Since 1987 the «Informatics for Environmental Protection» symposium has been bringing together people from the scientific, public administration and business communities who develop or use informatics applications in the environmental field. The aim of this annual conference is to document the state of the art in environmental informatics in Europe and to foster the dialog between theory and practice.

The main theme for 2001, Sustainability in the Information Society, has been selected to broaden the scope of the discussion beyond the environmental to encompass the other two dimensions of sustainability, the economic and social. Authors are encouraged to address risks as well as opportunities that Information Society Technologies (ISTs) may create with regard to the goal of sustainability.

The 15th symposium is thus intended both to document progress made in the traditional work fields of environmental informatics and to introduce new issues as indicated by the main theme.

The symposium will be organized in close collaboration with the European Union’s IST research and technologies programme to foster the dissemination and early take-up of European research in this domain.

Regula Fussenegger
EMPA St.Gallen
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CH-9014 St.Gallen