Summary Reports from the 8 IT-Regional Workshops

IHDP-IT Publication 1998

Regional Workshops

Summary Reports from the 8 IT-Regional Workshops

Conducted in 1998

Prepared for distribution at the IT-Open Science Meeting

February 25-26

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

IHDP

International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change

IHDP-Industrial Transformation

The IHDP's Industrial Transformation (IT) Project is designing a new research framework aimed at understanding the societal mechanisms and human driving forces that could facilitate a transformation of the industrial system towards sustainability. An extensive and inter-disciplinary network of researchers developed during 1996-1997 by the IHDP research project on Industrial Transformation led to the establishment of a Scientific Planning Committee in October 1997, which will prepare the Industrial Transformation Science Plan. Eight regional workshops have been held in 1998 to assist in the preparation of the Science Plan and to identify potential global and regional priority research projects.

IHDP-IT Scientific Planning Committee

Pier Vellinga, Chair of SPC-IT, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
David P. Angel, Clark University (USA)
Theo J.N.M. de Bruijn, Technical University Twente (The Netherlands)
Cutler J. Cleveland, Boston University (USA)
Jacqueline M. Cramer, Tilburg University (The Netherlands)
Sukehiro Gotoh, National Institute for Environmental Studies (Japan)
Rajendra K. Pachauri, Tata Energy Research Institute (India)
Gerhard Scherhorn, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy (Germany)
Robert H. Socolow, Princeton University (USA)
Charles Vlek, Groningen University (The Netherlands)
Thomasz Zylicz, Warsaw Ecological Economics Center (Poland)

Further information on IHDP-IT can be obtained from

Pier Vellinga at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM)

Tel: (+31 20) 4449515

Fax: (+31 20) 4449553

E-mail:

website:

 1998, SPC IHDP-IT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface......

Introduction......

1. Regional Workshop for Eastern Europe (March 26-27, 1998, Laxenburg, Austria)

2. Regional Workshop for South Asia (April 4-5, 1998, New Delhi, India)

3. Regional Workshop for East Asia (June 24-25, 1998, Kita-Kyushu, Japan)

4. Regional Workshop for South-East Asia (July 28-30, 1998, Bangkok, Thailand)

5. Regional workshop for Western Europe (October 13, 1998, Brussels, Belgium)

6. Regional Workshop for North America (September, 24-25, 1998, Boston, MA, USA)

7. Regional Workshop for Latin America (November 12-13, 1998,

São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil)...... 30

8. Regional Workshop for Africa (November 16-17, 1998, Nairobi,

Kenya)......

Preface

The organisation and conducting of 8 Regional Workshops was a tremendous undertaking and the first of its kind for an IHDP Science Project. The outcomes of these workshops have provided an extensive amount of input, and has formed the basis for the development of the IT-Science Plan, and the organisation of the IT-Open Science Meeting (February 25-26, 1999, Amsterdam, the Netherlands).

First of all, our sponsors and local hosts deserve our utmost appreciation and thanks for their financial and organisational assistance in the holding of these workshops: ENRICH, START, APN, the City of Kita-Kyushu, IGES, UNEP, US-NSF, Boston University, IAI, Brazilian National Academy of Sciences, Brazilian Human Dimensions Programme (HDP), TERI, IIASA, and EU-DG XII.

I would like to extend my personal thanks to all members of the IT-Scientific Planning Committee, without whose dedication and leadership, the 8 workshops would never had occurred. In addition, special mention goes to Robert Socolow for his high level of involvement in and commitment to the whole process. Finally, I wish to honour the over 240 participants who took part in this major international process. Your dedication and inspiration to the field of Industrial Transformation will prove the guiding force of this project for years to come.

Pier Vellinga

Chair, IT-SPC

Introduction

This report represents a summary of the reports prepared by the chairs of each of the 8 IT-Regional Workshops which took place during 1998 in different regions of the world. This report was prepared for distribution at the IT-Open Science Meeting (February 25-26, 1999 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands). The full versions of these reports are available from the IT office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, or on the IT website:

The major objectives of each workshop were as follows:

• To provide a regional perspective on the objectives, goals and priorities of the IHDP-IT Draft Science Plan and IT Projects
• To provide key input for the Open Science Meeting on IHDP-IT to be held on February 25-26, 1999 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• To identify IT core research projects

i)regional-specific projects

ii)regional contributions to other projects

• To develop a network of regional IT researchers with links to existing relevant regional networks and projects

The participants were provided with the Tentative Research Framework and the Research Directions documents in advance of each workshop. In addition to regional participants, participants from already concluded regional workshops were also invited to participate, to provide continuity and linkages within the process.

