14%), water
pollution (13.9%), garbage disposal (6.5%), radioactive and toxic
waste (4.6%), acid rain (2.8%), and global warming (1.8%).
Youth Officer,
IPA, UNEP
P.O. Box 30552,
Nairobi
KENYA
Tel: +254.2.621234
Fax: +254.2.226886
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME AT ACADEMIA
ISTROPOLITANA BRATISLAVA
Current changes in Central and Eastern
Europe have given rise to the need for specialists who are
responsible for the management and planning on the environmental
field. Our program educates such specialists for both
governmental and private sector positions.
It is a ten-months daily study program, taught mainly in
intensive teaching blocks of one or two weeks in English. It
emphasizes interdisciplinary and international approaches in
cooperation with European and U.S. exports. Students receive
a certificate upon completion of the programme.
The programme is aimed mainly at ecologists, geoscientists, urban
planners, environmental engineers, lawyer, and economists who
intend to specialize in environmental planning and management.
After completing the study, students will be more qualified to
help solve the complex, interdependent problems of environmental
policy and management in the Central and Eastern European region.
The Environmental Planning and Management programme has opened
the fourth academic year in September 1995. Students of the
program have found positions in ministries, local environmental
departments, NGOs, and schools.
The programme is designed in collaboration with the Manchester
Metropolitan University, UK, the Technical University of Vienna,
Austria, the University of Ghent, Belgium, North Carolina State
University, USA.
It is very good opportunity to improve professional and language
skills and to get interesting international contacts. Candidates
for the programme must have completed undergraduate university
education. Practical experiences are welcomed.
Students coming from Central and Eastern Europe can apply for
financial support that can cover the full cost of tuition and
basic living expenses.
The deadline for applications is April 15, 1996.
Contact:
Renata Malecova
Academia Istropolitana
P.O.BOX 92
Hanulova 5/B
840 02 Bratislava 42
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Tel: +42.7.785 671, 785 069
Fax: +42.7.785 341
e-mail:
envir@acadistr.sk
II. Conferences, Seminars, Courses, Other Events
SCIENCE TEACHER EDUCATION: STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE
British Council International Seminar
This seminar will run from 10 to 19 April 1996 in London,
and will examine recent changes in science teacher education in
order to develop strategies for the future. It will be directed
by John May, and the main themes will include
- accreditation/inspection/OFSTED
- the national curriculum as a framework
- quality programmes
- societies' values and cultural traditions
- professional development as a career-long process
- models of INSET
The programme will be of particular interest to those with
responsibilities for monitoring and developing science teacher
education: curriculum developers; science teacher aducators;
inservice directors/specialists; and senior ministry of education
officials.
For further information contact:
NORTHERN CALL FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
An international conference on
environmental education is being organised the National Board of
Education (Finland), the Nordic Council of Ministers and the
Ministry of Education and will be hosted by the University of
Savonlinna, Finland, 26-30 June 1996.
The conference will provide a discussion forum and a learning
arena for Nordic and other developers of environmental education.
One of the main ideas is to consider and reflect upon new
constructive theories of teaching and learning for environmental
education.
The objectives for the conference are:
- To present and discuss Nordic advancements in environmental
education
- To examine methods to raise the quality of environmental
education
- To mediate experiences of good teaching practice
- To promote active co-operation in environmental education
projects between European countries
The conference will focus upon three themes. These are
conflicting interests in the use of natural resources;
ecologically enlightened lifestyles, with a discussion of the
case of the county of St. Michel which is a demonstration of
Agenda 21;
landscape as a dialogue between nature and culture.
The programme will consist of speaches, presentations, workshops,
discussions and visits to environmental research centres. One of
the major attractions of this event is the insight it will
provide to the experiences of the Nordic Project of Environmental
Education, which has been implemented in all five Nordic
countries since 1991.
There will be some opportunity for travel once the conference has
ended. Two sightseeing trips are planned. The first is to
Viena-Carelia, Russia,and this excursion is entitled 'The chances
of survival for ancient Finnish poem villages in a time of
cultural transition.' The second, is to the imposing Russian city
of St. Petersburg and will focus upon the relationship between
architecture and environmental concers.
The official conference language is English.
