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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No.38/1999 |
Dateline: October 2, 1999 |
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This is a weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail: < >
INES homepage: http://inesglobal.org
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:
CONTENTS of WNII No. 38/1999
EDITORIAL
Dear readers of "What's New In INES?",
Sometimes, refreshments are needed. Eric Fawcett (Canada) and Peter Nicholls (UK) recently drew my attention to some difficulties with reading WNII due to its screen lay-out. In response, I decided to simplify this lay-out, starting with this issue.
Another refreshing idea was raised by former INES chair Hartwig Spitzer who suggested to change the title of WNII: since many items reported are new f o r INES rather than inside news, he stated, it would be only fair to also refer to this somewhat changed newsletter concept, as far as its name is concerned. So, you are very welcome to send me your suggestions on that. However, one idea for a new title appears immediately: What's New For (!) INES?
The main focus of this WNII issue is the INES Council Meeting which just took place near Vienna. My brief summary about the Meeting can only reflect on and report some of its highlights, dropping most of all the fruitful, interesting and inspiring discussions due to the limited space of WNII. As you will see, however, this summary takes quite a length. In addition, I'd like to apologize for the delayed production of this WNII issue which is mainly caused by my attendance to the Council Meeting and subsequently, by the hundreds of emails waiting for me to be looked through when I came back from Vienna. The quantity of interesting and, more important, INES-related email messages is also the reason for the considerable enlargement of this WNII issue.
Yours,
Tobias Damjanov
Editor
MEMBER ORGANISATIONS' AND PROJECT GROUPS' NEWS
1999 INES Council Meeting. A brief summary (T. Damjanov)
Prior to the Council Meeting, INES hold a seminar on "Science and Responsibility at the Threshold to the 21st Century" on 23 and 24 September. Keynote speakers were:
-- Dr. Peter WEISH (Austrian Scientists' Forum for the Protection of Environment) who concluded his lecture on the biosphere as a long-term perspective concluded that we need a "comprehensive rationality";
-- Prof. Valery PETROSYAN (M.V. Lomonosov University, Moscow) who provided an overview on the time-period from the issuing of the Brundtland Report up to today dwelling on the conditions for sustainable development after five years of the "Rio Process";
-- Dr. Martin KALINOWSKI (INESAP), who, in his presentation on "Nuclear Science and Peace", suggested to strive at the establishment of a Group of Scientific Experts at the Conference on Disarmament that could discuss technical issues of a Fissile Material Treaty and achieve progress even when the current deadlock at in nuclear disarmament negotiations persists. Addressing directly possible INES activities, Kalinowski added that, if this is not established by the Conference on Disarmament, INESAP could take the initiative to set up an independent group of experts (see also: INESAP Briefing Paper 1/1998).
-- Sandra STRIEWSKI (German Scientists' Initiative Responsibility for Peace and Sustainability) who elaborated on the question whether sustainability is convertible at Western European universities. In particular, she referred to the UNESCO World Education Indicators, as well as to the "Copernicus Charter", the University Charter for sustainable development;
-- Dr. Reinhold CHRISTIAN (Austrian Scientists' Forum for the Protection of Environment), who spoke on the interaction of policy and science.
On 24 September, the INES Council started with the REPORT by INES Chair Prof. Armin Tenner, who, among other things, informed that last year 25 individuals and one organisation have become new INES members while 5 organisations are candidates for membership. As to the further development of INES, Prof. Tenner made the point by stating that, "We must find a new balance with regard to issues such as MAI and NATO." His report was followed by the Financial Report (Dr. Dieter Meissner) and the Office Report by INES Executive Director Reiner Braun. Out from the discussion on all the reports came the suggestion as to the "Strategic goals of INES for the next years", which were described as follows:
(1) Success of the 2000 Stockholm Conference: what means science in the 21st century? Campaigning for a world without war;
(2) Enlarge Students Network
(3) Environment Network of INES to be developed?
(4) Databank for scientists
(5) Member organisation enlargement up to 100 members?
