Programme (as of August 1, 2006)

The programme presented below is to be continually updated. The most recent changes are showed in "Latest News" and sent out in the following Newsletter.

Wednesday August 16
Thursday August 17
Friday August 18
Saturday August 19
Sunday August 20
Monday August 21
World Water Week August 20-26

Download the programme (as PDF) (August 1, 2006).

Wednesday August 16 - Opening evening

Blå Porten, Djurgården

IFEJ Stockholm 2006 will open with a welcome dinner at Blå Porten on island Djurgården. The opening address will be given by one of Sweden’s most forward-thinking sustainability experts, Stefan Edman, who is a top advisor to the Swedish government on environmental issues. Mr Edman will discuss the state of the environment in Sweden in 2006, including some of the most pressing issues the country faces in the context of the upcoming general elections.

Thursday August 17 - Ecological Lifestyle

MORNING SEMINARS:

Is the sustainable city possible? What will sustainable everyday life in future cities be like?
Annika Carlsson-Kanyama, associate professor, Royal Institute of Technology and research leader in energy and environmental security, the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI).

Coffe break

What is the potential of the growing environmental awareness? What choices do environmentally conscious consumers make and why?
Anders Biel, professor, department of Psychology, Göteborg University.
More about Anders Biel

Lunch

LUNCH EVENT:

In the footsteps of Carl Linneaus
In 2007 it is 300 years since the father of taxonomy and one of the greatest scientists in the world, Carl Linneaus, was born in Southern Sweden. During the meeting we pre-start the celebration by looking at the remains from his enormous herbarium and being guided in the Stockholm National Urban Park in an atmosphere of Linneaus own pedagogy.

Two parallel guided tours

Group A: Linné guides in the National Urban Park
Group B: Visit to the herbarium of Linné inside the Natural History Museum

Coffe break

Group A: Visit to the herbarium of Linné inside the Natural History Museum
Group B: Linné guides in the National Urban Park

AFTERNOON STUDY VISITS:
Environmental issues in everyday Stockholm. This afternoon we split into smaller
groups for parallel study visits in central Stockholm. The alternatives are:

1) Allotment garden: Allotment gardens have a long tradition in Sweden since the 1900s and are a natural part of the urban environment in today's Stockholm. In these gardens the Stockholmer can grow vegetables and flowers for recreational purposes. Join a guided tour in one of the allotment gardens and have a chat with the cultivators.

2) Ecological clothing shop: This shop situated in Stockholm's Old Town is one of the few in Sweden selling only environmental friendly and fair trade designed clothes. It was founded by Johanna Hofring in 2004. Come and see that it's possible to create something besides the giant brands.

3) Ecological hair salon: For your and the hair cutters health, this salon only uses ecologically friendly products. Come and hear more about the benefits of adapting an activity to be more environment friendly.

4) Climate family: The Stockholm City has invited families to create their energy- and carbon dioxideprofile in the project Climate family. During three months all activites are measured in terms of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The resulting profile is the starting point for one year of energy and economy advisory from the City. Then the profile is measured once again, what happended? Welcome to visit one of these families and discuss their experiences from the project!

Friday August 18 - Urban planning

Lunch

LUNCH STUDY VISIT:
Stockholm Transport – a vision of a clean transport system.
Stockholm Transport, the public transportation authority, has an ambitious sustainability vision that includes transport systems run on biogas, ethanol and even hydrogen. Stockholm was one of the cities participating in the recent CUTE hydrogen fuel cell project. A study visit to their depot equipped for alternative fuels will include a tour of the facilities and a lecture from their environmental manager.

Meeting with the Swedish Minister for Sustainable Development, Mona Sahlin, in which you will have the oppurtunity to ask the minister questions. The minister will speak shortly on swedish environmental politics from a perspective of sustainability, with focus on buildings.

Coffe break

AFTERNOON EXCURSION:
Hammarby Sjöstad – an eco-friendly part of town.
Hammarby Sjöstad (Hammarby Sea City) is an exciting new residential district in Stockholm where the city has from day one imposed tough environmental requirements on buildings, technical installations and the traffic environment.
In Hammarby Sjöstad energy is produced in a local renewable fuel-fired district heating plant, the heat recovered for heating houses and the silt is converted into biogas.

Saturday August 19 - Conflicts in the Stockholm Urban Area

Guided tours on water or land. We will spend part of the day on guided tours to different hot spots in Stockholm concerning environmental conflicts.

MORNING TOUR:
More roads, or less cars?
Stockholm is currently in the midst of a controversial experiment in congestion charging to reduce road use. Transport is a politically-charged and crucial question in the September general election, and congestion charging – billed as the environmentally-friendly solution to traffic problems – will be subject to a referendum. This alternative will be contrasted with other proposals to solve Stockholm’s congestion problems, e.g. building more road infrastructure.

Lunch

LUNCH SEMINAR:
Sustainable City.
The researchers of IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute provide decision makers in society with scientifically based information. Hans Lundberg, professor and international coordinator, and Åke Iverfeldt, vice president, will talk about the project Sustainable City conducted by IVL in China.

AFTERNOON TOUR:
Guided boat tour: Houses or green parks?
The city is growing. At the same time, more and more attention is given to the social and health aspects of nature, where recreation and green spaces close to residental areas is a vital part. The proximity of nature is important for people of all ages and is also good for the economy, as it makes the city more attractive for tourists. Eva Sandberg and Anders Arnell, two of the initiators of the project Urban Nature Guiding, will guide you on this boat tour.