For further information, please contact:
NGO NETWORK CONFERENCE IN MANILA
Representatives of 77 national
and international NGO networks met for four days near Manila
(Philippines) to build strategies for more effective cooperation
at the international level. The meetings and workshops were held
from 29 November - 2 December 1995.The meeting, 'NGO Networks:
Meeting the Challenge of the Emerging Global System', was
organized by a steering committee whose origins go back to the
International NGO Forum (INGOF) held in Rio de Janeiro during the
1992 Earth Summit.
The Manila meeting was designed to "develop agreements on
processes... that would provide a foundation for more affective
network cooperation in areas like international advocacy and the
development of alternative policies and strategies to provide
sustainability".
After a wide-ranging debate of issues linked to globalization,
workshops focused on four key themes: governance, meaning the
norms or principles-accountability, transparency, democracy-by
which NGOs and NGO networks should conduct their work; shared
information systems, including capacity mapping of NGOs and
networks, expanding NGO access to electronic communications, the
establishment of a comprehensive calendar of events and an NGO
resource library; capacity building for networking, including
advo cacy training, the dissemination of case studies, staff
exchanges and promoting appropriate legal environments for NGO
work.
A fourth workshop entitled 'Think Tank' considered the kinds of
theoretical and practical research and information needed to
strengthen the work of NGOs and to support the response of civil
society to the processes of globalization.
The meeting rejected the idea of setting up a new structure such
as a network of networks, but focused on how to strengthen and
systematize links between existing networks. It also endorsed the
establishment of an interim international facilitating group,
with balanced regional representation, to take forward the
proposed strategies and ideas for an initial two-year period.
Contact for Europe:
HABITAT NGO FORUM: AN UPDATE
Plans are moving ahead for the
Habitat II NGO Forum, to be held from 30 May-11 June 1996 in
Istanbul. Work has already begun to prepare the Taskisla building
for the forum; the premises house Istanbul Technical
University's Architecture and Planning faculties. Office space is
being prepared for the forum secretariat, for the NGO Host
Committee of Turkey, and for orther forum activities.
The host committee has nine subgroups working on various aspects
of the forum, as well as caucuses on women, children, youth,
culture, health, and environment, with more being formed.
NGOs wishing to attend the official conference must be accredited
by the Habitat secretariat. Unaccredited NGOs may attend the NGO
Forum, organize meetings, prepare exhibits and hold cultural
activities, but must register as well.
For formal NGO accreditation, contact:
International Conference organized by INAISE
FINANCIAL STRATEGIES
FOR LOCAL SUSTAINABILITYIN A GLOBAL ECONOMY
(Venice, 9-10 May1996)
INAISE - the International Association of Investors in the
Social Economy - is a network of financial intermediaries of
a great diversity, whose specificity is the financing of projects
that benefit society as a whole. All investors in this network
are investors with a vocation, be it ethical, social,
environmental, North-south co-operation,... to name but a few.
Founded in 1989, the network today consists of 40 organisations
originating from 16 countries all over the world (with
dependencies and affiliates of their own in 60 countries).
The conference
Once a year, INAISE invites the world of social finance to
a priviliged and important gathering, since it is the main
opportunity for those financiers to evaluate and reposition
themselves according to newly emerging trends.
For this year's conference (1996), reflection crystallised around
a fact that has become difficult to ignore: the WORLD is ONE.
Indeed, by considering the repercussions alone (environmental and
social), we henceforth will be dealing with an economy of truly
global dimensions.Yet, in the absence of satisfying global,
institutional solutions for a more sustainable development, local
and decentralised initiatives will continue emerging throughout
the world. The appearance of "alternative" financiers like those
of the INAISE network is precisely one of the multiple
manifestations of this phenomenon.
Objectives
The objective of this conference is to evaluate possible
financial strategies, local and decentralised, in response to
some of our major global challenges. More specifically, the
concern for more sustainability will be tested in a double sense:
firstly, how indeed do social investors contribute to a more
sustainable development by intervening at their local level?
secondly, to what degree do social investors themselves rely on
sustainable structures?
