Welcome to ISEG

(2005-09-30 13:49:00.0)      On behalf of ISEG, collaborating organizations and the International Committee for ICIDEN Abuja 2006, I applaud the selection of Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, as the host of the next ISEG conference, following previous conferences in the United States (1993, 1998, and 2005), China (1999), Brazil (2000), Japan (2001), Korea (2002) and Finland (2004). The decision to hold this global event in Africa shortly after the last United Nations Conference on the Environment that was held in South Africa, illustrates the growing interest of the global community in the sustainability of industrial, civil and cultural systems in Africa. The region and others are interdependent with respect to natural resources, human capital and global economic stability. At ICIDEN Abuja 2006, events and circumstances that exemplify this global symbiosis will be analyzed by participants from a variety of geographical regions, cultural backgrounds, professional disciplines and economic sectors. Policies and technical approaches to managing the three pillars of sustainable development (economic development, environmental stewardship and social equity) will be proposed by many presenters and discussion panelists.
     Infrastructure development is an essential component of regional and national economic development plans that target the provision of goods and services to an expectant population in each country. Inadequate physical infrastructure constrains economic development in all sectors, including health, communications, construction, transportation, energy, manufacturing and education. Investments in infrastructure can relieve the excessive unemployment of the labor force that averages 7% globally, and ranges from 3-30% in different countries. Population growth and its regional distribution are key determinants of infrastructure needs, environmental quality and the distribution of disaster-induced damages to constructed and cultural systems. Globally, 48% of people live in urban areas, most of which are located in coastal regions that are prone to one or more of the following hazards: earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and mudslides. Their toll on physical infrastructure, the environment and human health is exceedingly high as evident in recent events in the United States, Southeast Asia, China, East Africa and Europe.
     Apart from the ravages of natural and technological hazards, material and energy requirements to operate modern societies are astronomically high. With significant regional density variations, the global population of 6.2 billion people consumes energy at the level of 10,009 kilogram oil equivalent (koe) per year. The per capita consumption is 1,686 koe per year. Indeed, energy is the lifeblood of modern economies and will increasingly impact upon international relations. With respect to materials, their excavation processing, use and disposal have generated both wealth and environmental degradation in many mix proportions for different countries. Incidentally, concerns about environmental problems that derive from human activities became pronounced only in the 20th century. More materials have been used to operate society since 1945 than the volume used between antiquity and 1945. Essentially, the wealth, stealth and health of nations can be scaled by the weight of materials used.
     While natural and technological disasters are often dramatic, environmental degradation is usually gradual. In this interconnected world, it can percolate through national and regional boundaries. With urbanization rates growing up to 3% per year in Asia, South America and Africa, more opportunities have arisen for wind, water and humans to transfer pollutants from disturbed zones to distant regions. Brown haze that is generated through the use of dried manure for cooking in Asian villages, forest fires and fossil fuel combustion hang in the atmosphere to a thickness of several kilometers and cause respiratory diseases. Gas flaring in many regions contributes to acid rain and the deposition of other contaminants. Some pollutants in air and water from non-point sources and industrial plants in the Great Lakes region of the United States have local and regional impacts. The catalog of large-scale environmental issues now includes leaching of organic carbon from Siberian peat and deposition with other contaminants in the Artic; desertification in Sahel Africa and Central Asia; oil spills in coastal waters worldwide; and water erosion in Hong Kong, Brazil, China and Sub-Saharan Africa.
     Risk and growth management systems can be formulated and implemented in ways that do not damage both economic development and environmental quality. The range of options for achieving this objective can be expanded by each organization, county (or local government area), state (or province) and country to cover incentives, regulations, public enlightenment, public/private partnerships, technical support and research aimed at providing more reliable information for decision-making. Optimization of these options by each country or administrative unit to suit its circumstance is required for sustainability of its systems and development. Ultimately, it will boil down to a standard (not quality) of life issue: what is the extent to which the public is willing to control its consumption patterns and/or pay for services that can produce unit improvements in environmental quality? In a democratic environment, public awareness, especially at the local level, increases the possibility that the right choices will be made. This is the rationale and target of our sustainable development conference series. For the first time, an African country will host this important event. With humility and excitement, I invite you to participate in this International Conference.

Prof. Hilary I. Inyang, Honorary Chair, ICIDEN-ABUJA 2006
President, International Society of Environmental Geotechnology(ISEG)
President, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction (GADR) Duke Energy Distinguished Professor and Director, Global Institute for Energy and Environmental Systems (GIEES)
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC, USA