The concrete conclusions of a Forum
About 120 European specialists actively participated in the 2nd Europe-ENVIROCOM Forum On June 20 and 21 1996. The debate was focused on ´How to manage uncertainty in environmental matters´. It was complemented by a social evening and the exhibition ´Crave for Landscape´, which drew a large audience. The Swiss Foundation for Education and Environment (FEE) largely contributed to the success of these events.

One should mention among the speakers Jean-Pierre Ribaut, Head of the Division of Environment Protection and Management and member of the European Council Cabinet; Michel Aragno, Professor and President of the Natural Sciences Section of the Swiss National Commission for UNESCO; Philippe Roqueplo, former Research Director at the CNRS; and Jérôme Ravetz, former Professor of Science Philosophy at the Leeds University and convener of the Council for Science and Society of London. François Terrasson, Maitre de Conférence and sociologist, addressed in his talk the ´Fear of nature´.

The quality points and focus of the debates led to the following :
Concrete conclusions: It is the end of the unique line of thought in the environment domain as well. This yields to an intersected and debated line of thought. The communication of a piece of information, such as that of the mad cow disease, is much faster than that of its stabilization by the scientists, which is estimated to need five , up to ten years. In order to manage the uncertain, the precautionary principle thus comes in force for a period which has become long. This is new for the public at large. It is not simple.



The Proceedings of the 1996 Forumprovide the details of the discussions and debates that have notably led to the above conclusions. They contain the contributions from Swiss, English and French specialists, from entrepreneurs and university professors. With French, English and German text, the proceedings have just been published.

They open with the "Neuchâtel theses". This is a set of six up-to-date propositions to «manage uncertainty» at present.

Order form for the proceedings Price : CHF 20.- +
mail ENVIROCOM Secretariat, E-mail secretariat@enviroclip.org