NEWSLETTER

Dear ESEE Member,

We are pleased to send you the monthly edition of the new electronic ESEE newsletter.
Supported by the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management the Sustainable Europe Research Institute SERI is able to maintain the website of the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE) and publishes this newsletter.

The newsletter is distributed only to members of the European Society for Ecological Economics. To join ESEE or renew your membership please visit www.euroecolecon.org.

If you want to publish interesting news, or information about events, job openings and new publications on the website or in the newsletter, feel free to send an email to esee@seri.at. We are also open for suggestions to improve our communication channels.


Content:

1. News from ESEE and its members

  • Note from the Vice-President: Participation in ESEE
  • Forthcoming ESEE elections
  • Future ESEE conferences

2. Other news

  • First public release of the Encyclopedia of Earth

3. Hot topic

  • Oil price, increasing energy demand, and peak oil

4. Events

  • ESEE 2007: Integrating Natural and Social Sciences for Sustainability
  • ISEE 2006: Ninth Biennual Conference of International Society for Ecological Economics on "Ecological Sustainability and Human Well-Being"
  • UNFCCC COP12
  • Environmental Accounting and Sustainable Development Indicators 2007
  • 16th International Input-Output Conference Istanbul

5. Job openings

  • Professorship in Institutional Economics
  • Natural Resource/Ecological Economist
  • Vacancy at GPPI in Berlin
  • New position at the Stockholm Environment Institute
  • Head, Department of Economics - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

1. News from ESEE and its members:


Note from the Vice-President: Participation in ESEE

Many ecological economists, especially in Europe, are involved in research that highlights the need for public and stakeholder participation. Effective participation in decisions makes them more legitimate and therefore leads to better results; in relation to complex, multi-attribute issues, non-experts see problems and solutions that experts miss; and it’s a basic democratic principle that those who are affected by a decision should have a say in it. From January to October this year, 15 articles were published in the Ecological Economics journal, which had a strong component of public and stakeholder engagement in the research design. Hence, participation plays an important role in ecological economics research.

But what about our own participation in organisations and processes that we care about? Participation takes time and we are all juggling many demands of our time already. From our own research we know, however that it’s worthwhile. Here are some suggestions for participation in the ecological economics community -

Participation in the political process of ESEE – please vote in the upcoming elections! You will find the ballot in your mailbox shortly. This time ESEE experienced great interest in standing for office in the election, which is great. There are now 13 candidates for 10 posts and it’s a good mix of experienced and new candidates.

But as we all know, in a democratic organisation, participation is more than just voting. How about contributing to make the next conference (in Leipzig, Germany from 5 to 8 June 2007; www.esee2007.ufz.de) a real success. You can help shape the conference by organising a symposium or by contributing a paper or poster. The submission of symposia themes is running out shortly; submission of abstracts for papers and posters are open until 20 November 2006.

As an academic society, our main resources are ideas from the whole membership. If you have suggestions for running ESEE, please do get in touch with the respective ESEE Committee Chair or the (Vice-) Presidents. For names and contact information, please see www.euroecolecon.org/governance.htm (given the pending elections, the details are obviously subject to change).

Beyond academia, many ecological economists contribute to the governance for sustainability in their locality by acting as advisors to the government / NGOs / firms, by working on policy-relevant projects or through discussions with officials from government / NGOs / firms. It would be great to hear about interesting cases from the policy arena on the local, regional, national or European level. Please share your experience with the ESEE community! The new electronic newsletter is sent out monthly by SERI and Andrea Stocker and Ines Omann are always ready to take input for the next newsletter (andrea@seri.at, ines@seri.at). Looking forward to hear from you.

Get involved!
Wishing you a good start of the new academic year.

Sigrid Stagl


Forthcoming ESEE elections

As you know, the term of office of a number of the ESEE board members ends this year. Over the summer we issued a call for nominations for candidates to stand for election to the board. We had an excellent response and election ballots will be posted out by snail mail shortly. You will be asked to take part in three ballots. First, to vote for vice-presidents, second to vote for regular members of the board, and finally, we ask you to consider and vote on a proposed constitutional change. Full information will be detailed in the mailing you will soon receive.

