NEWS ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, March 12, 2007
CONTACT: Alison Alter, Associate Director of the UW-Madison Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE): phone 608-262-9774 or abalter@wisc.edu.
Innovative Environmental Governance and Regulation in the European Union: Any Lessons for US?
Madison-WI – How can the US and the EU find solutions to environmental problems which also promote the economy? Seven Europeans with expertise in creating and using new policies to meet 21st century environmental and economic challenges will be in Madison June 19 at Monona Terrace as part of an open-to-the-public “international dialogue on ecological policy” co-sponsored by the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
The UW-Madison Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE), European Union Center of Excellence (EUCE) and La Follette School of Public Affairs are sponsoring: “Innovative Environmental Governance and Regulation in the European Union: Any Lessons for US?”
The experts from business, government, non-government and academic sectors will cover a range of topics including river protection, efficient permitting, product stewardship, chemical use, and environmental-business cooperation.
The workshop falls within the June 17-20 conference of the Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Performance (MSWG), a network with about 1,000 business, government, non-government and academic members in 30 states and 20 countries. Since 1996, MSWG has been a “voice for ecological innovation and integration,” favoring collaborative and systems-based approaches to environmental protection and sustainablity.
“We will offer public officials, business persons and citizens access to policy experts and players they could never otherwise meet,” said Prof. Jonathan Zeitlin, director of both the EUCE and WAGE. “The Wisconsin Idea is at work to help our citizens and leaders meet the environmental and economic challenges we face in each community and at every level.”
The program was designed to be useful to those who make, implement and are subject to policy. There will be ample time for questions and discussion.
The workshop is open to the public with daily or event-long online registration available at http://www.mswg.org/. The EU session is limited to 150 on a first-come, first-served basis to facilitate discussion. The MSWG conference expects up to 400 with sessions on inter-connected environmental, economic and energy issues in Asia, Australia, the Americas and Europe. China will be highlighted.
Prof. Zeitlin said communities and countries are looking to policy innovation to meet environmental challenges, remain economically competitive and live within tight government budgets.
“We made great environmental progress in the last 30 years, but new tools and new mixes of old tools are required for the next 30 years,” he added. “The European Union has become an international leader in developing innovative approaches to environmental governance and regulation, which are increasingly relevant to the US and other world regions.”
The topics and presenters for the workshop are as follows:
Policy Overview: Innovative Environmental Governance and Regulation: Ingmar von Homeyer, ECOLOGIC/Institute for International and European Environmental Policy, Brussels; and Joanne Scott, director of the Centre for Law and Governance in Europe, University College, London.
Environmental Innovation in Practice:
- River Basin Management and Good Water Status: Peter Kessler, former director general for water management, German State of Hessen and senior advisor, ECOLOGIC.
- Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control: Martin Bigg, head of industry regulation, United Kingdom Environmental Agency.
- Integrated Product Policy: Klaus Koegler, head of sustainable production and consumption, European Commission.
- Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH): Robert Donkers, counselor for environmental affairs, European Commission Delegation, Washington, DC.
- Business and civil society perspectives: Raymond van Ermen, executive director, European Partners for the Environment; Martina Bianchini, director of government affairs and public policy, Dow Chemical Europe.
A concluding roundtable will summarize the day’s messages.
For further information, contact Alison Alter, Associate Director of the UW-Madison Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE): phone 608-262-9774 or abalter@wisc.edu. More details will be posted to the WAGE website shortly (http://wage.wisc.edu/) and to http://www.mswg.org/.