Diary

Citation

(2006), "Diary", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 7 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2006.24907aac.001

Diary

Diary

Out of Africa: Local Solutions for Global Challenges

ICLEI World Congress 200627 February-3 March 2006Cape Town, South Africa

Over 600 senior representatives from local governments and their associations will convene in Cape Town, South Africa in February 2006 for the ICLEI World Congress “Out of Africa: Local Solutions for Global Challenges”. It will be hosted by the City of Cape Town and organised by the international association ICLEI – local governments for sustainability. The congress will be a unique opportunity for local government representatives and associations to forge new relations, create and strengthen partnerships and exchange experiences across continents and cities.

With a focus on concrete action and measurable results the World Congress will provide local government participants with the information, best practice options, tools, and practical support necessary to overcome the barriers to sustainability. The program reflects the goal to build sustainable communities and cities whilst protecting global common goods such as climate, freshwater and biodiversity. New and expanded campaign and programme activities focusing on priority issues such as sustainable procurement, biodiversity, sustainability management instruments, disaster-resilience of communities and cities, and peaceful and secure communities will be presented at the event.

Further details are available at: Congress Secretariat – Programme Preparations: ICLEI International Training Centre (ITC), Leopoldring 3, 79098 Freiburg, Germany, Phone: +49-761/36892-20, Fax: +49-761/36892-29, E-mail: world.congress@iclei.org, www.iclei.org/worldcongress2006

GLOBE Conference – Accelerating Business and Sustainable Development Strategies29-31 March 2006Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, Canada

The GLOBE series of conferences has become the nexus for global networking and thought leadership on the business of the environment. Biennially, thousands of environmental business leaders, corporate environmental managers and sustainability practitioners come together in Vancouver, Canada to explore the mutually inclusive goals of corporate sustainability and business growth.

GLOBE 2006 offers a bold agenda in response to unprecedented developments in global environmental business policy and practice. New climate change agreements, energy policy, carbon trading regimes and environmental technologies and markets are all informing and rapidly changing the corporate sustainability agenda.

Delegates will learn how eco-focused enterprises are meeting tough SRI mandates, hear from government leaders who are building the sustainable cities and nations of tomorrow, and explore the corporate role in securing our energy and environment for the future.

Further details are available at: www.globe2006.com/documents/GLOBE2006_ConferenceOutline.pdf

Urbanism, Environment and Health25-26 May 2006The Shine Dome, Gordon Street, Canberra, Australia

The 2006 Fenner Conference will take a broad approach to the increasingly important topic of the physical and social environments in Australia's cities, and consequences for population health. Given the centrality of urban development to human futures and to the attainment of sustainability, there is urgent need for an interdisciplinary exploration of the issues, and a broadly-based strategy of action.

The conference will bring together experts from academia, government, commerce and community organisations in the fields of environmental health, public health, urban planning and design, and sustainable development. Planned sessions will include:

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  historical insights, and the systems (ecological) perspective on environment and health;

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  policy, planning and practice – perspectives from the front-line;

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  linking urban and individual “metabolisms”: influences on health;

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  principles of sustainability and health, viewed from the urban environmental perspective;

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  design principles for cities as “human habitat”;

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  in revamping Australian cities, can we escape the “stickiness” of history; and

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  future policies: can we actually plan for sustainable, health-supporting cities?

The Fenner Conference 2006 is proudly supported by the Institute for Health and the Australian Academy of Science. For further information, available at: Fenner2006@anu.edu.au

UDMS 2006

25th Urban Data Management Symposium15-17 May 2006Aalborg, Denmark

UDMS, the Urban Data Management Society, has organised international symposia at various locations in Europe in order to promote the development of information systems in local government since 1971. An important aim of UDMS has been to provide a forum for people to discuss new approaches, to consider new technologies and to share practical experiences in the field of urban data management. The focus has been on urban applications but regional and rural issues have always been well represented and have grown recently in importance.

For the next symposium, the 25th, that will be held at Aalborg University, the organising committee invites you to submit a paper concerning the topics listed below:

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  structuring of the administrative system;

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  local administration reform;

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  international cooperation;

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  EU initiatives and projects;

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  GIS support to cross-sectoral approach;

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  requirements for data, technology and organisation;

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  geospatial portals;

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  integration of data from multiple sources;

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  data availability and transparency issues;

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  data interchange;

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  environment and security;

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  interoperability;

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  enterprise GIS-datamodeling;

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  spatial data infrastructures, especially at the regional and local level;

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  data infrastructures for location-based services;

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  disaster and risk management;

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  real time GIS, especially for environmental monitoring and control;

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  GIS for tax assessment;

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  modeling/simulation in urban planning;

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  cadastral systems;

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  urban and rural planning and management; and

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  remote sensing.

All accepted papers will be published and distributed to all participants at the symposium.

Further details are available from UDMS's Executive Secretary, Mrs Elfriede M. Fendel, E-mail: e.fendel@otb.tudelft.nl

“Urban Forestry for Human Health and Wellbeing”

ASEM 2nd Symposium on Urban Forestry – COST E39 2nd Research Conference28-30 June 2006Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark

Traditional medical and public health approaches to illness and health are among the successes of modern science. However, society today is faced with the increasing incidence of various forms of poor health related to modern lifestyles. Contributing factors have been identified as an increasingly sedentary population, increasing levels of psychological stress related to urban living and contemporary work practices, and exposure to environmental hazards such as air pollution.

These problems encourage new thinking about ways to prevent disease and promote health. Natural spaces and natural elements such as forests and trees have been seen as providing opportunities to ameliorate such trends. This Symposium will address the above issues and consider ways of improving human well-being by means of urban forestry. Further details are available from: Kjell Nilsson, Forest and Landscape Denmark, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark, Fax: þ45 3528 1508, E-mail: kjni@kvl.dk