Editorial

Only few weeks ahead of the United Nations Conference in Copenhagen, climate change is high on the political and scientific agenda. The Environment Directorate of DG Research is closely following the developments towards a global post-Kyoto agreement on how to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions. The Third World Climate Conference held in Switzerland in late August and early September focused on climate prediction and information for decision-making and was actively supported by the Environment Directorate.

Issue 5 Editorial In a globalised world, it’s not only people who are interconnected. From climate change to global economics, public policy arenas are increasingly linked as well. Addressing these transnational challenges requires the EU to take action using a unified approach – particularly as it relates to sustainable development. True development can only come about through adopting policies that enable people to engage in economic activities that encourage environmental sustainability. This requires important investments in multidisciplinary, collaborative research. + Read complete editorial + Read complete issue Issue 4 Editorial On 3 September 2008 the Work Programme 2009 was published with 49 research topics under the Environment theme. For the third time during FP7, DG Research launched a major call for researchers from all Europe, associated countries and third countries to submit original research projects in areas such as climate change, environment and health, biodiversity, environmental technologies and earth observation, among others. A budget of €193.5 million has been allocated for this call, which is open until 8 January 2009. I hope that participation and quality of proposals will be high and wish the best success to all applicants. + Read complete editorial + Read complete issue Issue 3 Editorial Preliminary data have been released on the 2008 Environment call for proposals for FP7 (FP7-ENV-2008-1), which was published in November last year and closed in February. Of the 425 submitted proposals, 402 were assessed as being eligible (97%), totalling a requested EC grant of €1 145 million. + Read more + Read complete issue Issue 2 Editorial The Spring Council reaffirmed climate change and clean energy as the top policy priorities of the European Union. This is the first of the seven key challenges defined by the renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy (hereafter, the Strategy) of June 2006, where research and development plays an important and multifaceted role. + Read more + Read complete issue Issue 1 Editorial At this exciting time for EU research and environmental research in particular, I am pleased to present you the first issue of this quarterly newsletter. It provides a good opportunity to showcase EU environmental research as well as informing its readers about programme developments, environmental policies, and forthcoming events and publications to watch out for. + Read more + Read complete issue Manuela Soares, Director for Environmental Research Research Directorate-General European Commission

The Environmental Technology Research Newsletter

The Environmental Technology Research Newsletter replaced the Water and Soil Times Newsletter and regularly provides information on calls, initiatives, events and publications in the field of Environmental Technology Research.

The Environmental Technology Research Newsletter

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SusDev News

SusDev News was published six times each year until March 2006. The newsletter presents the concrete achievements of research and demonstration projects in the field of sustainable development, and the approaches, tools and technologies which they have developed to support policy-making and new strategy implementation at local, regional, national and international levels. The main focus was on the research undertaken by the Key Action "City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage" under the EU's Fifth Framework Programme as well as the research on sustainable development and land use funded under the Fifth and Sixth Framework Programmes.

Issue 7

• A sustainable future for Europe’s industrial parks
• Assessing the impacts of sprawling urban economies
• Hydrogen-powered buses in action
• MULTI-ASSESS maps pollution risk to EU monuments
• Air pollution policy promotes cultural heritage preservation
• Protecting heritage in a changing climate
• Exploring the value of sustainable agriculture
• Sustainable decision-making for urban water systems

Issue 6

• A sustainable approach to brownfield blight
• Europe’s countryside – more than a food conveyor belt
• Helping public authorities provide environmental relief
• Sustainable urban waste management
• Agenda

Issue 5

• Innovative tools for dealing with complexity in environmental decision-making
• Moving ahead with PRT
• New structural tests for old buildings
• Non-invasive evaluation of contaminated land
• Structured information for sustainable urban development
• Demonstrating the benefits of sustainable housing
• Integrative models for sustainable development

Issue 4

• Citizens confer on the ‘City of Tomorrow’
• CLEARing the air over Europe’s cities
• Integrating land use and transport policies for cleaner cities
• Making land work for sustainable development
• Curbing the consumer society – the role of environmental labelling
• Blending government and governance in sustainable towns
• City of tomorrow and cultural heritage – an overview
• Agenda

Issue 3

• Greening the city
• Sustainable domestic services bring quality-of-life bonus
• Commission and UN-HABITAT team up for sustainable cities
• Counting economic costs to the environment
• Strategies for greener milk
• Sharing experience in changing housing
• Downtown issues in FP7
• Agenda

Issue 2

• Sustainable urban management and land use: a gateway to the city of tomorrow
• Building sustainability into Europe’s construction industry
• Shedding light on cultural heritage
• Drive to solve car problems
• The sweet smell of success
• Widening the horizons for climate research results
• Agenda

Issue 1

• Keeping historic cities alive
• A place for ecological parks in European sustainability research
• Measuring local sustainable development
• Efficient assessment of contaminated sites
• Software helps to identify sustainable urban policies
• EU policy-making - counting the hidden costs