What is the value of knowledge? What is the difference between private and public knowledge? What is the relationship of knowledge to conscious? How can we know? Is knowledge valuable because of its role in practical reasoning?
These are some of the daunting questions that philosophers ask about the nature of knowledge.
No matter what your answer is, ISWA created what is called ISWA Knowledge Base. And I am sure that all ISWA members and followers are as proud as I am for that initiative!
Just visit http://www.iswa.org/en/525/knowledge_base.html and you will find a free for all - open access waste management library that already contains 863 documents from different resources, including a lot of ISWA publications and technical documents. And soon it will contain at least double. You know why?
First, because the open access library is fed with materials from at least 4-5 ISWA conferences per year.
Second, because ISWA is working closely with several other international institutions to promote interesting waste management publications and make them available through the Knowledge Base.
And third, because ISWA invites everyone to contribute to the Knowledge Base with technical and scientific papers. Every author can provide materials related to waste management, of course except advertising ones.
The concept behind ISWA’s Knowledge Base is simple: in a globalized world, where waste management is becoming one of the most challenging problems and scientific knowledge is produced simultaneously from thousands different sources, a free for all digital library is the minimum we can do to provide know-how to the ones that need it more!
In other words, ISWA serves the Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which states that “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”
Such “open access” thinking is what powers internet phenomena such as Wikipedia, which currently contains more than three million articles, and Creative Commons which allows users to find artwork that they can legally reuse. Recently, it is also the justification behind academic sharing, such as the OpenCourseWare consortium and other smaller projects sharing academic work.
Last but not least: ISWA should promote Knowledge Base and make it the WASTEPEDIA of the web – I am sure it can be done and thousands of people will contribute to that. Let’s do it…
8.24.2011
5.06.2011
Coming back from Napoli
I just finished a presentation I delivered to “Summer School: Biological and Thermal Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste” that took place in Napoli, Italy, 2-6 May 2011. This is a summer school organized in the framework of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate ETeCoS3 (www.internationaldoctorate.unicas.it )
I really enjoyed the spirit of the event. Although I did not followed all presentations, I recognized high level - expertise presentations, thoughtful questions and answers, and a feeling that those new researchers are trying to dig deeper than the surface of their science and they have time and the capacity to do it.
I am really thankful to my friend and coleague David Newman (ISWA’s Vice- President) for suggesting me to the organizers. Special thanks to Giovanni Espozito and Flavia Liotta, both from University of Cassino for their efforts to arrange all logistics and their hospitality.
Best regards to (hopefully) new friends Eric, Piet and Francois.
My presentation will be soon available to my Scribd Account.
Last but probably not least: Napoli is still full of small dumpsites, even in the historical center - the waste management problem has not yet been resolved and according the discussions I had, it will be come event worst within next year because the landfills that now serve 60% of the waste will be come completely saturated...
I really enjoyed the spirit of the event. Although I did not followed all presentations, I recognized high level - expertise presentations, thoughtful questions and answers, and a feeling that those new researchers are trying to dig deeper than the surface of their science and they have time and the capacity to do it.
I am really thankful to my friend and coleague David Newman (ISWA’s Vice- President) for suggesting me to the organizers. Special thanks to Giovanni Espozito and Flavia Liotta, both from University of Cassino for their efforts to arrange all logistics and their hospitality.
Best regards to (hopefully) new friends Eric, Piet and Francois.
My presentation will be soon available to my Scribd Account.
Last but probably not least: Napoli is still full of small dumpsites, even in the historical center - the waste management problem has not yet been resolved and according the discussions I had, it will be come event worst within next year because the landfills that now serve 60% of the waste will be come completely saturated...
4.29.2011
Waste Management 2030+
This is an article I prepared for the magazine Waste Management World. It is based on my key-note lecture at ISWA´s conference in Lisbon, October 2009.
The purpose of the article is to outline the major trends and challenges that will shape the future of waste management for the next few decades. Although in our complex and unpredictable world ‘prediction is very difficult, especially about the future’ (Niels Bohr), there are certain trends and facts that more or less create the ‘bigger picture’ in which the waste management industry will evolve. Interestingly, discussion of these trends has not up till now directly linked them with waste management – at least not according to the author’s knowledge.
Putting these trends together and considering the consequences they will have for waste management, it is clear that new challenges are emerging, and the current situation must be seen in a different way. Our waste management systems and our market conditions, even at their best, are incapable of handling the growing amounts of waste globally. So unless a new paradigm of global cooperation and governance is adopted, a tsunami of uncontrolled dumpsites will be the prevailing waste management method, especially in Asia.
The whole article can be found at:
http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/display/article-display/8267238380/articles/waste-management-world/volume-11/issue-2/features/waste-management_2030.html
I hope you will enjoy it
The purpose of the article is to outline the major trends and challenges that will shape the future of waste management for the next few decades. Although in our complex and unpredictable world ‘prediction is very difficult, especially about the future’ (Niels Bohr), there are certain trends and facts that more or less create the ‘bigger picture’ in which the waste management industry will evolve. Interestingly, discussion of these trends has not up till now directly linked them with waste management – at least not according to the author’s knowledge.
Putting these trends together and considering the consequences they will have for waste management, it is clear that new challenges are emerging, and the current situation must be seen in a different way. Our waste management systems and our market conditions, even at their best, are incapable of handling the growing amounts of waste globally. So unless a new paradigm of global cooperation and governance is adopted, a tsunami of uncontrolled dumpsites will be the prevailing waste management method, especially in Asia.
The whole article can be found at:
http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/display/article-display/8267238380/articles/waste-management-world/volume-11/issue-2/features/waste-management_2030.html
I hope you will enjoy it
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