WHAT'S NEW IN INES?

 

No. 20/1999

 

Dateline: 18 May 1999

WNII is an electronic information service of INES,
the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility

Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail: < >
INES homepage: http://www.mindspring.com/~us016262/ines.html
INES International Office < >
INES Chair Prof. Armin Tenner < >

INES Congress 2000

''Challenges for Science and Engineering in the 21st Century''

Stockholm, 14-18 June 2000

http://www.ines2000.org

 INES 2000 Conference Secretariat: mailto:

Dear WNII readers,

I'd like to apologize for the length of this WNII issue - I even had to put some material in store for the next WNII. The surprising growth of news items etc. useful for WNII is obviously related to two, well, "things": One is the ongoing NATO war in Yugoslavia, the other is - rather was - the Hague Appeal Conference: a unique event with up to 10,000 peace and other activists attending representing well over 700 NGOs: the output of material (some of which I am now using for INES and WNII) was accordingly. Thus, you will find in the next WNII issue still some information I've picked up there; also, a number of news items from INES member organisations will only then appear.

Peacefully yours,

Tobias Damjanov, Editor

CONTENTS

No new or changed email or web addresses in this issue

NOTE: All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:  < >

INES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

Please inform us about changes of your email address or your homepage!

INES Executive Committee: Stop the Violence in Kosovo!

A solution to the violence in Kosovo must be found through legal means that do not violate and undermine the United Nations Charter. NATO's air strikes against Serbia are unauthorized by the United Nations Security Council, and are therefore illegal under international law. It has also become clear that NATO's air strikes have exacerbated the violence in the region, and have the potential to spark a far broader conflagration in Europe and beyond.

We are concerned about the new NATO's doctrine.

We call for a cease-fire by all parties in Kosovo, and a mediated peace agreement brokered by a third party. The Russians have already made considerable efforts toward achieving such an agreement, and they should be asked to pursue these efforts. Following a cease-fire, peacekeepers should be brought in under the auspices of the United Nations. The peace agreement should include provisions for repatriation of all Kosovar refugees.

The violence in Kosovo, as well as in other regions of the world, highlight shortcomings in the international response to conflict that must be remedied by strengthening the United Nations structure in the following ways:

1. The creation of a United Nations Volunteer Force to be used as a last resort when all attempts to find diplomatic solutions have failed;

2. The creation of a permanent International Criminal Court to hold individuals, including national leaders, accountable for the crime of genocide and other serious crimes under international law; and

3. The long overdue implementation of Article 26 of the United Nations Charter to create a system for the worldwide regulation of armaments.

These structural changes in the international system must be made if we are to prevent future genocides, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of international aggression.

INES Executive Committee

"INES Newsletter" No 25/May 1999

The latest "INES Newsletter" has the following contents:

NOTE: If you would like to receive an email version, send a request to Armin Tenner, Editor of the "INES Newsletter": mailto:

UPDATE INES Congress 2000 ''Challenges for Science and Engineering in the 21st Century'', Stockholm (*), 14-18 June 2000

http://www.ines2000.org INES 2000 Conference Secretariat: mailto:

(*) The Conference will be held on the premises of the Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm. Part of the program will be held on the grounds of the Academy of Sciences, north of Stockholm. See: http://www.kth.se/index-eng.html , http://www.kva.se

Before the main conference, a number of one-day pre-conferences will be held on the following subjects:

1. Science and technology in the states in transition;

2. Science and technology in less developed states;

3. Future Science and Technology according to the younger generation;

4. Nuclear-Weapon Free Zones in Europe.

The following titles have been proposed for plenary sessions and workshops of the main conference:

 

INES 2000 PLENARY LECTURES

1. Scientific thinking and human development, hegemony and violence.

2. What kind of science and technology for 8 billion people?

3. Confronting and transforming the international economic and financial system

4. Dynamics of evolution and the role of humans

5. Perspective for the economic sciences

6. Perspective for the physical sciences: Working with complexity and emergence

7. The culture of responsibility: How to establish universal standards of responsibilities and institutions

8. New paradigms for the engineering sciences

9. Rebuilding research capacities and science education in less developed countries

10. Panel future universities

11. The impact of increasing women's participation in Science and Technology

12. Strategies and challenges for strengthening the role of women in science and technology

 

INES 2000 WORKSHOPS

------------

The conference is being organised by INES in cooperation with The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

The conference is supported by the following organizations: The European Physical Society; The International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET); The Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research; Swedish Scientists and Engineers Against Nuclear Arms (SEANA); The Swedish Pugwash Group.

[Source: "INES Newsletter" No 25/May 1999]

INES Council, Vienna/Austria, 23-26 September 1999

This year, the INES Council meeting will be held at Eichgraben, near Vienna. Following the tradition, it will start with a two-day seminar and will be followed by an excursion. The seminar with the title, Science and Responsibility at the threshold of the 21st Century, will be an immediate preparation for the INES Conference "Challenges for Science and Engineering in the 21st Century," to be held in Stockholm in June 2000.

The seminar will be from Thursday 23 September, 10.00h until Friday, 15.00h. The regular Council meeting starts on Friday, 19.00h and continues until Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon and Monday morning are devoted to the preparation of the Stockholm Conference and will allow for a discussion with the workshop conveners of that conference.

The excursion Sustainable Vienna will take place on Monday afternoon.