Hence,
workshop 1 ("sustainable energies") will analyse to what extent
social investors can help cities that have embarked on a path of
sustainability to implement an intergrated energy strategy;
workshop 2 ("fair trade") will evaluate the different financing
modes of fair trading, focussing speciafically on how to sustain
the athics of fair trade as it gains in importance;
workshop 3 ("banking co-operations") will discuss the risks and
opportunities involved for social investors who accept the help
of "mainstream" banks;
workshop 4 ("micro funding") will look at how social investors
can contribute to a sustainable management of the newly created
micro-fundings put in place by most of the international
institutions such as the World Bank and the European Commission.
Participants
The number of participants will be limited to 200. All should, in
some respect, be interested or connected to "socially responsible
finance", be it ethically, environmentally or-North-South
oriented, or addressing the "third sector", the "social economy"
sector (co-operatives, associations and mutuals), small
enterprises, ethnical minorities, local communities or women.
Contact:
III. It Might Be Interesting/UseFUL TO KNOW
SHELL BETTER BRITAIN CAMPAIGN-COMMUNITY PROJECTS FUND
Shell have developed a community projects fund which aims to
highlight the value of local initiatives involving local people
in improving their own neighbourhoods.
Any community-based group can apply for a grant of up to Y 2,000
for projects which combine three elements. The projects must
improve the quality of life in the local neighbourhood
be organized by local people to bring the community together
have direct links with broad environmental issues
More details are available from:
Shell Better Britain Campaign
Red House
Hill Lane
Great Barr
Birmingham B43 6LZ
UNITED KINGDOM
INTERNATIONAL NETWORK IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
The International
Network in Environmental Education (INEE) was created in May
1994 by a group of multinational activists and researches in the
field of environmenatl education, with the help of a Swiss
foundation, called the Foundation for the Progress of Humanity
(FPH). When the Network began, it was essentially
a French-speaking organization, but it has expanded to a global
level, with 160 members coming from some 40 countries, including
Algeria, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Kenya
and the United States.
The organizations which became members of the Network are both
public (governmental organizations in charge of environmental
protection) and private (teachers' associations concerned by
environmental education). The individual members of the Network
come from a great diversity of disciplinary and professional
fields, and include teachers, lectures, researches, people in
charge of environmental affairs in public or private
institutions, journalists and students.
The objectives set at the creation of the Network were the
following
to promote the work of people and organizations active in the
field of environmental education by the exchange of their
experiences
to promote international collaboration on mutual aid for our
actions as educators
The main function has been to gather information concerning
'experiences' related to environmental education (activities,
teaching methods, materials, research, etc.) and further diffuse
this information to members and to any person or organization
concerned with environmental education.
Every person or organization active in the field of environmental
education can participate in the Network. Members send to us
descriptions of their experiences related to environmental
education in the form of short articles, reports or details of
concrete experiences. An 'experience file' should constitute the
link between people and organizations who can use it to discover
comparable values, interests and practices.
For more information, or to join the Network, contact:
SELECTED U.N. EVENTS FOR 1996
CSD
Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Panel on
Forests 2nd session, 11-22 March, Geneva, 3rd session, 3-13
September, New York. The CSD has established an open-ended ad hoc
Intergovernmental Panel on Forests to seek consensus on
coordinated proposals for action to support the management,
conservation and sustainable development of forests. The panel is
expected to submit a progress report to the CSD at its fourth
session in June 1996, and to submit final consultations and
policy recommendation at the fifth session of the CSD in 1997.
ECOSOC/GA
General Assembly, resumed 50th session on the question of "Public
administration and development", March-April (2 weeks), New York
ENVIRONMENT
Meeting of the states parties to the UN Convention on the Law of
the Sea, 4-8 March, New York
6th Conference of Contracting Parties of the Ramsar Convention on
Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterflow
Habitat, 19-27 March, Brisbane
Adoption of a strategic plan for 1997-2002 and a series of
technical sessions on issues such as criteria for selecting
wetlands of international importance, wetland management,
community participation, and cooperation with the Convention on
Biodiversity.
For documents and further information, contact:
Delmar Blasco
Ramsar Convention Bureau
28 rue Mauverney
CH-1196 Gland
SWITZERLAND
HABITAT II
Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements (Habitat II), 3rd session, 5-16 February, New York.
At its third and final session, the PrepCom for Habitat II will
seek to finalize the provisional agenda for the conference and
formulate a draft global plan of action to be adopted by the
conference.