(6) INES Finances to be based on a more independent base
(7) Renewal process of INES to be strengthened
(8) INES too Europe-oriented?
(9) activate INES Project Groups
(10) Improve electronic communication
(11) Debate on "capitalist system versus security", as well as on "capitalist system versus sustainable development"
(12) Chemistry for a Sustainable World
(13) Cooperation and networking with NGOs and UN agencies which are active in the same fields as INES
(14) A "INES Award" to be established?
At a short but impressive ceremony concerning the INES NEPAL PROJECT, INES Chair Armin Tenner handed over a cheque worth DM3,000 and a collection of books to Ramesh Babu Shrestha, INES Council member of the Nepalese Centre for Education and Communication on Environment and Development.
It occurred that preparations for the STOCKHOLM CONFERENCE were one of the more difficult topics of the Council Meeting. As a result of the debates on the first and the last day of the Meeting, a new Preparatory Committee was established. It consists of the members of the previous Organizing Committee plus the following new members: Joachim Spangenberg (Germany), Ĺse Richard (Student Pre-Conference; Sweden), Chitralekha Massey (India/UK), Guillermo Lemarchand (Argentine), Ana-Maria Cetto (Mexico), and Reiner Braun (INES Executive Director, Germany). Armin Tenner was appointed chair of this committee while the previous chair of the Organizing Committee, Lars Rydén, remains as a vice-chair. Subsequently, the Programme Committee was considered dissolved. In conclusion, this means that all preparatory activities for the Congress are now in hand of one preparatory body.
Another major topic on the Meeting's agenda was the DEBATE concerning the NATO-YUGOSLAVIA WAR. Introductory speakers were:
a] Alla Yaroshinskaya (INES Executive Committee) who spoke on the international and global consequences of this war. From her point of view, this war
-- has changed the geo-political picture, worsening in particular (nuclear) disarmament policy;
-- has shown that NATO bombings have a global character (no UN mandate, opening the opportunity for other -Non-NATO member - countries to act similarly);
-- has made Kosovo a testing-field for new weaponry;
-- was, among other things, an attack against the Euro;
-- has introduced "Cold Peace", as far as East-West post Cold War relations are concerned;
-- shows that globally, sustainable development is a myth today.
b] Reiner Braun, who, after referring to the special situation of German politics (first military involvement of Germany after World War II), drew some conclusions:
-- consider that for the money spent on warfare in Yugoslavia, you could have bought for each Kosovo citizen 1 house of 4 rooms, including a swimming-pool and a yard of 100 square metres .;
-- don't we need a South Africa-type "Truth Commission" for the Balkans?
-- a new type of international security modeling is needed with particular emphasis on all social and economic aspects;
-- as INES, we should strengthen democratic alternatives as a matter of conflict prevention, and, in particular, activities of (peace-related) NGOs;
-- as to the European Union, we nee a common foreign but non-military EU policy; the protection of human rights must not be misused as a pretext for warfare.
-- the war against FRY might have been only the beginning of a (series of ) new kind of war: next time Caucasus and Caspian Sea area?
Two general elements of the discussion came somewhat as a surprise: almost all participants of the Meeting involved themselves in the debate, and: nobody who spoke would defend NATO's arguments in favour of the war against the FRY.
As always at INES Council meetings, some PROPOSALS for NEW PROJECTS were raised which can be only listed here:
-- consider establishing a project "Chemistry for a Sustainable World" (D. Meissner et.al.)
-- prepare a questionnaire addressing INES member organisations to ask them about their opinion concerning sustainability (H. El-Mously)
-- consider establishing a "INES Review Journal" (R. Johnston/T. Damjanov*)
-- consider to prepare "INES (Students) Summer Schools" (self-organised by students); also, INES could become a partner of the "International Sacharov Summer University"
-- consider joining the Project MOST "Building Bridges For Peace" of the Abolition 2000 European Network (T. Damjanov*)
(* = outline available upon request from WNII editor)
For INES future work, the following WORKING GROUPS deepened the Council Meeting discussion:
-- Debate on capitalism and sustainability etc.
