July 2000 Newsletter This issue is the first in a series of quarterly newsletters which will inform you of recent developments in the CEROI Programme; they will be a key element to expanding the networking aspects of the Programme. The CEROI Gateway is also a basis for exchanging experiences and information on the progress of the Programme and of member cities. Since January 2000, the CEROI staff at GRID-Arendal and Ugland Publikit have dedicated a significant amount of time to making the Cities Environment Reports on the Internet (CEROI) Programme better known in the international community. The enthusiastic responses to our concept by cities as well as by other organisations has been very encouraging; our collaboration with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is an especially positive development. The CEROI Programme is unique in providing cities with state-of-the-art tools and a standard methodology for cities environmental reporting. The Gateway also provides access to an on-line discussion group, another venue for cities to exchange information, as well as to obtain technical advice and support from each other and the CEROI Secretariat. Hopefully, more cities worldwide will come to acknowledge the added value of environmental reporting to the quality of urban areas. On behalf of the CEROI staff, I wish you all a good summer (or winter in the Southern Hemisphere)! Morten Wasstol CEROI Project Manager Summary of recent developments    The CEROI Programme has entered a new phase of reaching out to new cities and organisations, while continuing to provide support to cities that participated in the pilot phase.    The Norwegian cities of Arendal and Vennesla and the South African cities of Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, and Pretoria have become full members of the CEROI Programme.      The CEROI Gateway has been launched; this website serves as an entry point to urban environmental information, as well as a place for cities to find resources for creating State of the Environment (SoE) reports.  The reports for the cities of Arendal (Norway), Turku (Finland), Moscow (Russia), Prague (Czech Republic), and the South African cities of Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria, were launched during the pilot phase and are accessible from this Gateway; the report for Kiev (Ukraine) has also been published.   Several other reports are currently being developed; reports from Tiblisi (Georgia) and Vennesla (Norway) will soon be launched, and the city of Arendal (Norway) will also publish a second edition of their report on-line.  And, as new cities join CEROI, an increasing number of reports will become accessible.    Version 1.0 of Publikit was released in mid-February this year.  This software was designed to create, publish and maintain SoE reports on the Internet.    A CEROI Secretariat has been established to serve the needs of member cities and to further build the CEROI network.    CEROI is currently exploring opportunities for co-operation with international, regional, national, and local organisations and networks.  We are also looking for international funding partners, as we recognise that some cities may have problems in financing their reporting processes. New CEROI Gateway We invite you to visit the recently launched CEROI Gateway, the place to access urban environmental information.  The CEROI gateway serves as the main focal point for CEROI member cities. The site offers resources on urban environmental indicators, state of the environment reporting and experiences from member cities. Future developments on the site include: thematic access to SoE reports, information about different urban environmental indicators, and an indicator database where the CEROI core indicators can be assessed. Ugland Publikit announces the release of Publikit 1.1 with ARC VIEW SHAPE Publikit 1.1 was released in early July 2000.  It is an update of Publikit 1.0, a complete web-publishing tool designed to publish and maintain complex reports on the Internet. Publikit 1.1 is equipped with a user-friendly map module that allows the publisher to import, convert and present shape files for advanced Internet presentation. Publikit, released in February 2000, was developed for the CEROI Programme. In addition, Ugland Publikit is planning to release an updated version of the software that will include implementation of ARC IMSR later this year.  The Ugland Publikit website features a guided tour of Publikit and the CEROI template.   ICLEI/GRID-Arendal collaboration The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and UNEP/Grid-Arendal have agreed to continue to undertake complementary joint activities within the frameworks of GRID-Arendal's CEROI Programme and ICLEI's Cities21 Project. The primary focus of this activity is the preparation of Internet-based tools, including a database for the collection and analysis of indicator data, as well as state of the environment reporting.  It is hoped that participants in ICLEI's newly launched water campaign, as well as participants in the Local Agenda 21 and Cities for Climate Protection Campaigns and regional indicators initiatives will benefit from this joint effort. The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority purchases several licenses The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority recently purchased Publikit software licences for the preparation of SoE reports in Norwegian counties. A new template is currently being developed to suit the specific needs of the counties. The new template resembles the Norwegian national SoE report. ENRIN CEROI has agreed to collaborate with the Environment and Natural Resources Information Network (ENRIN) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in expanding the CEROI Programme in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (CEE-NIS).  