Habitat II, 3-14 June, Istanbul
The conference will adopt the Habitat Agenda, which includes
a Statement of Principles and Commitments and a Global Plan of
Action. These documents will address key issues facing the
world's towns and cities during the next two decades, and focus
on remedial action in the next five years (1996-2000).
FOREST COMMISSION TO HOLD FIRST REGIONAL HEARING
The independent
World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development (WCFSD)
will hold its first regional hearing in Indonesia from 25
February - 1 March 1996.
The commission is actively seeking NGOs input into the hearing.
Just after the Earth Summit in 1992, a special organizing
committee was set up to promote the establishment of a global
commission on forests. The independent World Commission on
Forests and Sustainable Development - which was created in
mid-1994 - will complement efforts of the UN Commission on
Sustainable Development Intergovernmental Panel on Forests.
The commission held its first meeting in Geneva on 4-6 June
1995, during which it agreed to focus on assisting national
government efforts to develop better mechanisms for political
consultation. These are needed to achieve policy and
institutional reforms crucial to sustainable equitable use and
management of forests.
The commission will implement its work through regional hearings,
the first of which is scheduled for 25 February - 1 March 1996 in
Indonesia. These hearing will give NGOs and other stakeholders an
opportunity to put forth their views on the most suitable policy
reforms.
The WCFSD invites interested NGOs to submit their views in
writing or to take part in the hearings!!!
Contact:
NGO Liaison Office
WCFSD Secretariat
9 Chemin des Anemones CP 51
CH-1219 Chatelaine
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41.22.979 9165
Fax: +41.22.979 9060
Key issues to be addressed by WCFSD:
how to eliminate legislative restrictions on involvement of local
communities, NGOs and the private sector in sustainable
management of public forest lands;
how to develop legislative and fiscal policy mechanisms that will
ensure local forest dwelling people receive an equitable share of
the benefits from harvesting and marketing of food crops and
medicinal products derived from forest, plant and animal
germplasm;
how to ensure commitment by national governments to macroeconomic
and structural adjustment policy reforms that will reduce
pressure on forests and accelerate the setting aside of
representative forest ecosystems as permanent biodiversity
reserves;
how to design legislative and incentive policies that will ensure
widespread adoption by private sector logging and forest
industrial enterprises of Codes of Conduct aimed at sustainable
management of forests;
how to encourage accelerated adoption of scientifically proven
and socioeconomically acceptable technologies to combine logging
with protection of biodiversity and other environmental benefits
and also to increase the productivity of both natural forests and
industrial plantations;
how to achieve equitable North/South policies that will
adequately reimburse developing countries for the measures they
are now taking to conserve forests for global environmental
benefit;
how to ensure developing countries receive an increasing share of
global forest products trade.
SPECIAL SESSION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AGENDA 21
The UN General Assembly will hold a one-week special session at
the highest possible level of participation in June 1997 to
review and appraise the complementation of the 1992 Un Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.
The preparatory process will take place within the Commission on
Sustainable Development (CSD), beginning with the high-level
segment of the fourth session in April 1996.
The Ad Hoc Open-ended Intersessional Working Group of the CSD, to
be held in 1997, will assist the commission in undertaking the
review for the special session. The fifth session of the CSD,
which will be open-ended to allow full participation of all
states, will be devoted to preparing for the special session.
All possible relevant parties, including non-governmental
organizations and other major groups, are invited to contribute
to the special session.
For more information on preparations for the special session,
contact:
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH PROGRAMME
Three years in preparation, the
World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond
was adopted by the General Assembly without a vote on 14 December
1995.
The programme provides a policy framework and practical
guidelines for national action and international support to
improve the situation of young people.
It identifies ten priority areas for action:
education, employment, drug abuse, juvenile deliquency, leisure
activities, girls and young women, and the full and effective
participation of youth in the life of society and
decision-making.
The General Assembly invites governments, non-governmental
organizations and the public and private sectors, as well as
youth organizations, to implement the Programme of Action.
The Secretary-General is asked to report to the 52nd session of
the General Assembly in 1997, through the Commission on Social
Development and the Economic and Social Council, on the progress
made in the implementation of the Programme of Action.
For a copy of A/50/728, containing the World Programme of Action
for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond, contact:
