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Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development
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Table of contents
- INTRODUCTION
- Combining our assets for a better graspunderstanding of environmental and health issues - Paul-Louis Girardot
- INTRODUCTION
Combining our assets for a better graspunderstanding of environmental and health issues - Paul-Louis Girardot
The Institut Pasteur kindly contributed to this conference its very rare cast of mind, that is, its independence, scientific exactitude, and will to innovate. Pasteur is the incarnation in our eyes of a particular way of experiencing the human adventure as a consequence of its very special history.
Cooperation between researchers, who are the major actors of public health, and entrepreneurs, the actors of material well-being, appeared to be possible on a common theme: scrupulous reflection on the subject of social and environmental responsibilities of public and private actors in the present context of globalisation.
It is true that Veolia Environnement and the Institut Pasteur have been working together for a very long time, which is possibly why they have a common approach to problems. This approach consists in confronting immediate issues, with a view to obtaining results and in a spirit of innovation, in order to solve basic problems troubling populations who are often deprived and who need to improve the basic conditions in which they live.
One may wonder why it was necessary to combine in this conference the two themes of environment and health. This association of two distinct, but complementary, issues, firstly has the advantage of touching upon one of the keys to sustainable development, at the centre of all public policies: interaction between the environment and the public health situation and the improvement of public health and living conditions.
Louis Pasteur taught us that public hygiene is a science, and we owe much to his teachings as regards methods and measures. Since that time, those who act on the environment have realised that they must operate a complete integration of the context, that is, their own by-products (sludgerry, smoke, odours, or air pollution, for example). However, to determine the "reasonable" limits of human implantation, there is no substitute to meticulous reasoning. Collective networks must therefore accomplish an essential task. With water networks, quality control becomes possible; the existence of collection networks for solid wastes is a way of avoiding uncontrolled dissemination.
In any event, it is clear that to conduct successfully these operations, non physical networks are also useful, those of knowledge and experience. This leads us directly to education, the key to knowledge and its transmission. In this respect, a study completed in 1996 produced results which came somewhat as a surprise compared to commonly accepted opinions. The subject was the incidence of gastrointestinal disorders in children, and it was evidenced that these regressed by 21% when the quality of drinking water was improved, by 27% with better sanitation, but above all, by 33% with improvements in behaviour.
When discussing global water shortages, it should be kept in mind that fostering good hygienic practices is just as important and essential as providing infrastructure.
However, it is sometimes very difficult to persuade a population, however educated, to adopt hygienic habits as it is illustrated by a frequently quoted case of a Paris suburb where, a few years ago, a source of non-drinkable water was in constant use despite frequent instructions to the contrary. The economic stakes underlying the social issues are, of course, of gigantic proportions.
A coordinated approach combining the environment, health and education could help to avoid serious disorders, and also have very positive effects on public expenditure. But the time dimension also needs to be introduced.
People frequently forget that in Paris, between the introduction of the first water network around 1780, and the almost complete disappearance of water bearers in 1880, a hundred years had passed.
And so, in compliance with the mission of the Institut Veolia Environnement, we are embarking on a reflection which bears on the very future of our societies. We do so while keeping in mind the need for great scientific exactitude, in the wake of Pasteur, and the need to validate actions in concrete terms, as we do every day of our lives in the pursuit of our activities. Sanitation gives scientific foundations and structure to environmental activities; education is a foundation for their social and economic usefulness, and sustainably so.
Institut Veolia Environnement |
| Institut Veolia Environnement was created in September 2001 as a non-profit organization at the initiative of Henri Proglio, Chairman and CEO of Veolia Environnement. Forum for thinking and interchange, the Institute aims at identifying major future trends that will shape Veolia Environnement and its business in the coming decades, promoting public debate about world sustainable development issues and creating opportunities for dialogue between companies, public institutions, scientific experts and civil society. The Foresight Committee, the Institute's central body, is made up of internationally renowned scientists and leading figures. They contribute to defining research priorities and giving guidance about the Institute's activities. They also bring their expertise to bear in broadening perspectives on subject relating to environment and sustainable development. |
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