We hope you will take the time to participate in these elections. In the meantime if you have any queries please feel free to contact me.

Best wishes, Wendy
ESEE Sectretary


Future ESEE conferences
If you are interested in hosting one of the next ESEE conferences (2009 or 2011), please contact Sigrid Stagl, s.stagl@sussex.ac.uk, ph. ++44-1273-872784.

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2. Other news:


First public release of the Encyclopedia of Earth

The Encyclopedia of Earth (www.eoearth.org) should be built into a comprehensive, general encyclopedia about the environments of Earth and their interaction with society. The Encyclopedia is being written and governed by experts working in a unique collaborative environment. The Encyclopedia has been released with the initial work of approximately 300 authors and 90 editors, with oversight from an outstanding group of international scholars that form the International Advisory Board.

You can contribute to Encyclopedia of Earth on any topic that interests you and that falls within the scope of Encyclopedia. Entries are from 250 to 5,000 words, geared to a general audience, and can be drawn directly from existing material you have written, subject to any copyright restrictions. The Encyclopedia is built, maintained, and governed by experts like you via a specially adapted "wiki," an online resource that allows users to add and edit content collectively. Unlike other wikis, access to the Encyclopedia wiki is restricted to approved experts, and all content is reviewed and approved prior to being published at the free public site.

Contributing is easy: visit www.eoearth.org, click on BECOME A CONTRIBUTOR, and follow the guidelines there. The site also contains additional information about the project.

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3. Hot topic:


Oil price, increasing energy demand, and peak oil

Last summer has brought the highest price for oil since the second oil crisis in 1979, with Brent arriving at its maximum of 78,69 dollars per barrel on August 8th, 2006.

From an ecological economics point of view this is good news since it brings back the energy issue on top of the table, with more arguments to use than climate change. In fact, high oil prices may imply a revitalisation of renewable energy where ecological economics has to intervene. Moreover, this fact gives us an opportunity to get closer to other research and academic communities that have been working on similar topics for years and are gaining attention these days, such as ASPO, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (www.peakoil.net).

Source: www.oilnergy.com/1obrent.htm

If we analyse the causes of this rapid increase in oil price we see it corresponds to an ever-increasing energy demand of about 1.6% per year, 75% of such increase due to non-OECD countries like China and India, according to the International Energy Agency (www.iea.org), that has been translated in climbing prices since year 2002. To have just an idea of the relevance of India and China in future energy demand we may consider the fact that car ownership in China is growing at almost 17% per year since 1978 www.stats.gov.cn/english)

If the trend is kept in the future as predicted by IEA, we may end up with a World oil demand of about 120 million barrels per day, in contrast to 84 today. This fact, apart of being very bad news from environmental point of view (think not only in CO2 emissions but also in environmental damage caused by the new extraction and refinery capacity, and environmental damage caused by the production and functioning of the machinery that will use such oil, like cars), may pose severe constraints to development in oil importing economies that should be analysed more carefully.

The World economy is in a very fragile situation right now in terms of energy supply. To increasing energy demand in developing countries we have to add also increasing demand in the developed world, despite energy efficiency improvements. The picture is that today the market is very tight, with only 1 million barrels per day of spare capacity, less than half the production from Iraqi wells. That means any single disruption to the market (caused by hurricanes, terrorism, or simply maintenance of existing oil facilities) may bring oil prices to historical maximums.
One way to solve that would be to invest in new extraction and refining. However, since most of the existing reserves lay below the Persian Golf countries’, and these countries may use the extra revenues from higher oil prices to fund their own development or to pay debt back, there is the possibility that the 550 billion dollars to be invested every year until 2030 according to the IEA (2003) to cover demand are not realised, driving oil prices even higher.