As the reader will experience, the discussions at each workshop were both informal and lively. Most included not only researchers, but representatives from business, NGO and policy communities in each respective region. The workshops demonstrated an deep interest and commitment to the issues of Industrial Transformation and a willingness to work together to develop research projects, whose results could play an important role in shaping the world of the future.

1.Regional Workshop for Eastern Europe (March 26-27, 1998, Laxenburg, Austria)

Keynote Papers:

Macro-systems and Incentive Structures (Thomas Zylicz, Warsaw Ecological Economics Centre)

In his presentation Zylicz discussed the role of economic instruments and the tensions between a technological approach (such as technological standards) and an economic approach to environmental problems. How can sectoral policies be implemented in such a way that sector specific objectives can be reached without creating unwanted effects elsewhere in the economy? Can economically less advanced countries avoid the mistakes made by more developed countries? This question is particularly relevant for the countries that are in the process of approximation towards the European Union (EU). In order to become part of the EU these countries may have to adopt a number of outdated policy instruments. IT in a period of approximation could be an interesting theme for future research.

The Production System (Vladimir Dobes, Cleaner Production Centre, Prague, Czech Republic)

Dobes illustrated how substance and material flows, emissions and wastes can be reduced while the efficiency of production processes is increased. He explained how upstream, or input oriented incentives are likely to be more effective than emission oriented incentives. His presentation dealt with environmental management, cleaner production and Environmental Management Systems (EMS). He highlighted the importance of the psychological aspects of decision-making about environmental matters, not just by the consumers, but in particular, the managers of companies. In his conclusions he mentioned the high economic potential for Cleaner Production and identified „performance indicators“ and „drivers for increase of efficiency“ as important topics for research.

The Consumption System (Zsuzsanna Lehocki, Budapest University of Economic Sciences, Budapest, Hungary)

Lehocki explored the question of whether legal obligations can be assigned to consumers. Because this is not likely nor politically feasible, other instruments will be needed, such as product labelling, and other mechanisms to help consumers express their preferences. For Eastern Europe (EE) specifically, she appointed income as a major determinant in consumer choices: going for the cheapest instead of worrying about environmental aspects of products. She mentioned six types of products/services as particularly relevant for consumer research: energy use, passenger transport, water-use/wastewater services, use of packaging material, recreation/tourism and the purchases of processed food. Typical EE characteristics that could be considered are: low energy prices, few options available and little information. Lehocki made a plea for research based on comparative analyses of policy instruments that aim to influence consumer choices across a number of EE countries. A second research item could be public transport financing schemes and the position/role of consumers in the about such schemes.

Key Issues for IT in the Eastern European Region

• Environmental problems cannot be addressed in isolation. The IT agenda typically reflects the notion that a number of ongoing transition processes should be considered simultaneously such as the political and economic transition, demographic transitions, transitions from command and control dominated policies to free market policies, including the liberalisation of the utility sectors.

• Financial services should be considered as an aspect, rather than an activity that in itself affects the flow of substances and materials. As such, the position of this activity in the IT research framework should be reconsidered.

• Energy and Carbon Flows: EE is rich in mineral resources, so it is likely that raw material processing will remain a major industrial activity serving a much larger part of the world. EE is rich in natural resources with a high carbon content such as timber. As carbon fluxes and climate change are directly related, the relation with GEC is obvious. The topic of energy and carbon flows is slightly more narrow than the topic of energy and material flows as all flows will be considered from the angle of carbon flows, in industrial processes, in international transport, and with regard to the fluxes into/from the atmosphere. The consumer angle is included in terms of energy end use and energy pricing, and in terms of preferences for products with higher or lower carbon storage/recycling capacity. An interesting part of such a research project could be the role of recycling and international trade in secondary (recycled) materials such as waste paper, timber and plastics, etc.

• Transport and Mobility: This emerged as an important topic with a focus on passenger transport. Major questions to be addressed are the trade-offs between collective environmental quality and quality of life (in terms of clean air, stable climate, biodiversity, etc.) and individual quality of life (mobility, status, freedom of movement, etc.) and the choices regarding public and private transport in the field of policy instruments and technological innovation and choices. As especially the technology and some incentive aspects are international by nature and go beyond regions, a potential project on this issue could be global in scope.

