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International Socio-Ecological Union Holds Seventh Conference

The Seventh Conference of the International Socio-Ecological Union (SEU) was held in Kiev on August 21–25. Some 160 people attended: 120 delegates and 40 guests. An unprecedented number of sections — sixteen — worked at the conference.

The conference showed that cooperative efforts within the framework of the SEU are expanding. Every SEU program and campaign (ten in all at the conference) held its own section while an additional seven topics appeared in workgroup discussions: sustainable tourism; media publicity for SEU programs and campaigns; a school for young ecologists (a new program called “Qualification”); sustainable development; public environmental control; genetically modified organisms (GMO); and oil pollution of the seas. The Qualification Program was created at the conference while the SEU campaign against the spread of genetically modified organisms received official recognition.

Each program announced plans discussed and ratified by the conference participants. For instance, the Eco-Housing for the 21st Century Program announced the start of construction of demonstration and conventional eco-homes in several regions of Russia. This program has found new partners in Zaonezhye (Karelia), Krasnoyarsk Territory, Tatarstan, and Ukraine.

The Chemical Safety Program revealed that the “green” community was neglecting issues of chemical safety. This program needs to be expanded and supported by new local public initiatives.

The Ecology and Children's Health Program considered it imperative to provide support to organizations working to protect children from harmful environmental factors, especially endocrine damage. This program is creating a subject network intended to become the Eurasian branch of the worldwide International Network on Children's Health, Environment and Safety.

The Environmental Safety in Rocket and Space Actions (RSA) Program will be monitoring people's health and the environment in regions with intensive rocket and space activity. Future involvement in environmental consulting in RSA programs and projects, as well as in the drafting of national and international environmental policy in RSA, is planned.

The SEU Forest Campaign discussed and ratified a novel initiative by campaign participants – to restore the oak stands in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and several other countries with organizations prepared to work actively in this field.

The section on Nuclear Safety, which joined the SEU's Anti-Nuclear Campaign and Nuclear Safety Program, passed a resolution protesting the import of nuclear waste into Russia and unfurling of a plutonium program. The conference agreed to send a letter of appeal to all the EU committees not to finance the completion of a second reactor of Khmel'nitskaya Nuclear Power Plant and the fourth reactor of Rovnenskaya Nuclear Power Plant (Ukraine).

The Conference decided that the SEU, the Rainbow Keepers Radical Movement, and the Union for Chemical Safety would begin a cooperative protest campaign against the destruction of a healthy environment in the city of Votkinsk in the Republic of Udmurtia, where construction of an experimental station for burning heavy rocket fuel has already begun.

A Sustainable Tourism Project Team was formed at the conference. The team's members received the blessing of the conference to work out and implement the Development of Sustainable Tourism in the SEU Member Countries Program.

An agreement was adopted by the Media Publicity for SEU Programs and Campaigns Section regarding cooperation between SEU organizations working with the mass media. One of the section's goals is to establish an “informational response system” to given events.

The Workgroup on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) came to the conclusion that to control the development of genetic engineering-based food industries, agriculture, etc., will require joint efforts by NGOs and experts. Therefore, an SEU campaign will be initiated in 2001 against the spread of GMOs. During 2001, preparation of national and regional reports on the development of genetic engineering is recommended.

The Qualification Program was initiated during the conference. The program's objective is to create a permanent system for training environmental activists. The experience of the Student Nature Guards (Druzhinas) Movement will be used here.

The Sustainable Development Section set priorities. These priorities included the implementation of the so-called basin approach in work with territories, active involvement in “Rio+10” processes, and preparation of a World Nature Charter.

The Public Environmental Control Section suggested establishing a public environmental inspection within the framework of the SEU.

The Oil Pollution of the Seas Workgroup, with reference to the critical state of the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azov, talked about the need to develop alternative systems of oil transport that would not affect these seas. The workgroup’s members plan to take active part in these efforts.

The work of the Environmental Education Program has been suspended. In the very near future, a new coordinator will be chosen and a new agenda will be developed. The program’s basic objectives, however, will not change. It aims to support ecological education programs in NIS schools, and to involve young people in nature protection efforts.

Conference participants noted the need for closer cooperation and coordination of work in various SEU activities. Most programs, campaigns, and initiatives are interconnected. Therefore, their success depends directly on the effectiveness of joint efforts.

Regulations for the SEU’s Regional Coordination of SEU and the SEU Council's work priorities for 2000-2003 were adopted at the Conference. A new Council and Review Board were elected.

The following were named as SEU Council priorities for 2000-2003:

1. Closer and more permanent cooperation between SEU members (through program and regional coordinators);
2. New sources of financial support for the SEU as a whole and for its member branches;
3. Information support for actions by the SEU and its members;
4. Cooperation between the SEU, the public, and other organizations (authorities, political parties, etc.);
5. Various kinds of support for efforts by SEU members (legal aid, moral support, solidarity, defense actions, etc.);
6. CCI work management, considering the interests of SEU members and the SEU as a whole;
7. Drafting SEU external and internal policies (strategic planning, documentation to clarify the SEU's position, analysis of the global situation);
8. Analytical work necessary to understand current local and global processes; adequate work management of the SEU and its members.

The new Council’s members are:

Prepared by the Center for Coordination and Information
of the Socio-Ecological Union

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