Would that be a bad scenario for ecological economics? Probably we should take this opportunity in which many governments are going to revise their energy policies to have our voice heard so that a shift in the energy system is achieved. Defending energy efficiency, energy conservation, or the introduction of renewable energy, but also directly defending reduction in energy consumption is the kind of argument that ecological economists should work on. We have to convince policy makers and social actors that the increase in oil price implies a relative impoverishment to individuals that may be tackled with lower consumption and therefore changes in lifestyles.

Moreover, the new regulation of oil prices worldwide, where OPEC does not play the only dominant role anymore and new agents such as Russia are emerging, and also the fact that 2/3 of the reserves are in the Middle East area brings geopolitics on top of the table. For the sake of sustainability peace has to be maintained and conflict reduced. This is getting more difficult to achieve internationally not only because of NATO enterprise in Afghanistan, USA-UK in Iraq, the Israeli/Palestine/Lebanon affair, or Iran challenge to the IAEA on nuclear facilities, but also because the current state of the oil market is making bilateralism much more relevant than before, as we have seen with energy contracts signed between Russia and Ukraine and its relationship with the change in the government of that country, or because Globalisation yields strange results, like China funding US budget deficit, and being already its third larger creditor, implying a strong relationship between these two economies.

What we see therefore is that along with environmental considerations, there are other issues that make studying the energy crisis very relevant nowadays, such as international relations or even international and development economics. This means we should work closely with those colleagues studying the peak oil, for instance. This is true, especially since the previous analysis has been done without accounting for fossil fuels being exhaustible. So, once we take this issue into account, the process described above may be even more rapid. But now is the moment to act since even the EU has admitted that Europe will reach peak oil in 2010, and North America in 2020 (EU Commission 2003), and those colleagues from ASPO have shown we have already surpassed that peak in oil production at the global level.

Source: Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas, Ireland (www.peakoil.ie/peakoil)


References:

EU Commission (2003): World Energy, Technology and Climate Policy Outlook. WETO 2030. European Commission. Directorate-General for Research. Brussels.

Related websites:

  • www.peakoil.net/
    Website of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas
  • www.iea.org/textbase/stats/oilresult.asp
    Oil statistics from the International Energy Agency
  • www.bp.com/productlanding.do?categoryId=91&contentId=7017990
    BP Statistical Review of World Energy
  • http://energy.usgs.gov/oilgas.html
    Oil and Gas resources from US Geological Surve

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4. Events:

ESEE 2007: Integrating Natural and Social Sciences for Sustainability
5-8 June 2007, UFZ - Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany

The European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE), in co-operation with the German associations for ecological economics VÖÖ and VÖW, invite you to meet in Leipzig for the 7th international conference.
The conference will explore contemporary scientific approaches for putting the concept of Sustainable Development into research and into practice, and it will focus on bridging natural and social sciences. It will address sustainability topics such as loss of biodiversity, human vulnerability to global change and water problems on all geographical and institutional levels. The conference aims to contribute to a better understanding of societal and natural processes and their interaction by integrating scientific methodologies to overcome the shortcomings of disciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches. Impediments to inter- and transdisciplinary research will be examined and new research concepts for sustainability identified.

Note that the registration for ESEE 2007 is open now! Come and join us when we talk about "Integrating Natural and Social Sciences for Sustainability" in Leipzig, Germany, from 5-8th June 2007. Keynote speakers include Elinor Ostrom, Malte Faber, Dick Norgaard, Inge Roepke, Clive Spash, and Carl Folke. The first deadline for submitting symposia is 20 September, the deadline for submitting abstracts and papers is 20 November. Have a look at www.esee-leipzig2007.org and think about your contribution!

Visit the conference website.


ISEE 2006: Ninth Biennual Conference of International Society for Ecological Economics on "Ecological Sustainability and Human Well-Being"
15-18 December, 2006, New Delhi.
Important dates:
- submission of abstracts: July 31, 2006
- intimation of acceptance: August 31, 2006
- submission of full paper: October 31, 2006

For more information visit http://www.isee2006.com/index.htm


United Nations Climate Change Conference
Nairobi 2006 6 - 17 November 2006 United Nations Office at Nairobi, Gigiri

Kenya will host the second meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 2), in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 12), in Nairobi from 6 to 17 November 2006. The conference will also include, from 6 to 14 November, the twenty-fifth session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 25), the twenty-fifth session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 25), and the second session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG 2).

