Good Practices
for Sustainable Development

Within Europe there is a large and valuable amount of knowledge, technology and accumulated experience in the field of environment telematics research which should be used more efficiently by sharing and disseminating these results. Many of the environmental problems present in some regions or cities can be solved or addressed by existing telematics techniques and practices available in other parts of Europe. Even though telematics applications are not a panacea for the environment, they are an invaluable and cost effective resource and tool for monitoring and management which should not be lost but profitably transferred to other sites.

Yet the obstacles for the possible transfer of telematics applications are numerous and are not to be underestimated as the Fourth Framework Programme experience shows. Many of these problems are related to differences in culture, legal systems, training and professional qualifications, and in political decisions and priorities. In the era of the "demonizing" of globalization, such differences raise the more dynamic and challenging stimulus of not attempting to eliminate all these barriers but only to remove those which hamper a greater exchange of innovation.

The good practices of air and water pollution management systems, developed by a number of EU and CEE countries, demonstrate good examples of the sharing, dissemination and transferability of the RTD results. The research projects analysed are valid examples of activities which use recent developments of environmental telematics applications in the areas of:

Each of the projects has clearly demonstrated that telematics are an indispensable tool to assist environmental management in handling large amount of data in a user-friendly performance and contribute to the evolution of sustainable development. The general concept of sustainability can be described as an integrating process of harmonising environmental integrity, economic efficiency and social equity. It encompasses technology, environment and the social as well as the political infrastructure of society. Sustainable development is one of the fundamentals in the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission." Together with competitiveness, it is the key to the long-term future of the European Union's economy:creation of wealth and jobs, enhancement of the quality of life, and preservation of the environment and the natural resources. They depend on the capacity of citizens, enterprises, regions, nations and the Community to generate and use knowledge, science and technology of tomorrow, in high-quality goods, processes and services, and in new and more efficient organisational forms. Research activities are then crucial in fostering the transition to a sustainable world involving transformation of working practices and an optimised use of resources."(Decision of the Council of the European Union to adopt a specific RT&D programme" Competitive and sustainable growth, 1998-2002). The research activities can fulfil these objectives only when it is designed to serve the users, by responding to the their needs, by developing new ideas and by reinforcing links with organisations which can help to exploit the results.

The environment telematics programme of the Fourth Framework Programme is a clear forerunner in this respect. In this programme a specific activity (ENWAP) has been deployed to define user requirements (ENWAP, 1998. User requirements in air and water management systems). ENWAP has continued its activity by the underlying report on Good Practice. The lessons learned by the benchmarking exercise of sixteen environment telematics projects cannot be concluded without also providing some recommendations and proposed actions by the actors involved. Issues such as dissemination of good practice, user requirements, uptake of telematics solutions and innovative ideas, will be addressed.

REC * ENWAP * VIRTUAL GALLERY

The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe

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