For updated details, contact the INES Office: mailto:

[Source: "INES Newsletter" No 25/May 1999]

MEMBER ORGANISATIONS' AND PROJECTS' GROUP NEWS ^

Russia: Centre for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies

The Centre for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies informs that the report "NATO Expansion And The Nuclear Reductions Process", presented by experts of our Center at the conference "NATO Movement To The East - Security Problems For Russia And The CIS States", St. Petersburg, April 28-29, 1999) is now available in English.

CONTACT Eugene Miasnikov mailto:

USA: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) http://www.ieer.org

At the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference, IEER has released a very useful and informative news release entitled "NATO Bombing in Balkans could result in widespread ecological disaster. NATO must immediately evaluate environmental and health consequences of bombing". Included is an attachment "Summary of the Uses and the Effects of the Chemicals Reportedly Present or Released as a Result of the NATO bombing of the Pancevo petrochemical complex in Yugoslavia". [I guess you can receive this documents via email from IEER; ed.]

For more, contact Arjun Makhijani, President, IEER: mailto:

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

 Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org

For the latest nuclear weapons abolition grassroots news, visit:  http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/

Re: NPT PrepCom information

Newly selected sources and web references

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Appeal from Bulgaria re Shutting Dangerous Nuclear Reactors

This is a message from Za Zemiata (Friends of the Earth) in Bulgaria.

Dear Friends,

We ask you to support our appeal for closure of the NPP "Kozloduy" 1-4 reactors as soon as possible! As you already know the Bulgarian nuclear power plant "Kozloduy" is situated just 110 kilometers from the Yugoslav border. On 4th of May the Bulgarian government agreed to give an airspace zone and corridor for NATO's airplanes; and, from 15th of May, NATO planes will be flying over the country. The NPP is inside the zone to which the Government has offered NATO access.

The first four units at Kozloduy are from the old type of reactors 440-230, which have no safety enhancements due to their lack of a secondary containment system and inappropriate cooling systems, and they are completely unsafeguarded against air interventions. Units 5 and 6 are 1,000 MW units, both of which are covered by an enhancement, which could withstand the force of a light 5 or 6 tonne jet crashing into them.

The operation of those nuclear reactors under the current situation of war is a really high stake gamble, which endangers not just Bulgaria but Europe as whole.

Please send letters calling for the immediate shut down of those units on your letterhead, signed and stamped as soon as possible to Mr. Stoyanov, The President of the Republic of Bulgaria (Fax: (359-2) 980 4484); Mr. Kostov, The Prime Minister of ... (Fax: (359-2) 980 2042); Mr. Sokolov, The Chairman of the Parliament of ... (Fax: (359-2) 981 3131)

Please send a copy to our office as well (Fax: (359-2) 658 216) e-mails: > > >

 Thank you for your support !!!

ZA ZEMIATA

http://www.bluelink.net/zazemiata/ 

BRIEFINGS

Latest issues of "Disarmament Diplomacy" http://www.acronym.org.uk 

"Disarmament Diplomacy" is published by The Acronym Institute, UK. 

NOTE the email change of Rebecca Johnson, Editor, "Disarmament Diplomacy": <>

Hague Appeal for Peace Civil Society Conference

 During this conference which was held at The Hague from 11 to 15 May, six email briefings called "hapnews" were disseminated through a special listserve. If you want to obtain these selections of news items on what was going on at this conference, send a request to Tobias Damjanov ( mailto: )

 A Reuters report about the Conference Closing Plenary - at which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan spoke - is available at: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/wl/story.html?s=v/nm/19990515/wl/yugo 

Following the Conference on 16 May, a Peace March started at the International Court of Justice, The Hague, leading to NATO Headquarters at Brussels, where the hundreds of participants from around 50 countries will arrive on 27 May for an "international inspection to prevent war crimes". Regular press briefings and photos, route and schedule information, are available at: http://www.motherearth.org/walk99/ 

CONFERENCES - MEETINGS - SEMINARS

Events listed here are being published only once due to limited space.  Changes, however, will be taken into account (marked with ''UPDATE'')

20th ISODARCO (*) Summer Course: Computers, Networks and the Prospects for European and World Security

(*) International School on Disarmament and Research on Conflicts

APPLICATIONS should be submitted with the following information which is compulsory also for those who have previously attended:

- Full name, date and place of birth, sex, full address (including Email address, telephone, telex and fax numbers if available);

- Present nationality;

- Degree and/or other academic qualifications;

- Present professional activities and work address;

- Publication list and fields of interest;

- In lieu of publications, a letter of recommendation from a professor or a scholar in the field.

No special application form is required. 

Letters of application should arrive not later than June 30, 1999 and should be addressed to the Director of the School: 

Prof. Caarlo Schaerf

Department of Physics

University of Rome "Tor Vergata"

Via della Ricerca Scientifica

I-00133 Rome, Italy

Tel. : (++39-06) 7259-4560/1

Fax.: (++39-06) 2040309

Telex 626382 FIUNTV I

E-mail

UPDATE: The Role of NGOs in the 21st Century: Inspire, Empower, Act! http://www.ngo99korea.org

 For more, contact the Korea Organizing Committee: mailto:

NGO Forum Citizens Agenda 2000 

 Addressing mainly European and Finnish NGOs, the Conference will focus on civic participation and new technology. 

For more details, contact project coordinator Pauliina Arola: mailto: 

The website is not yet available - however, here is the URL: http://www.eurooppalainensuomi.fi 

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