For more information visit http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_12/items/3754.php


Environmental Accounting and Sustainable Development Indicators 2007
May 23, 2007 to May 25, 2007 Prague , Czech Republic

The conference mission is to promote awareness of sustainable development concepts and tools by using indicators and environmental accounting framework. The main theme of the Conference will be the urgent need to take steps by international organizations, states, local authorities, and non-governmental organizations towards a sustainable development. In this way, the Conference will contribute to the worldwide debate and efforts in strengthening the bridge between theory and practice in meeting environmental threats and challenges. The Conference aims to bring together around 250 environmental experts, academics, statisticians, officials, accounting and financial managers, other business specialists, scholars and researchers in order to discuss environmental issues from a variety of perspectives. The participants will also get a chance to enjoy the sights and special romantic atmosphere of Prague – the beautiful capital of the Czech Republic!

For more information visit http://ea-sdi.ujep.cz/


16th International Input-Output Conference Istanbul
Turkey, 2-6 July 2007

The International Input-Output Association (IIOA) and the Department of Management, Istanbul Technical University announce that the Sixteenth International Input-Output Conference will be held on 2-6 July, 2007, at the Istanbul Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey. The goal of the conference is to promote and stimulate the worldwide exchange of ideas among economists and between them and government officials, engineers and managers with interests in input-output analysis and related methods. Thus, we invite thematic topics related to any aspect of input-output analysis and modeling. We hope attendees will also develop a number of sessions relating to Turkey.

Call for Organized Sessions
To submit a session or set of sessions, provide a description of the theme and objectives for the session and identify the organizer, session chair(s), and paper presenters by: name, title, affiliation, and proposed titles and abstract.

Please submit sessions by January 15, 2007 to the Chair of the Scientific Committee (Klaus Hubacek, io2007@see.leeds.ac.uk).

Call for Papers
Please submit abstracts for papers not exceeding 500 words by January 15, 2007, to Klaus Hubacek (io2007@see.leeds.ac.uk), including the title and the abstract of the paper, names of all authors, and full postal and e-mail addresses of the corresponding authors.

For further information visit the conference website at: http://www.iioa.at/conferences-16th.htm

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5. Job openings:


Professorship in Institutional Economics

University of Leipzig and the UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig jointly offer a position for a professorship in institutional economics. Even though the job description is in German (www.ufz.de/data/stellenausschreibung_umweltoekonomie4490.pdf), the position is not limited to German nationals. The deadline for application is 10th of October.


Natural Resource/Ecological Economist

The Macaulay Institute is seeking to appoint a new Researcher within the Socio-Economic Research Group in the area of Natural Resource/Ecological Economics, to work specifically on the topic of valuing soil and other natural resources. For more information click here.


Vacancy at GPPI in Berlin

The Global Public Policy Institute's consulting practice (GPPiC) is
looking to further strengthen its team, offering a full-time Project
Associate position for a dynamic, internationally-minded person.

Starting date: 1 December 2006

GPPiC is the consulting practice of the Global Public Policy Institute, a non-profit research institute based in Berlin. GPPiC combines the institute's expertise on public policy and governance with top management consulting skills. GPPiC offers professional and top-quality evaluation and strategy consulting services. GPPiC works primarily with clients from the public and non-profit sector. GPPiC is looking to strengthen its team primarily in the context of its evolving work with multilateral organizations (specifically the World Bank Group and the United Nations). Projects include forward-looking reviews designed to identify potential performance improvements in business planning, management and institutional development of global development programs, as well as strategy programs that include the development and implementation of effective business plans, management approaches and institutional development strategies.

