. . . Week 6 of the Conference

Week 6 Events and Accomplishments:

Monday, 8 September 1997

Thought we were never going to get around to it? Today's Podium presentation, The New Discussion Panels and Procedures for Our Conference: Background and Use Guidelines by Eric Britton, EcoPlan International, Paris, is perhaps 'only' methodological, but it nonetheless announces and provides the basic information that you will need in order to access and use the new interactive discussion fora that have just been established with the kind collaboration of The Center@Hamline at Hamline University.
Still interested in the concept of 'virtual universities'? If so, stay tuned.
Today's Web Detour: The Journal of Industrial Ecology. "An international peer-reviewed quarterly headquartered at Yale University and published by MIT Press. Includes many topics related to ZERI in the narrow sense of clustering or co-location of industries to facilitate re-use of wastes including the examination of industrial ecosystems and industrial symbiosis. Also examines broader topics related to this meeting including material and energy flows studies, industrial metabolism, technological change, dematerialization and decarbonization, life cycle planning, design and assessment, design for the environment, extended producer responsibility ("product stewardship"), product-oriented environmental policy and eco-efficiency. The inaugural issue contains an article by John Ehrenfeld and Nick Gertler of MIT of the famous industrial district in Kalundborg and a review of Nelson Nemerow's book on ZERI-type complexes, "Zero Pollution for Industry: Waste Minimization Through Industrial Complexes". The journal has a regular column by Ray Cote of Dalhousie University on industrial ecosystems. The Journal's editor has expressed the hope to see members of this conference as authors, reviewers and readers.

Tuesday, 9 September 1997

We have now begun the process of gradually moving all active communications and discussions within the conference over to the joint site announced yesterday with Hamline University. If you have a moment, would you mind going over to the New Z/E Discussion Forum, having a quick look around, and leaving a message there with your ideas and critical comments. Details on how to do this quickly and easily will be found in yesterday's Podium piece, The New Discussion Panels and Procedures for Our Conference: Background and Use Guidelines . Thanks for the hand.
While we intend to move ALL the communications component over to the new forum as soon as it is fully ready, in the meantime we thought it might be useful if we consolidate all the very latest communications received into a page here entitled Communications Received During Last Week, which is now open and available to you.

Today's Web Detour: Sustainable Freshwater Ecology & Aquaculture Consultancy Services Is sustainable development uniquely the purview of governments and their tributaries? of universities? of formally constituted ngo's? of the independently wealthy, perhaps retired? Have a look at this site and let us (and them) know what you think about the potential and contributions of those of us who, perhaps rather awkwardly, are neither one, nor the other. The group behind the site have asked "Once you have had a look at our site, maybe you could share your thoughts with us on directions that we might take in the several areas that we have set out to investigate.

Wednesday, 10 September 1997

GRAND OPENING!!! Today we begin our shift over to the new and greatly expanded discussion forum that you have been hearing so much about. You will find simple step by step instructions on our revised Registration Desk, which will permit you then to access the new reaches of our conference. Nothing to it! You'll see.
Even if you have already registered, please take a minute here so that you can fully participate. And when you sign in, in addition to telling us a bit about yourself and your work and interests in this area, think to put in a snapshot so that we can put that part of you in our mind's eye. It makes things just that much more human and agreeable.
News concerning this latest development was sent out to approximately 200 colleagues around the world working in or near the topics of the conference. If you yourselves have mailing lists, large or small, of people and groups who might want to have a look and possibly join in the discussions, that would be a big help.

Today's Web Detour: Car Shopping Want to be truly sustainable? Save energy and reduce pollution when you shop for that new Porsche. Use the Web. Try it here... and think about it. Especially when you get it cranked up to, say around 186 kph?

Thursday, 11 September 1997

The first intrepid souls have come into the new Discussion Form. And you know?.. Marshall McLuhan was right. It really is rather nice to know what people look like. It helps one put things a bit in place, and I think also quietly urges us to be just a bit more respectful (not really a high quality of most electronic communications as you surely have noted). (On the other hand the distinguished scientist Marv Minsky says he prefers NOT to know much about his electro-pals... on the grounds that it introduces a lot of unnecessary peripheral stuff from the outside world and reduces the sheer cerebrality of the exchange. Well, I can understand that too. But for my part, I find it heartwarming to have a face in mind as I look at the small dots on this screen.)
QUERY: Virtual Conferencing: A "Cost/Benefit" Analysis (The eventual title of this exercise could, probably should be a lot less puffed up and a lot smarter than that, but here is the idea.) Is anyone ready to begin to develop a set of ballpark calculations for a conference such as ours, versus a roughly comparable physical get-together? Shouldn't be very hard to do really, and it would of course require some whopping assumptions (but what such analysis, in truth, does not). X number of participants, traveling in all by jet Y numbers of km., so much jet fuel, Z CO2,etc. A then maybe too a few lines on the dollar costs, including such things as lodging, conference hall expenses, etc.
Perhaps, we could step on the gas and turn this into a modest (international) competition. If we can get something going on this (the place to lodge it, by the way, is in the Sustainable People and Places (Practice, not Theory) panel of our new "zestrategies" (pronounced as if it were z-strategies, or alternative as we say "the strategies" here in France... try it!)Discussion Forum. If this works out, I am optimistic we might find some rather nice prizes for best entries (and funniest, etc.). Let us know.
Today's Web Detour: HyperForum on Sustainable Development The HyperForum on Sustainable Development Web site is no longer password protected and therefore easy to peruse. (Password protection is to be removed by the end of this week.) In addition, their on their demo project ("Demonstration of the Hyperforum concept using Sustainability as the topic")is also posted while undergoing final revisions. There is a good deal of information and opinion about the Hyperforum subject in the report. They have asked us for comments and reactions. (Discussion to take place in the new Discussion Forum's panel dealing with this area of work.)

Friday, 12 September 1997

The following note was received today from Sustran:
Proposed APEC Virtual Centre on Transport Research and Education: Harun Lubis of the Institute of Technology in Bandung is conducting a study on the formation of an APEC Virtual Centre on Transport Research and Education, with the objective to share information on the state of the art in the transport field. They hope first to collect information on existing transport research and education institutions within the APEC member countries. Transport-related institutions in APEC countries are being invited to fill in a questionnaire which is available at: http://www.sistelindo.net.id/personal/halubis/index.htm.
The APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum) members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and USA. [Contact: Harun al-Rasyid S. Lubis, Department of Civil Engineering, INSTITUT TEKNOLOGI BANDUNG, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia. Tel/Fax. : +62-22-2502350, e-mail: ].

For more go to the Z/E Strategies CyberForum

World Resources Institute (WRI) The mission of the WRI is to move human society to live in ways that protect the Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

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Today's News and Targets
Cyber-Forum Discussions
Results and accomplishments of Week 1
Results and accomplishments of Week 2
Results and accomplishments of Week 3
Results and accomplishments of Week 4
Results and accomplishments of Week 5
Results and accomplishments of Week 6
Results and accomplishments of Week 7
Results and accomplishments of Week 8