Interested or involved in Environmental Management?
Interested or involved in Curriculum change to better meet the needs of
sustainable societies?
Interested or involved in Greening the Physical Operations of universities?
And perhaps interested or involved in all these issues?

In that case EMSU 99 (Environmental Management for Sustainable
Universities) is an event to mark on your calendars, 30 May - 1 June 1999
Lund Sweden. Please read on below:

What is EMSU 99?

The EMSU 99 conference focuses on the role of environmental management and
environmental management systems in promotion of sustainable universities.
For the organizers the term environmental management is defined in the
broadest possible sense and covers the core areas of the university
community, research and teaching, as well as the supporting functions of
the physical infrastructure and university outreach efforts with the rest
of society to understand, develop and support sustainable societies.

EMSU 99 will be held in Lund, Sweden, 31 May - 1 June 1999 and hosted by
the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, Lund
University

The conference is related to the Copernicus framework for cooperation and
will be held in conjunction with the Cleaner Production learning exercise
Educating the Educators where thirty-five university educators from
developing countries will be learning about preventive environmental
strategies.

The name EMSU 99 implies that this will be the first such conference, with
future conferences and other events held on a biennial (once every second
year) basis.

What is the purpose of EMSU?

The purpose of the EMSU conference is to gather expertise and experience in
the field of environmental management and environmental management systems
within universities. This gathering can lead to information and experience
exchange, the possible formulation of an environmental management statement
(which could function as an "appendix" to the CRE-Copernicus Charter), the
establishment of joint university projects in specific areas, and the
exploration of the relations of environmental management to research and
education within universities, which is a hitherto relatively unexplored
area.

Environmental progressive universities in the USA have undertaken a number
of good environmental projects, however the coordination among these
practical projects and sometimes long-term commitment has sometimes been
weak. On the other hand there are a number of universities in Western
Europe which are seeking to organize their work with environmental
improvements of campus infrastructure in a more systematic fashion and
attempting to establish some sort of environmental management system. Yet,
an environmental management system should encompass all operations in a
university, including research and education. This is a tricky issue since
universities have a tradition of academic freedom which permits individual
instructors, researchers, and departments to determine the content of their
work. At first glance management would appear to be the very antithesis of
academic freedom. Yet a close look may reveal some potentials.

The EMSU 99 Program

The date for the EMSU conference will be 30 May - 1 June 1999.

The preliminary program is as follows. It will be finalized during the
coming weeks and a final version submitted to you in late March or early
April. However for your and our planning purposes, please observe the broad
lines of the present program plans.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE UNIVERSITIES

30 May - 1 June 1999 Lund, Sweden Conference Program as of 1999-02-02

Sunday 30/5

13:00 Registration

13:30 THE GOALS OF EMSU

Discussion about possible modifications in the program

14:30 PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSION

The Basic Elements of Environmental Management and EMS
The Driving Force behind Environmental Management and EMS

The Responsibilities and Opportunities for Universities:
Greening and Sustainable Development
What are the Driving Forces behind University Greening Efforts

15:15 Break

15:45 COUNTRY REPORTS
National Efforts and Progress made at specific universitites

PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
Education for Sustainable Development:
The Role of Preventive Environmental Strategies

17:00 Informal Discussions and Networking

18:00 Informal Dinner with Presentation

Monday 31/5

9:00 Registration
Welcome

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

SHORT PRESENTATIONS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS/RESPONSES
* What does environmental management mean for industry?
* For the service sector?
* What parallels are there from that experience to the university
community?

12:00 Lunch
(during which time Chancellors and Presidents
(or their representatives) of various universities
have the opportunity to sign the Copernicus Charter)

13:30 SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS ON PARALLEL THEMES

* Environmental Management/EMS for Campus Physical Operations
* Environmental Management/EMS for Research and Curriculum
* Environmental Management/EMS for Outreach/Community Relations to
Promote Sustainable Development
* Environmental Management/EMS in a holistic approach for the whole
university

16:30 PRESENTATIONS FROM SEMINARS AND PANEL DISCUSSION

19:30 Dinner (with seating in groups for Tuesday's workshops)
... which leads into an evening activity

Tuesday 1/6

9:00 WORKSHOPS

* University Responsibilities for Sustainability:
focusing on community outreach
* While there are a number of success stories...
what stops greening? and how to get around these barriers?
* Students and voluntary initiatives within environmental
management and EMS
* Towards a Statement on Environmental Management for Sustainable
Universities
* Environmental Management at university departments:
experiences and recommendations
* Preparing Students for careers in the area of sustainability:
systematic approaches
* Project Hatching
(instead of working on your own, this workshop encourages
people
to do the same kinds of projects in different universities
at the same
time, thus encouraging network building)
* additional topics to be decided during preparations in coming months

12:00 Lunch

13:30 PRESENTATIONS FROM WORKSHOPS
National Efforts and Progress made at specific universitites

15:30 Break

16:00 Summary of Key Findings of EMSU 99

Presentation of Statement on
Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities

Voting on Whether to Endorse the Statement

Hosting EMSU 2001

Closing Remarks

Relations EMSU 99 - Educating the Educators

The entire EMSU 99 conference will be held in conjunction with the first
three days of a three week long Educational Program, "Educating the
Educators" in which thirty-five mid-level faculty from universities in
developing countries will be learning about the concepts of Cleaner
Production, Industrial Ecology, Eco-efficiency, Environmental Management
Systems. These educators will then incorporate this new knowledge and
experience into their curricula in their home universities.

By coordinating the two events - EMSU 99 and Educating the Educators - at
the same time, the participants in the latter will obtain insights into
progress reached in the greening of campus in OECD countries as well as be
able to participate on an equal footing with their OECD colleagues
concerning the introduction of environmental management in the promotion of
sustainable universities. Likewise the participants at EMSU 99 from OECD
countries will gain insights into the situation their colleagues face in
developing countries. The conference organizers believe that this will mark
a most significant event in the transfer of ideas about environmental
management and greening of campuses to universities in developing countries.

Participants, Financing, Environmental Impact

The EMSU 99 conference organizers seek to enlist the support of the
participants in the conference in the further development of the conference
program including the workshops. This will not be a conference where
participants will passively receive lectures, rather the participants are
invited to suggest directions, volunteer ideas, and develop themes as the
preparations for the conference continue. In the broadest sense,
participants are invited to begin participating prior to their arrival in
Lund.

In addition to financing from the International Institute for Industrial
Environmental Economics, funding has been sought and secured from
CRE-Copernicus and Lund University. Additional funding is being sought.

Presently the organizers will have to charge a registration fee to help
defray the costs of the conference. However, we are confident that in the
coming months we will be able to obtain additional sources of funding so
that the registration fee will be reduced and hopefully waived.

Finally, in keeping with sound environmental practice, the organizers hope
to be able to "broadcast" all or at least parts of the conference to other
locations, thus reducing the need for travel and its accompanying
environmental impacts. This broadcast will either take the form of an
Internet presentation or satellite links.

More Information

More information can be obtained by contacting Joe Strahl at
joe.strahl@bygg.lu.se or by telephone +46-46-2227082. See also
http://www.lu.se/green-campus/emsu/index.html .

For the organizers:

Joe Strahl
Environmental Coordinator
Lund University