Required Skills: The candidate must be self-driven and able to work independently on consulting and research assignments. The candidate must have excellent English skills (written and spoken) as well as outstanding analytical and research skills. The candidate should have an academic background in economics and/or political science (minimum: M.A. or equivalent), preferably with a public policy focus. Previous work experience in management consulting highly desirable as is a good understanding of multilateral organizations and key issues in international development policy. Good knowledge of office applications (Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook and Powerpoint) is a must as is a basic
knowledge of German. Must be willing to travel.

GPPi offers: A dynamic work environment. Flat hierarchies, a young and international team. The opportunity to gain first-hand experience and develop skills in policy research and consulting.

Remuneration to be negotiated based on the qualification of the applicant. The position is initially limited to 3 months with a view to extending the contract based on successful collaboration.

To apply, please send your CV and a brief letter of interest to Jan Martin Witte at jmwitte@gppi.net. No paper applications please. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted promptly. No phone enquiries please.

For more information on GPPi please see www.gppi.net and download the GPPi Consulting overview at www.gppi.net/fileadmin/gppi/GPPiC-quick-info_082006.pdf


New position at the Stockholm Environment Institute

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is an independent, international research institute specialising in sustainable development and environment issues. It works at local, national, regional and global policy levels. The SEI research programmes aim to clarify the requirements, strategies and policies for a transition to sustainability.

We are currently looking for a post-doc to work with the Climate and Energy Programme on linkages between development and adaptation to climate change. Funding for this position has been provided by the European Commission through its collaborative project ADAM (Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies: Supporting European Climate Policy; www.adamproject.eu). The position will initially be offered for the duration of ADAM, which is scheduled to end on 28 February 2009.

The post-doc will analyse opportunities for creating synergies between European post-2012 climate policy and international development assistance with respect to adaptation and natural disaster risk reduction. S/he will aim to provide strategic options for mainstreaming and restructuring development assistance, such that it promotes adaptation to climate change in ways that are acceptable to the donor and recipient communities. The research will be carried out together with developing-country partners and engage developing-country stakeholders. The successful candidate will have a PhD or equivalent research experience in political science, economics, development studies or a related discipline, be familiar with the UNFCCC and post-2012 process, and have affinity with environment-development issues in developing countries.

Project development experience is an advantage, as the post-doc will be expected to initiate new research. The position requires excellent oral and written presentation skills, fluency in English, a willingness to do interdisciplinary research in an international working environment, the ability to work both in a team and independently, and the ability to travel. SEI values diversity and therefore encourages applications from women, disabled people and minority groups. The working language at SEI is English.

Applications should be written in English and arrive at SEI as soon as possible but no later than 30 September 2006. They should be directed to:
Dr. Richard J.T. Klein
Stockholm Environment Institute
Box 2142 103 14
Stockholm Sweden



Head, Department of Economics - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

The Department of Economics seeks applications and nominations for the position of Department Head. Candidates should have an outstanding research and teaching record meriting the rank of tenured Full Professor at a leading research university, and they must have proven leadership and administrative abilities. The Department seeks to hire an economist who will complement existing strengths in ecological and environmental economics and the economics of technological change. Exceptional candidates in related fields will be considered.

Please send application materials to the address listed below. The review of applications and nominations will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, established in 1824, is the nation's oldest civilian technological institution. An equal opportunity- affirmative action employer. CONTACT: Professor James Adams, Acting Head, Department of Economics, SAGE 3502, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, NY 12180-3590 (Email: kaufmb@rpi.edu).

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The ESEE Newsletter is published by the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE). Its purpose is to inform ESEE members of developments both within the Society and in other areas of potential interest. It is published monthly and is sent free to ESEE members. The views expressed are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Society as a whole.

The European Society for Ecological Economics is a not-for-profit organisation devoted to the development of theory and practice in ecological economics in Europe. Membership is open to all interested individuals working in Europe or in other areas on request. For membership details please visit: http://www.euroecolecon.org.

If you have any suggestions on how to improve our Newsletter please let us know. If you would prefer not to receive it, please send an Email with the subject unsubscribe to esee@seri.at

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