(SERI) - Sustainable Europe Research Institute

Sylvia Lorek joined a Colloquium on Energy Efficiency and Consumer Preferences

Sylvia Lorek joined a Colloquium on "Energy Efficiency and Consumer Preferences". It was part of a series of Colloquia entitled Energy efficiency in liberalised energy markets. The focus of interest was to explore how the role of end users of electricity and energy services, the "new" customers, has changed in liberalised energy markets in order to deduct economic and regulative policies suitable to energy efficiency and energy saving goals.

The meeting was organized by Energiestiftung Schleswig-Holstein and the Environmental Policy Research Unit of the Free University of Berlin.

For further information please contact Sylvia Lorek: [email protected].

Sigrid Stagl in Leeds

In August Sigrid Stagl started working as Lecturer in the School of the Environment at the University of Leeds, Britain. Up North she continues her research on ecological economics (especially behavioural and institutional change and multi-criteria evaluation). The School of the Environment at the University of Leeds is a rapidly growing, highly research active interdisciplinary environment department which currently has around 35 research and teaching staff. Research areas of core staff are in the following fields:
ecological economics, environment and development; environment and business; and environmental science.

On the teaching side, she is involved in the launch of the University's new Master's programme in Ecological Economics. Core courses of the Master's programme cover principles of ecological economics; tools and applications of ecological economics; research methodology and a seminar in ecological economics with invited speakers. Further, students can choose from the following optional courses: governance, uncertainty and risk; evolutionary economics; environmental ethics; international relations and the environment; European environmental law, and from the following areas of specialisation: sustainable consumption; climate change; biodiversity conservation; sustainable water management; or sustainable regional development.

The programme starts in October 2002 and consists of 9 months courses plus 3 months working on a thesis.

For further information please contact Dr. Sigrid Stagl ([email protected], 0044-113-233-6787) and/or consult the programme's website
www.env.leeds.ac.uk/teaching/postgraduate1.html.

More information about the School of the Environment at Leeds can be found at www.env.leeds.ac.uk.

Stefan Giljum in Santiago de Chile

From October 2001 to February 2002, Stefan Giljum is visiting scholar at the Centro de Análysis de Politicas Publicas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago.
There he is working on a project entitled "International trade, material flows and economic development in the South: the example of Chile". In this project first steps towards the compilation of material flow accounts for Chile will be undertaken. The objective is to analyse the restructuring of the Chilean economy towards an active integration in the world market through promotion of material intensive exports from the perspective of overall resource use in a time series from 1970-1998.

A paper with the summary of the results will be available on the SERI website in March 2002.

News from Ines Omann

Ines Omann is given a scholarship for her dissertation by Austrian Academy of Sciences. It will run for two years, starting with January 2002. The topic of her dissertation is:
"Sustainable Development and Multicriteria Decision Aid"

From 3rd to 5th of October she participated at the Meeting of the European Working Group on MCDA in Durbuy near Brussels, where she had contact to different MCDA experts from Belgium, Canada, Italy and Germany.

In the near future she will start building up an Austrian working group:
MCDA and Sustainability.
News about this group will be posted at the Web.

Harald Wille supports SERI at the Vienna office

Since mid-october, Harald Wille is supporting us at the Vienna office. He will primarily work on the marketing of SERI activities and the communication among members.

You can reach him at [email protected] or [email protected].

Christopher Manstein resigned as a director of SERI

End of October, Christopher Manstein resigned as a director of SERI due to excessive work load and some diverging opinions on recent developments within SERI.
We will discuss the issue at our next members meeting which will be held before the end of 2001.

2. Project-Overview: News from our projects, our other work and new research fields

"Platform Austria - Sustainable Europe:
Sustainable Development through Enlargement"

SERI, together with Sustainability.TV, has started a project initiated by the Austrian Federal Chancellery, with the aim to increase the Austrian people understanding and therefore acceptance of the EU enlargement process.
Focusing on environmental aspects, the project "Platform Austria - Sustainable Europe: Sustainable Development through enlargement" serves as an information tool: SERI/Sustainability.TV takes part at 3 different events, which all have in common that they deal, in one way or another, with the issue of EU enlargement and economic, social and environmental consequences. Consequently, a web-site is being prepared, where the contents of these events, which are also being broadcast live on the internet, will be published together with more general information on the enlargement process.

The content can be found on www.sustainableeurope.net.

New Project:

"Product Service Systems Methodology - Development of a Toolkit for Industry"

SERI is taking part in the PEER GROUP of the MEPSS Project coordinated by Price Waterhouse Coopers Environmental Services. Main contribution will be input für the methodology development.
The project aims to provide industry with a toolkit that enables them to analyse newly developed product-services with regard to design and implementation aspects; micro-, meso- and macro-economic impacts; social and environmental impacts and issues related to consumer acceptance and culture and ethics.

For more information please contact Roman H. Mesicek: [email protected].

