INSTITUT Veolia Environnement

  • Home
  • Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development

Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development

  • Table of contents
    • Models must take into account the local context to promote knowledge and training
      • How to cope with the complexity of sanitation and environmental models to have an effect on populations - Jacqueline McGLADE

How to cope with the complexity of sanitation and environmental models to have an effect on populations - Jacqueline McGLADE

So far, most sanitary and environmental planning decisions are based on models for analysing consequences, which are very restrictive because simulations are very crude. Today's models are becoming more interactive and demand the participation of all those involved, including in particular children. Nevertheless, there is still in Europe a problem of coordination in government departments engaged in protecting the environment.

Contemporary health and environment issues have grown in range and complexity. There has been an explosion of knowledge coupled with a recognition of the number of interactions between human life and its physical environment, so we lack reliable and conclusive evidence. This has given rise to delays or misdirection in key decisions and actions.

Unfortunately, many health and environment institutions seem to be convinced that the effects of interventions can be predicted reliably. The reason why this belief is so widely held is that most existing planning models encourage health professionals and environmental managers to simulate the future in a crude way. However, for any health-environment model to include the widest array of possible interactions and future states, its inner workings would have to contain so many factors that the model would cease to be manageable.

Remarkably, most health and environment planning decisions have ignored these issues and have concentrated instead on a highly restrictive view of what is actually happening. Thus, we often find that environmental scientists and health professionals have been forced into a position where they are trapped by the limitations of their own knowledge.

In response to this, traditional approaches to education and science-society interactions are being transformed by more iterative models involving active and shared participation, that give a more central role to indigenous knowledge, public participation and to the two way communication of facts, values, and expertise.

Few of these exercises have directly involved children, but many of the lessons being learnt from these experiments in public participation are relevant to the younger generations. It is a fact that more and more people, children in particular, fall victim to the degradation of their environment. For example, a degraded environment may be the cause of cases of asthma (a disease which is increasingly widespread) or even cancers. The European Environment Agency is well aware of the problem and publishes environmental signals annually which inform the population concerned about the quality of their local environment. This is part of growing European awareness of these issues.

It is to be noted however, that legislation regarding the environment differs considerably from one part of Europe to the other and that there are no less than 380 varieties coexisting on the European continent. Although, generally speaking, these legal frameworks ensure adequate protection of water, it is true to say that the price of water treatment is borne by the consumer. In contrast, for atmospheric pollution, concern is shared by Ministers in the European Union. They wish for regular reports on ozone, including specific findings, based on solid and undisputable scientific data. However, our environment is in a constant state of flux so that measurement is a complex task.

In the circumstances, it is worth debating how much immediate information should be disseminated. The Agency's objective is to establish a link between long term and short term reports. On the contrary, political leaders would like us to anticipate fortuitous events, which is of course totally impossible.

The Agency has undertaken several projects designed to raise awareness in the public on matters related to the environment and health. They originally addressed the adult population, but are increasingly addressing children.

As an example, this is the type of action we have undertaken on the North East coastline of Brazil: the tourist industry wished to construct infrastructure. We were able to point out some of the environmental aspects with an impact on the ecosystem to those in charge of this project so that they could integrate them in their planning.

Good health policies require action on the ground

Producing good policies in an office is very difficult. They have to be developed on the spot, on a local level. Sustainable development is a key issue, for which both rich and poor countries are responsible. Plans developed to help countries often pose some very difficult challenges. There is a need for more commitment and finance from donors in favour of health. Take the example of vaccines. One company decided to develop vaccines containing five antigens, and the competition did likewise. There is now a 50% reduction in the price of that vaccine.
Tore GODAL, Executive Secretary, Global Alliances for Vaccines and Immunization