Diary

Leicester, UK31 March 2004-1 April 2004

The 8th Annual Conference of the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges will take place at the University of Leicester on 31 March and 1 April 2004. Following the launch of the Department for Education and Skills’“sustainable development action plan”, the key aim of the conference is to help the further and higher education sectors to implement the necessary plans and to adopt a more sustainable approach to the delivery of education.

To help deliver this message, EAUC are pleased to confirm a number of expert speakers – including HEFCE, Environment Agency and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. A networking exhibition will be on show and informative and highly topical workshops are provided – these cover the key areas of bio-diversity, curriculum development, water and energy management,transport, waste management, legislation and procurement.

Leicester is the first environmental city in the UK and the EAUC is especially pleased to be holding its 8th Annual Conference there – it is hoped that lessons can be learned from the city’s experiences. Leicester is also renowned for its strong ethnic influences and the conference will echo this theme. This EAUC Conference promises to be an exiting, interactive, educational and motivational event. For further information, please contact: info@eauc.org.uk

Eco-Efficiency for Sustainability: Quantified Methods For Decision Making

Leiden, The Netherlands1-3 April 2004

The aim of this conference is to road the application of the eco-efficiency concept and tools in business can actively be developed, closely linked to consistent and transparent application in public policy. The focus of the conference will be on operational methods for quantified eco-efficiency analysis that can guide decision making towards societal eco-efficiency, contributing to sustainability.

The conference will bring together scientists and practitioners concerned about our common future, focusing on eco-efficiency as a central element in moving towards sustainability. By indicating the cost per unit of environmental improvement, or equivalently the value creation as related to environmental costs, one may discern between more and less eco-efficient forms of economic growth and environmental improvement. The conference aims to clarify and further develop the theoretical framework and operational methods for quantified and integrated eco-efficiency analysis, focused at practical application for decision making by firms, governments and NGOs. It combines different subject areas, from economics, environmental science, social choice theory, and evaluation and decision theory, and from applications involving sustainability decision makers in research and development, eco-design, business, and politics.

For further information, please visit the conference Web site: www.eco-efficiency-conf.org/

Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU) 2004

Monterrey, Nuevo León, México9-11 June, 2004

The Conference Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU)2004 will be held from 9 to 11 June 2004 at the Tecnológico de Monterrey,Campus Monterrey in Mexico. The theme of the event is “Sustainable development education: holistic and integrative educational and management approaches for ensuring sustainable societies”. Full articles are due by 1 April 2004. Further details can be obtained at: http://campus-sostenible.mty.itesm.mx/EMSUIII/index.htmlor by contacting: Ing. Silvia Catalina Farías Gaytán, Programa Campus Sostenible, Centro de Calidad Ambiental, Edificio CEDES 5 piso, Oficina CD-508, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey, Monterrey, México. Tel: (81) 83 58 14 00 ext. 5272; Web site: http://campus-sostenible.mty.itesm.mx

International Environmental Modelling and Software Society Conference – Special Session on “Evolutionary Computing Methods for Environmental Modelling and Software Development”

Osnabrück, Germany14-17 June 2004

Scientists working with environmental modelling are invited to submit papers for the special session on “Evolutionary computing methods for environmental modelling and software development”, at the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society Conference, to be held on 14-17 June 2004 at the University of Osnabrück, in Germany. The description of the session is as follows.

Recent advances in information technology have provided the software tools and the environment to study, analyse, and better understand complex systems. Environmental systems are such complex systems where modelling and software tools are needed to provide decision support capabilities and eventually improve decision-making. Evolutionary computing techniques, of which genetic algorithms are the best-known example, have a relatively short but spectacular history. These simplified models of Darwinian evolution “evolve” optimal or near-optimal solutions to complex decision-making problems that would otherwise have escaped even experienced analysts. In other words, these techniques are capable of solving global optimization and search problems with robust performance.