• Restructuring of Heavy Industrialised Areas: Any agenda on IT should address this issue, especially in the EE and Former Soviet Areas, such as Siberia, Lake Baikal and in the Ukraine in general. In EE there are many areas with high concentrations of industrial activity which very intensively use energy and raw materials. These areas are highly polluted, like the Ruhr area or Pittsburgh in earlier days. A major challenge in EE now is to adjust such production centres to changing demands and concerns. In many cases this would mean a transformation from heavy intensive industry to automated clean/light industry and/or information industries. Employment and de-pollution issues are major societal and policy challenges in such transformation processes.

List of Participants:

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Dr. Yurij M. Bazhal Institute of Economic Forecasting Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences Panasa Myrnogo, 26 252011 Kiev 11 UKRAINE Tel: (+380-44) 290 1234 Fax: (+380-44) 290 8967 E-mail:

Dr. Linas Cekanavicius Faculty of Economics Vilnius University Sauletekio 9, Bldg. 2, R.301 LT-2054 Vilnius LITHUANIA Tel/Fax: (+370-2) 30 00 29 or Fax: (+370-2) 76 93 98 Email:

Prof. Alexander Dimitrov Director Institute of Economics Bulgarian Academy of Sciences 3, Aksakov Street 1040 Sofia BULGARIA Tel: (+359-02) 875 879 Fax: (+359-02) 882 108 E-mail:

Dr. Vladimir Dobes Executive Director Czech Cleaner Production Center Boticska 4 Prague 2 128 00 THE CZECH REPUBLIC Tel: (+42 02) 24 91 91 48 E-mail:

Prof. Roland J. Fuchs Director The International START Secretariat 2000 Florida Ave. NW Suite 200 Washington DC 20009 U.S.A. Tel: (001-202) 462 2213 Fax: (001-202) 457 5859 E-mail:

Dr. Jill Jaeger Birneckergasse 10 A-1210 Vienna Austria Tel: +43 1 263 2104 e-mail:

Dr. Petr Jehlicka Charles University Petrska 3 CZ-110 00 Prague 1 CZECH REPUBLIC Tel: (+420-2) 231 5334 Fax: (+420-2) 231 5324 E-mail:

Prof. Peter Kaderjak HIID Hungary Roosevelt ter 7/8 164. szoba Budapest 1051 HUNGARY Tel: (+36-1) 312 4066 Fax: (+36-1) 331 5763 E-mail:

Ms. Tatiana Kluvankova Institute for Forecasting Slovak Academy of Sciences Sancova 56 811 05 Bratislava SLOVAK REPUBLIC Fax: (+421-7) 395 029 E-mail:

Prof. C. Gregory Knight College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Pennsylvania State University 302 Walker Building University Park, PA 16803 U.S.A. Tel: (+1-814) 863 8571 Fax: (+1-814) 863 7943 E-mail:

Dr. Zsuzsanna Lehocki Budapest University of Economic Sciences Department of Micro-Economy 1091 F"vam ter 8 H-1093 Budapest HUNGARY Tel/Fax: (+36-1) 118 2154 E-mail:

Acad. Dimitar Mishev President, National Coordination Center for Global Change (NCCGCh) Bulgarian Academy of Sciences "Acad. G. Bonchev" Str. Bl.1 Institute of Water Problems Sofia 1113 BULGARIA Tel: (+359-2) 713 33 50 or 70 02 29, 713 24 38 (sec.) E-mail:

Prof. Margarita Rotanova Department of Economic and Social Geography Faculty of Geography Moscow State University Leninskie gory 119 899 Moscow RUSSIA Tel: (+7-095) 939 2644 Fax: (+7-095) 932 8836

Dr. Josef Sejak Head of Environmental Economics Department Czech Environmental Institute Vrsovicka 65 CZ-100 10 Prague 10 CZECH REPUBLIC Tel: (+420-2) 7173 4226 Fax: (+420-2) 7173 7721 E-mail:

Ms. Ramine Shaw International Scientific Project Co-ordinator, IHDP, Walter-Flex-Str. 3 D-53113 Bonn GERMANY Tel: (+49-228) 73 90-50 Fax: (+49-228) 73 90-54 E-mail:

