EVENTS

NATO Advanced Research Workshop
Technological Choices for Sustainability

October 13th to 17th 2002, Piramida Hotel, Maribor, Slovenia

Co-Directors:

Subhas K. Sikdar, Ph.D., Director, Sustainable Technology Division
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W. Martin Luther King Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268
Peter Glavic, Ph.D., Professor
University of Maribor, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Smetanova 17, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenia.

Objective:

Critically evaluate current scientific work on framing the issue of sustainability and on measuring progress toward a sustainable state. Attempt to attain a common understanding of how progress toward sustainability can be achieved by optimizing technology development, environmental impact, and socioeconomic factors. Identify the major trends in methodologies that assist progress towards sustainability by discussing them in a workshop forum. Publish the workshop results to promote future scientific work in this emerging field.

The themes of the sessions:

• Framing the Issue of Sustainability
• Sustainable Pathways
• Sustainability Metrics

First and foremost is the need for exploring any scientific basis of the idea of sustainability. What does sustainability mean from scientific viewpoint? Is it an ideal notion? If sustainability refers to a defined system, such as a product, a manufacturing process, a manufacturing site, a community such as a city, can the attainment of sustainability for one system be in conflict with another, when the former includes the latter? What can science tell us about the possibilities of attaining sustainability by balancing technological growth, environmental protection, and resource conservation (or intergenerational equity)? These related questions would be examined in the lead session on Framing the Issue of Sustainability.

Second, we need to have a clear perspective of what each scientific discipline, mentioned earlier, brings to this debate on technological choices. In other words, a discussion on the scope of contribution each discipline can make to this debate will be helpful. Two sessions devoted to this theme, Sustainable Pathways I & II, will provide the perspectives from experts in selected disciplines, such as ecology, chemistry, engineering, and economics. In these sessions we will discuss the advances in basic sciences and engineering such as chemistry, material science, energy and power, and biotechnology that offer dramatic improvements in environmental performance of products or processes that are more efficient yet economically viable. For instance, socioeconomic methods for achieving sustainability, such as market-based methods that achieve reduction in pollution, resource depletion or loss of biodiversity could stimulate certain technological choices for sustainability.

Third, the ability to make an assertion on progress towards sustainability will depend on methods used to measure progress towards sustainability. Relevant questions in this context are: can we define sustainability in terms of measurable entities (metrics)? How can we ascertain that we are moving in the right direction? How can we determine that we are near there, or that we have attained sustainability? Some work on developing sustainability metrics (environmental, economic, and societal) has recently begun. Discussion on measuring progress toward sustainability will focus on resource and energy use, environmental impacts of activities in manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and service sectors of the economy. The environmental impacts will necessarily use the cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment -- the method that has been in increasing use in product design. Three sessions belonging to this theme will therefore be called Sustainability Metrics I-III.

The concluding session is a Panel Discussion Session. First, three short presentations will be made to summarize the discussions in the three themes: framing the issue, sustainable pathways, and sustainable metrics. These presentations are by a panel of three persons chosen from among the delegates. The following panel discussion will be moderated and participation by all will be encouraged.