-- Development of local communities and sustainability
-- INES students involvement
-- Finances and new sources of INES funding
-- Draft Declaration "A World without War" of the 2000 INES Stockholm Conference (minutes of this working group are available from the WNII editor)
-- "Chemistry for a Sustainable World"
ELECTIONS were made for both the INES Council and the INES Executive Committee:
a] New INES Council members are: Chitralekha MASSEY (India/UK), Zoltán MÁYER (Hungary), Ramona PICIU (Romania), Ĺse RICHARD (Sweden), Sandra STRIEWSKI (Germany)
b] as three members of the INES Executive Committee stepped down - Esmat Ezz (Egypt), Marc Ollivier (France), and Hartwig Spitzer (Germany) - while one place at this Committee was still vacant, four new members were elected. Here, you find the complete list of the Executive Committee in alphabetical order, indicating its new-elected members:
-- NEW: Prof. El-Mously, Hamed (Egypt):
-- INES Vice Chair: Dr. Krieger, David (USA):
-- NEW: Dr. Lainé, Jean-Paul (France):
-- Prof. Masperi, Luis (Argentine)*:
-- NEW: Massey, Chitralekha Marie (India/UK):
-- INES Treasurer: Dr. Meissner, Dieter (Germany)*:
-- Prof. Matousek, Jiri (Czech Republic):
-- Otto, Ulrike (Germany)*:
-- Prof. Rydén, Lars (Sweden):
-- INES Chair: Prof. Tenner, Armin (Netherlands):
-- NEW: Dr. Weish, Peter (Austria):
-- Dr. Yaroshinskaya, Alla (Russia):
*) note the change of email address
News from "Scientists for Global Responsibility" (SGR) UK http://www.gn.apc.org/sgr/
In its Summer edition, the SGR Newsletter No. 19 carries mainly articles on nuclear issues:
-- Global Nuclear Stockpiles - how many are they?
-- American Scientists Point the Way [re: CISAC]
-- two articles on the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment
-- The Compleat Gamekeeper. Nuclear safeguards in Britain
-- Nuclear Conference, December 1998 (Report)
-- Turkish Plans for Akkuyu Reactor are Inherently Unsafe
-- Nuclear Power Plants in Eastern Europe
Interested in a print copy of this issue or in the latest listing of SGR Stock Clearance Sale which offers a number of highly interesting publications?
Contact SGR Administrator Kate Maloney at:
News from "Engineers for Social Responsibility" (ESR), Aotearoa/New Zealand
ESR has just published its September 1999 Newsletter issue (Vol. 15, No. 3), which carries, among other things, the following articles:
-- Occupational Health and Safety in New Zealand Small Businesses
-- Consultations with Iwi and Maori perspectives related to the Resource Management Act
-- Ecological Engineering: Making Peace with Nature
-- Sustainable Energy Forum Auckland Conference: Threshold 2000 - Can our Cities Become Sustainable?
Note that ESR is about to be present at the Web at: http://www.esr.org.nz
For more, contact the Newsletter Editor Neil Mander at:
News from the "Nuclear Age Peace Foundation" (NAPF), USA
"The Sunflower" issue no. 29/October 1999 has been distributed now.
Here is the list of contents:
http://www.wagingpeace.org/sf/index.html
NAPF has produced a very useful "Ballistic Missile Defense Fact Sheet" which you can obtain from the Abolition 2000 Coordinator Carah Lynn Ong through
As booklet #40 of its "Waging Peace Series", NAPF has published "Ending the Nuclear Madness" by General George Lee Butler (USAF, Ret.) who received the Foundation's 1999 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award. For copies,
http://www.ipb.org
International Peace Bureau reports on Youth Peace Calendar http://youth.haguepeace.org
Coordinating the "Hague Appeal for Peace Youth Programme", the International Peace Bureau reported in September about the Youth Peace Calendar which regularly publishes information bits on youth-related events, conferences, seminars, campaigns, etc. To have an event included in the next calendar, send details to
Note in addition that you can subscribe to the Hague Appeal for Peace youth ListServe: Send a message to containing the text: subscribe hapy-list
Appeal for a Peaceful and Nonviolent Solution to the Military Crisis in Dagestan
IPB is drawing attention on all its member organisations (to which INES belongs) to an appeal for a peaceful and nonviolent solution to the crisis in Dagestan from the Centre for Peacemaking and Community Development (an IPB member organization) and its partner organizations. Due to the length of the appeal, it cannot be published here but you can obtain it either from the WNII editor or directly from the initiating organisation through
For urgent actions, contact IPB Secretary-General Colin Archer at:
Principles of Sustainable Development
The Earth Charter is a document that wants to give inspiring expression to the most fundamental principles of sustainable development - an integrated vision for our common future! WNII No. 37/1999 published an invitation to comment on the actual draft of this document.