Kungsträdgården, Stockholm.

Sunday August 20 - Workshop, IFEJ:s General Assembly and the Town of Stockholm invites to a Congress Dinner

WORKSHOP:
On environmental conflicts and the role of media.
Workshop: The experiences of environmental journalists are the focus of this open half-day workshop that we arrange together with the Swedish International Water Institute (SIWI). What role does the media actually have in environmental conflicts in your country? What are your experiences of the perception of media by other actors in conflict situations? What are your impressions of the expectations on media in these situations?

Four of our delegates have each prepared a fifteen minutes speach, which after their presentation will be object for a panel discussion.

This seminar is open to all participants at the World Water Week and the results from the discussions will be summarized and presented in the exhibition hall during the World Water Week to facilitate further dialogue.

Moderator:
Johan Kuylenstierna, project director, Stockholm International Water Institute.

Presentations:
Fighting pollution in Nigeria: The Amukoko Local Government Area Case.
By Ms Jennifer Igwe, Nigeria. The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA2).
The Role of Media in Advocating Environmental Protection in the Phillipines.
By Ms Tess Reposas, Phillipines, freelance journalist.
Environmental Conflicts and the Role of Media.
By Mr Darryl D´Monte, India, freelance journalist and former Resident Editor of the Times of India.
Challenges of Environmental Reporting in Ghana.
By Mr Mike Anane, Ghana, president of League of Environmental Journalists.

Panelists:
Mr Robert A. Thomas, USA, Director, Center for Environmental Communication, Loyola University, Louisiana.
Professor mr Kevin Noon, Sweden, Executive Director, International Geosphere-Bioshpere Programme.
Ms Sunita Narain, India, Director for Centre for Science and Environment.

Lunch

Hoover Dam, USA. Photo: Kim Koblet

AFTERNOON:

Pressconference Global Subsidies Initiative

The International Institute for Sustainable Development's (IISD's) Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) is a major project that is designed to put the spotlight on subsidies and the corrosive effects they can have on environmental quality, economic development and governance. This joint presentation by H.E. Mats Hellström, Governor of Stockholm and Member of the GSI's Advisory Group, and Javed Ahmad, GSI Communication Director, will explain the GSI's work to improve transparency in government expenditure, as well the harm subsidies can cause to the goals of sustainable development.

IFEJs general assembly 2006

Together with MÖF, the IFEJ Headoffice team invites you to participate in the IFEJ 2006 general assembly, jointly organized with the World Water Week. Take the opportunity to strengthen the IFEJ network and set up new objectives for the coming year’s work.

CONGRESS DINNER:
Is hosted by the Stockholm City and held in the Stockholm City Hall. A member of parliament of Stockholm will address the guests. After dinner there will be a guided tour in the City Hall, known from the official Nobel dinner every year in December.

Stockholm City Hall

Monday August 21 - Three alternative excursions

Askö Laboratory
The Askö Marine Laboratory is a marine field station located in the Stockholm archipelago. Since the 1970’s, it has been an important reference area for national and international environmental monitoring programmes. Lena Kautsky, professor and director, presents ongoing research projects, for example algal blooms in the Baltic Sea, indicators of eutrophication in the macro algal belt and how to get rid of barnacles on ship hulls without using toxic paints. There will be time for interviews, filming and photographing, and for swimming and having a picnic as well.

Archipelago of Stockholm

Ecoturism
A bus tour to view the landscape that surrounds the city Stockholm. We will visit an ecotourism entrepreneur who will show their activity and answer questions. A representative of the swedish organisation for ecotourism, Ekoturismföreningen, will talk about Ecoturism in Sweden and the quality label Naturens Bästa (the Natures Best) which beside a guarantee for high quality of the travel experience also take an active responsibility for nature care and seeks to be in line with environmental responsibility.

Löt Soil Treatment Centre
The Löt facility has a permit to receive and treat 100 000 ton of contaminated soil per year. At present there are approximately 40 000 ton PAH and petroleum contaminated soil in biological treatment. Another 15 000 ton metals and mixed contaminated soil is stored waiting for cleaning by soilwashing. We will have a look at the facility and will have a lecture from the Soil Department Manager Tommy Lundgren and the Soil Microbiologist John Stenström, researcher in microbiological soil remediation.

World Water Week, August 20 - 26

Building Capacity – Promoting Partnership – Reviewing Implementation.
We are proud to be able to give the all IFEJ delegates the possibility to prolong their visit in Stockholm by participate in the 2006 World Water Week.

Water – the essence of life is focus during the annual World Water Week that gathers experts from businesses, governments, the water management and science sectors, inter-governmental organizations, NGOs, research and training institutions and UN agencies.

This is the leading annual global meeting place for building partnerships meanwhile follow-up the implementation of international processes on water and development. It includes topical plenary sessions and panel debates, scientific workshops, independently organized seminars and side events, exhibitions.

The crowning glory is the festive prize ceremonies honouring excellence in the water field, the Stockholm Water Prize and the Stockholm Junior Water Prize.
For IFEJ delegates The Swedish Water House is sponsoring the fees for your optional attendance at the World Water Week, meaning that your participation as journalist is for free.

If you want to take part of the World Water Week for one or several days please let us know by marking the box in the registration form.