permaculture

[Victor Guest <vic@daena.eepo.com.au>]

This is a CHALLENGE!!!!

Your input is invited.
Vic
--------------------------------snip-----------------------------


Reply-To: SAED-SHARE-L@cornell.edu

From: Phil Shepard <shepard@PILOT.MSU.EDU>

>Below is an important opportunity to put your ideas forth and influence
>the scientific community on the direction of environmentally relevant
>research!
>
>Phil Shepard
>shepard@pilot.msu.edu
>(517) 332-0761
>---------------------------
>
>As you can see from the following, a project that I'm working on is
>soliciting ideas for the big challenges for the environmental sciences
>over the next few decades.  The committee is serious about casting a wide
>net for ideas, and that includes people outside the universities and even
>outside the scientific community.  Please forward this message to others
>and to any listserves you know that might reach the authors of good ideas.
>Also please feel free to submit your own ideas.  Thank you very much.
>-Paul Stern, National Research Council
>
>
>Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences:  Seeking Input
>
>
>A new committee of the United States National Research Council (Committee
>on Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences) has been asked by the
>National Science Foundation to identify and prioritize grand challenges in
>environmental sciences that are likely to be relevant over the next 10-30
>years.  The committee would like advice from the scientific community and
>others.  The idea is to describe a few grand challenges that appear to
>have the greatest scientific importance, research potential, and practical
>value.  The definition of environmental sciences is broad, including the
>natural sciences, the social sciences, and engineering.  A description of
>the project's scope and a list of committee members with brief
>biographical sketches will be available on the Web at <www.nas.edu/gces>
>as soon as this Web site is complete, about February 8, 1999.
>
>The committee invites submission of ideas for grand challenges in
>environmental sciences; it will use those ideas to help it in its task, and
>anticipates inviting some respondents to a future workshop for more
>extended discussions.   The time and place of the workshop will be
>announced on the committee's Web site.
>
>The committee considers that any grand challenge must be compelling to
>scientists and the public, must require a sustained research effort, and
>must be intellectually exciting.  Beyond that, we ask you to provide the
>following information about your candidate grand challenge:
>
>A.  A one-sentence summary that will quickly convey your idea to a broad
>audience.
>
>B.  A narrative description of the challenge.
>
>C.  Evaluation of the challenge in terms of all the following criteria that
>are relevant to your idea:
>
>       Scientific payoff.
>
>       Practical payoff (i.e., help in solving environmental problems).
>
>       Feasibility (likelihood that valuable results would be produced
>       over the next ten years).
>
>       The need for interdisciplinary collaboration, especially if it builds
>       capacity for dealing with other challenges.
>
>       Research resources available or needed, including infrastructure such
>       as new technology or information systems.
>
>       The ability of existing institutions to support the research effort.
>
>We encourage you to think broadly and to provide ideas that make
>connections among the sciences and between science and practical needs.
>The committee will begin to consider suggestions on February 26, 1999 and
>suggestions will be most useful if they are received by then.  However, it
>is likely that suggestions received even as late as the beginning of May
>will be at least of some help to the committee.  We ask for your
>suggestions, preferably by email to GCES@NAS.EDU.  Please also provide
>your name, your affiliation (if any), your email address, your mailing
>address, and your telephone number.
>
>We ask you to keep your suggestion to a maximum of one printed page.  You
>may use the email address provided above for questions about our committee
>and our process as well as for your suggestions.  You can also find
>information on the committee's activities and its report on its Web site.
>
>We look forward to receiving your suggestions.  We also encourage you to
>share this message with colleagues who may be interested.
>
>Committee on Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences
>National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council
>Room HA-354
>2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
>Washington DC 20418
>U.S.A.
>

*************************************

Nancy Grudens-Schuck, Ph.D.

Department of Education
422 Kennedy Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853

PHONE office: 607 255-2508
FAX: 607 255-7905
E-Mail: ng13@cornell.edu
http://www.cals.cornell.edu/dept/education/faculty/grudens/