Dr. Anna Vari Hungarian Academy of Sciences Institute for Social Conflict Research Benczur u. 33 H-1068 Budapest HUNGARY Tel: (+36-1) 155 2564 Fax: (+36-1) 351 5455 (ofc.) E-mail:

Prof.dr. Pier Vellinga IHDP-IT Scientific Planning Committee Director, Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) Vrije Universiteit De Boelelaan 1115 NL-1081 HV Amsterdam THE NETHERLANDS Tel: (0031-20) 444 9515 Fax: (0031-20) 444 9553 E-mail:

Prof. Tomasz Zylicz IHDP-IT Scientific Planning Committee Warsaw Ecological Economics Center Economics Department Warsaw University 44/50 Dluga Street PL-00 241 Warsaw POLAND Tel: (0048-22) 831 3201 Fax: (0048-22) 831 2846 E-mail:

1

2.Regional Workshop for South Asia (April 4-5, 1998, New Delhi, India)

Key Issues for IT in the South Asian Region

The Tate Energy Research Institute (TERI), New Delhi, hosted this regional workshop. The participants came from South and Southeast Asian countries. The workshop was organised in two parts: discussion on the concept of IT and the existing Research Directions document; and a working groups section to identify research proposals in the following three major areas:

• Energy and Material Flows

The use of materials and energy undoubtedly has economic origins and environmental consequences. The consumption of materials and energy is therefore an important interface between the economy and the environment and analysis of the patterns, causes and effects of materials and energy consumption have gained considerable importance in environmental economics. The changing consumption patterns will have a strong bearing on technologies. Furthermore, the technological changes will have an increasingly higher effect on the energy consumption patterns, and material flows. Coal being the predominant source of energy in Asia, is of major importance for analysing the technological and consumption trends in order to enable the assessment of associated adverse impacts to the human community. Important topics identified for undertaking studies are:

Coal:

-Assessment of coal based combustion technologies

-Determination of demand for electricity

-Efficiency of use of electricity (demand side management - DSM)

-Institutional mechanisms for innovation and technology adoption

-Restructuring the power sector

Materials flow:

-To study the flow of materials and recycling aspects of steel, cement, plastic, and pulp & paper.

Transforming rural energy sector

Energy use and decentralised industrial production in the rural areas of South Asian countries have important implications for the environment and human welfare. In the new millennium new technologies and means of production that will enable decentralised industrial production and environmental friendly rural energy generation are likely to develop. The traditional stark distinction between rural and urban areas, may get blurred. Hitherto, the synergy’s between decentralised rural production and dissemination of renewable energy technologies have not been explicitly studied. In particular, the human dimensions of facilitating decentralised rural production and disseminating renewable energy technologies in rural areas need to be examined carefully. The proposed studies include:

-The needs of people living in rural areas that decentralised rural production and renewable energy technology dissemination can help to meet;

-Rural entrepreneurship for industries and technologies which would be a part of decentralised rural production;

-The perceptions, practices, and skills of the implementers of programmes aiming to foster renewable energy and decentralised production programmes (their perceptions of user needs, skills, practices etc.). This study should shed light on the capacity building requirements in this area, and the kinds of information that should flow from users to implementers, and from implementers to users.

Transport sector changes for improved air quality

Environmental impacts of the transport sector, especially in urban areas are causing serious concern due to their significant (more than half) contribution to urban air pollution. The Asian cities are no exception, with the increasing demand for transportation and bad quality of fuels being coupled with poor vehicle technology/conditions and poor road conditions. The problem of urban air pollution and adverse human health impacts have already reached alarming proportions, which are essentially calling for concerted efforts to reduce urban air pollution from the transport sector. Clearly, "cleaner urban air" is the emphasis of such efforts. Therefore, studies that need to be undertaken in this direction are identified as given below.

-Technological development trends in vehicles and future scenarios to reduce urban air pollution and effect of alternative fuels

-Travel demand management strategies for cities (specific cases) - consider options of alternative modes of transport (including public transport systems), with improved fuel quality and alternative fuel usage

-Effect of pricing and economic incentives (for transport sector) on reducing urban air pollution

-Role of improvement of roads and their conditions in improving transport services and urban environment.

List of Participants:

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Dr. Y P Abbi Executive Director (Corporate Engg.) Corporate Office Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited B H E L House, Siri Fort New Delhi- 110 049 INDIA Tel: 91-11-6492821 or 6493608 Fax: 91-11-6493310, 6492974