3. Friends: Seri and ... (News about co-operation and partnerships)

SERI talked at 'die umweltberatung'

On 12th Oct. 2001, Friedrich Hinterberger gave a presentation at the symposium "Thema: Umwelt", organized by "die umweltberatung", Wien (www.umweltberatung.at).

His presentation can be obtained by email to [email protected].

The Efficient-Entrepreneur Calendar

Please note the new UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Calendar for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, developped by Michael Kuhndt, is now available:
"The Efficient- Entrepreneur: A month-by-month guide on how to measure, improve and communicate on business performance".

For more information see: www.efficient-entrepreneur.net and pre-orders see:www.earthprint.com.

SERI would still like to invite post-doc researchers intending to apply for Marie Curie Fellowships to work with SERI or members of the SERI network in other parts of Europe.

See www.cordis.lu/improving/src/hp_mcf.htm for more, or try the links below for detailed information:

http://www.cordis.lu/improving/src/hp_ncp.htm
http://www.cordis.lu/improving/src/mc_tsf_pg.htm
http://improving-mcf.sti.jrc.it/project/
http://www.mariecurie.org/
http://www.cordis.lu/tmr/src/grants1.htm

But we are also looking for interesting places of research to which our researchers could go for some time!

4. Selected publications: Book reviews and announcements from SERI members and related writers and publishers

New paper by
Friedrich Hinterberger, Fred Luks, Roman Mesicek and Francois Schneider:

"Ecological Information Society - Strategies for an Ecological Information Society"

Abstract
Changing patterns in the way we process information require a new approach to problems pending in our society. There is a general opinion that Internet, or more generally said, the new Information Society, has brought and will bring many benefits to the people. The euphoria is very wide, but other voices have recently started to challenge this too positive view of the future. As it grows in the actual socio-economic context, the Information Society is likely to bring higher mobility, and in-creased consumption patterns, possibly increasing the global material flows even though information is itself immaterial. We assume here that the development of the Information Technologies in society cannot be stopped or reversed. The dynamics are by far too strong. From this assumption, we analyse and define strategies and needs to adapt these technologies so that they lead us toward a different, greener, more sustainable society: the Eco-Info-Society.

Published in: Hilty, M.L., P.W. Gilgen (Eds.): "Sustainability in the Information Society", part 2. Metropolis-Verlag, Marburg (2001), p. 831-839.

To get more detailed information please contact: [email protected]; or surf to the SERI website on ECO-INFO-SOCIETY (Ecological Information Society)

New publication by
Friedrich Hinterberger:

"Nachhaltige Entwicklung, Wirtschaft und Wirtschaftswissenschaft" (Sustainable Development, economy and economics)

Introductory statement to the workshop "Wann erreicht die Nachhaltigkeit endlich die Ökonomie (when will sustainability reach the economy/economics)?" The answer to this question involves problems of interdisciplinary research as well as the way in which university research is organized. It also involves the question in which way science can contribute to the definition of sustainability. Only if they participate in the societal processes involved, academics will play the necessary role in the development of a society towards sustainability.

Published in: Lehner, Franz (Ed.): "Erbfall Zukunft. Vordenken für und mit Nachkommen." München and Mering: Rainer Hampp Verlag (2001), p. 294-296.

5. Links + Other: News about other activities, hints and advice on dates, workshops etc.

Congress announcement:

Annual Congress of the Science Centre Northrhine-Westphalia
"Sustainability - a new business area?"
28. and 29. November 2001, Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal

The German economy with participation of 21 leading companies such as DaimlerChrysler, Siemens, Allianz, Gerling und Münchener Rückversicherungs- Gesellschaft founded a Forum Sustainable Development (Forum Nachhaltige Entwicklung) in July 2001.
It's motto is: Transparency and open dialogue.

Under the title "Sustainability - a new business area?" representatives from the areas of research, politics and economics will discuss Sustainability and try to find out whether the new guiding principle of Sustainability leads to new business areas and whether values such as confidence, ethical action and aims such as equal rights for future generations are to outlast.

For more please surf to:www2.wupperinst.org/annualcongress2001/.

Schweisfurth-Research Award for Ecological Economy

The Schweisfurth-Foundation in cooperation with the Association for Ecological Economy (Vereinigung für Ökologische Ökonomie e.V.) awards next year for the third time the "Schweisfurth-Research Award for Ecological Economy".
The price aims to honour applicable oriented work of young scientists in the German speaking region dealing with topics related to Ecological Economy and is donated with DM 10.000,- be shared by two award-winners.
It's possible to submit a Diploma- or PhD-thesis as well as other results of research related to economic-, natural-, social- or humanities-science. Topic of the submission is "Diversity and Sustainable Development".
The application documents are available at the Schweisfurth-Foundation. Submission deadline is January, 31. 2002.

For more information please contact: [email protected] or surf to: www.schweisfurth.de/preise/oekonomie/html/forschungspreis.htm (in German only).