The advances in evolutionary computation techniques are making them more popular in solving complex, nonlinear, nonconvex and dynamically interactive problems. Evolutionary computation has been successfully applied in many areas of decision-making and the impact of this technology is now being felt in the environmental modelling field. The objective of this special session is to bring together research and development of evolutionary computation in environmental modelling and software development areas. The session aims to provide a platform for researchers to present and discuss recent breakthroughs in this area.

Further details are available at: www.iemss.org/iemss2004/or by contacting the session’s convenor: Dragan Savic, University of Exeter, UK; e-mail: D.Savic@exeter.ac.uk

ICECFOP – International Conference on Environmentally-Compatible Forest Products

Oporto, Portugal22-24 September 2004

ICECFOP, the International Conference on Environmentally-Compatible Forest Products will be held in Oporto, Portugal from 22-24 September 2004. It is hosted by Fernando Pessoa University (UFP), Oporto, Portugal. The event aims to bring together scientists and Industrialists working with forest products and environmental areas, so that they can present the latest research and innovation on wood products with low environmental impacts, possible environmental benefits to be derived from new technologies and the role of the so-called clean technologies.

ICECFOP is being organised by CEMAS, the Centre for Modelling Studies and Environmental Systems Analysis, based at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Fernando Pessoa University. The Co-organising institutions are the Ecole Supérieure du Bois, Nantes, France and Geonúcleo, Fernando Pessoa University. Topics for communications include:

• reduction of VOC emissions from wood processing operations;

• adhesives from renewable resources;

• new environment friendly preservatives;

• environmental impact of traditional preservatives;

• innovative non-conventional methods for wood protection (chemical modification, biological methods, trapping, etc.);

• recycling of wood in general and recycling of preservative-treated wood;

• life-cycle assessment of wood products;

• products from non-wood plant fibre resources;

• application of forest residues on the treatment of effluents;

• environmental conditions in workplace;

• new environment friendly wood coatings and finishing processes;

• new products and processes with low environmental impact; and

• other related areas.

For further information, online registration, and other details please visit the site www.ufp.pt and look for “Eventos” (bottom centre) and click on “ICECFOP” or go directly to www.ufp.pt/events.php?intId=10038

For any specific information may contact the Conference Secretariat: Mrs Paula Dias, GCI – Gabinete de Comunicação e Imagem,Universidade Fernando Pessoa, Praça 9 de Abril, 349, 4249-004 Porto,Portugal. Tel: +351 225 071 300; Fax: +351 225 508 269; e-mail: pdias@ufp.pt

EESD 2004 – Engineering Education in Sustainable Development

Barcelona, Spain27-29 October 2004

EESD will provide a platform for academics, policy and business makers,curriculum developers, researchers, students, NGO members over engineering education in sustainable development.

Engineering education at all levels, especially higher education for the training of decision-makers, researchers and teachers should be oriented towards sustainable development and foster environmentally aware attitudes, skills and behaviour patterns, as well as a sense of ethical responsibility. The purpose of this conference is to translate this aim into concrete targets that could help universities of technology to set objectives for reforming their educational programs.

As other universities, the University Polytechnic of Catalunia (UPC), the hosts of the event, has been facing the introduction of sustainability in all its activities since 1996, with the approval of an environmental plan. Particularly, strong efforts have been done concerning the introduction of environmental topics in many of the curricula. Now, UPC faces the challenge of organizing the EESD conference in 2004, after the success of the first edition in 2002, organized by the Technical University of Delft.

The conference is divided into parallel workshops, preceded by introductory keynote lectures. The workshops are organised according to the following topics:

• feasibility of technology for sustainable development;

• society willingness to incorporate sustainable development and expectations from engineering education;

• curricula changes for introducing sustainable development;

• exchange and transfer of technology for sustainable development.

Submission deadlines:

• Abstracts and workshop proposals should be submitted by 1 February 2004.

• Full articles should be submitted by 1 July 2004.

Further information is available at: http://congress.cimne.upc.es/eesd2004/frontal/default.asp