The text will also be printed in the next INES Newsletter (November 1999).
Furthermore the Earth Charter will be discussed during the INES Congress 2000 in Stockholm in workshop B.1 "Spirit and Rationality of Sustainability and the Earth Charter Process". Interested persons may contact the convenor: Dr. Frank Meyberg, e-mail:
Sustainable Development Online
A new sustainable development website facility has been launched by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (a nonprofit autonomous agency of the European Commission): http://susdev.eurofound.ie
The Foundation website includes an extensive 'links' listing of ±300 organisations who are pioneering sustainable development.
For more details,
Request from the "Foundation for Russian/American Economic Cooperation" http://www.fraec.org
The US-based "Foundation for Russian/American Economic Cooperation", a non-profit organization whose primary goal is to foster economic development in Russia and the US, is currently involved in the Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI). This program promotes business development and job creation in Russia's closed nuclear cities. We are in the process of opening a business center in Zheleznogorsk. This business center will be a valuable resource for business professionals and entrepreneurs in Russia. We are trying to create a substantial resource library at the business center. Thus, we are in dire need of quality resources (periodicals, books, CD-ROM, video) for this library. We are in need of resources which are primarily in Russian, since most library users will not have a proficient understanding of English.
Any advice or resources that the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global responsibility can offer would be very beneficial. Because, we are a non-profit, any resource donations would be appreciated.
Contact Basia Kielska Tel.:
World Atomic Safety Holiday for Y2K: Sign-on letter
The US-based "Nuclear Information and Resource Service" is currently circulating to organisations a sign-on letter which expresses both deep concern and concrete demands with regard to the notorious Year 2000 computer problem. If you are interested in receiving this letter, please contact
International Week of Science and Peace (IWOSP)
Please note that IWOSP has a new website address: http://www.faessler.at/eos , === click IWOSP
For more details, contact IWOSP Chairwoman Dr. Hildegard Faessler:
"Human Rights and Economic Globalisation: Directions for the WTO"
This is the title of a new book about to be launched by INCHRITI (the International NGO Committee on Human Rights in Trade and Investment) [Sweden. November 1999. ISBN 91-973739-0-7] It is edited by Malini Mehra, and published in co-operation with the Global Publications Foundation and ICDA.
For review copies or more information, please contact: Malini Mehra, INCHRITI/ PDHRE mailto:
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'')
Annual Disarmament Week seminar
mailto: http://www.peacenet.org/disarm/
Millennium Young People's Congress
mailto: http://www.mypc99.org/
Global Youth Meet
mailto: http://www.asukatravel.com/globalyouthmeet/index.htm
INES Congress 2000 Student Pre-Conference
mailto: http://www.student.tdb.uu.se/~pugwash/ines2000
INES WEB AND E-MAIL SERVICE
All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
News from INES Webmaster Tom Munsey
On 26 September, Tom Munsey wrote:
"The good news is that the hit counter and search engine for the INES web site are working. The bad new is that, until at least tomorrow, the address has to be [deleted] I think I can get the old address back as soon as my ISP opens on Monday. Microsoft FrontPage: It knows a lot more than me, but getting it to tell me any of its secrets is very difficult."
[Note from TM: http://inesglobal.org is working again.]
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