GRID-Arendal has strengthened environmental information management capacities in this region through the ENRIN programme since 1996. As a start, the ENRIN network will be used in targeting 20 new CEROI cities. Indicators To measure the quality and sustainability of urban environments, CEROI is preparing a list of parameters that will allow member cities to describe the states of their urban environment and to compare information.  These parameters or indicators are grouped into two categories: a core set and an expanded set; the latter will allow a more detailed description of individual indicators. These indicators will be organised into a searchable database that will include detailed information of the meaning of each indicator, the way it is measured and the manner of presenting the information, for example in graphs, tables or maps.  The sustainability of urban environments will be presented as the result of interactions between the environmental, social and economic sectors. Conferences, Meetings, Training/Workshops Morten Sorensen, CEROI Programme Manager, was invited to participate in the Global Cities21 ICLEI World Congress of Local Governments, held from 28 June - 2 July 2000 in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.  He served as an International Expert for the Tools for Transformation Session: "Local Agenda 21 and New Technology." The session focused on the technological tools, including the Internet, that have assisted various municipalities in their Local Agenda 21 processes and explored the gap between those that have access to such new technologies and those that do not. Morten Sorensen met with representatives of UNESCO's World Heritage Center and the Nordic World Heritage Center (NWHC) in Paris on 7 June 2000 to present the CEROI concept and the NWHC/GRID-Arendal proposal on World Heritage Periodic Reporting.  Morten also met with representatives of the UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics to discuss the possibility of extending the CEROI concept to private industries. CEROI was represented by Mona Grenasberg (Advisor, CEROI Programme) and Elena Fjortoft (Ugland Publikit) at the State of the Environment 2000 Conference held in Coffs Harbour, Australia from 28 April - 5 May 2000.  Several meetings were also held with ICLEI Australia and New Zealand, the New South Wales State Environmental Protection Agency, Environment Australia, and the Department of Environmental Protection of the State of Western Australia. The CEROI Programme was presented by Morten Wasstol at the Annual World Bank Urban Forum on 5 April 2000, and at the International Workshop on Urban Indicators on 6-7 April in Washington, D.C. (USA).   The latter was co-organised by the World Bank and the Global Urban Observatory Programme . Representatives from the Chinese State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) , UNEPnet Beijing, and GRID-Moscow participated in a workshop on State of the Environment Reporting held in March 2000 in Geneva.  The workshop included training in the use of Publikit. Morten Wasstol (CEROI Project Manager) and Otto Simonett (GRID-Arendal ENRIN Programme Manager) met with representatives of ICLEI's International Training Centre in March 2000 to discuss possible co-operation on  urban issues in Central and Eastern Europe.  The CEROI Programme was presented at the Third European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns held in Hannover, Germany in February 2000. The goals of the conference were to design innovative and integrative strategies for the future, to strengthen political commitment at all levels and to influence the future shape of European Urban society.   Representatives from more than 33 European countries participated in the conference, organised and funded by the European Commission, ICLEI, Eurocities, the United Towns Organization, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, and the World Health Organization through its Healthy Cities Project.  The CEROI Programme hosted a workshop in December 1999 for the Norwegian National Association of Local Authorities to discuss the Local Authorities Agenda 21 Reports on the Internet (LAROI). Morten Sorensen participated in the Global Urban Observatory Training for Trainers Programme hosted by the Society for Development Studies in New Delhi, India in December 1999.    Publications CEROI (Cities Environment Reports on the Internet), a network of cities putting environmental information to work .  From the Global Environment to the Local Agenda 21, UNEP/GRID-Arendal, Ugland Totalkart, 1999 (brochure). Cities Environment Reports on the Internet: Understanding the CEROI Template .  N. Denisov, M. Grenasberg, L. Hislop, E Schipper and M. Sorensen.  Arendal:UNEP/GRID-Arendal. 2000 (guide).   CEROI Programme Staff Morten Sørensen, Programme Manager Morten Wasstøl , Project Manager Mona Grenasberg , Advisor Nickolai Denisov , Indicator Expert Ieva Rucevska , Indicator Expert Lawrence Hislop , Web Developer Brian Lucas , Web Developer Angie Woo , Project Assitant Janet Fernandez Skaalvik, Project Assitant   Contributions The CEROI Secretariat welcomes your contributions to the next newsletter, to be electronically issued in October 2000.  News about conferences, publications, state of the environment reports, events, experiences and comments are welcome.  Please send your contributions to: CEROI Secretariat ceroi@grida.no UNEP/GRID-Arendal Longum Park Service Box 706 N-4808 Arendal, Norway