Science & Sustainability
Sustainability Science: A New Mode of Science. Another Step in the Evolution of Science Paradigms
By Joachim H. Spangenberg and Martion O'Connor
11-Sustainability_Science.pdf (2M)
This article is an excerpt from INES Global Responsibility Newsletter No 61
INES-UNAM Conference, Oaxtepec, Mexico, March 2008
OAXTEPEC DECLARATION: Science for Peace and Sustainability
“In the course of some thousands of years the human species has established a great civilization. It has produced a multifarious culture which accumulated enormous treasures in art and literature. And it has created supreme edifices of science. Therefore, it is of supreme irony that these very developments, intellectual developments of the human species have lead to the creation of the tools of its self-destruction. There are many ways in which life on this planet can be extinguished. Of course there is the slow lingering death by poisoning the environment ... But there is also a way of extinguishing life in one act. That is made possible by the advent of nuclear weapons.”
Joseph Rotblat, Closing words of the 1996 INES Conference, “Challenges
of Sustainable Development,” Amsterdam, 22-25 August 1996.
INES Special Edition
for the INES-UNAM
Conference, Mexico City and Oaxtepec, 29.2.- 3.3.08
INES Special Edition - Mecixo.pdf (3M)
Harvesting machines in soy bean field
© Fernando Weberich/sxc.hu
The IAASTD report and some of its fallout – a personal note
By Dr. Angelika Hilbeck, ETH Zurich, Institute of Integrative Biology, Zurich, Switzerland
The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) is a unique international effort that will evaluate the relevance, quality and effectiveness of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (AKST); and effectiveness of public and private sector policies as well as institutional arrangements in relation to AKST. The purpose of IAASTD is to assess agricultural knowledge, science and technology (AKST) in order to use AKST more effectively to reduce hunger and poverty, improve rural livelihoods, and facilitate equitable, environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development.
The IAASTD report and some of its fallout – a personal note by Dr. Angelika Hilbeck, ETH Zurich, Institute of Integrative Biology, Zurich, Switzerland
Advisory Council member of the INES member organisation VDW (Federation of German Scientists, www.vdw-ev.de)
Executive Summary of the Synthethis Report of the IAASTD: http://www.agassessment.org/docs/SR_Exec_Sum_280508_English.pdf
African Tree
Photo: ijsendoorn, sxc.hu
Africa Project 2001
Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa
by Nicola Hellmich
On 26th November 2000 the idea was born to start up an Initiative for peaceful and sustainable development in Africa. This was founded on 20.01.2001 in Dortmund (Germany) with a participation of colleagues from 12 African States as well as from Europe. Out of this Initiative INES went on with its Africa Project: „Peace and Sustainable development in Africa“. Throughout the whole year INES supported different groups and single people regarding a variety of new project ideas and started to build up a wide spread network throughout different African countries, Germany and Europe ...
read on …
Kaliningrad 2000: Economic Transition and Sustainability
How did the world get to where it is?
We are here to talk about how to create a sustainable world society under conditions of political and economic transformation. Before attempting to provide answers to this question, it is well to take a good look at the historical developments that got us into the situation, call it "mess" if you like, that the world, in particular Russia, is in. In his introduction to this meeting, Joachim Spangenberg has told us about indicators which can tell us whether or not a country is on the road to a sustainable future. These are very important and useful. Especially since Joachim has also introduced social sustainability indicators, and not only physical sustainability indicators in his efforts to decide ...
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An Appeal to Engineers and Scientists Presented to the INES Congress, "Challenges of Sustainable Development,"
Amsterdam August 22-25, 1996
Towards Sustainable Societies
Sustainability
Sustainability is a value-based aim and process with environmental, technological, political, social, economic and institutional implications. Sustainability requires that we organise our societies so that they evolve in harmony with nature; dominance over nature is a failed option.
Read on:
Towards_Sustainable_Societies.pdf (56K)
