Calling all environmental writers

• The Fondazione Lanza is sponsoring an environmental journalism competition to coincide with the Third International Conference on Ethics and Environmental Policies - New Europe and Environmental Issues being held 26-28 September 1996 in Bratislava.

  The initiative will award exceptional articles dealing with "sustainable development and the culture of consumption" within the context of the transformations that are characterizing the "new" Europe. Prizes will range from ECU 500 to ECU 1,000 for previously published articles.

  Applications must be accompanied by an original copy of the article and an abstract in English. The deadline is 15 July 1996. For further information, please contact: Lucia Mariani - Ethics and Environmental Policies Project, Fondazione Lanza, Via Dante, 55, 35139 Padova, Italy; Tel/Fax (39-49) 8756788.

The world's state

• Millennium Institute's State of the World Indicators are out, and the prognosis isn't exactly confidence inspiring. There are 5,778,623,832 people living on Earth. In 9 years, there won't be enough land to support a "Northern" (read wealthy, consumer-culture) diet. The number rises to 40 years for a "Southern" diet. On average, 104 species become extinct every day; it will be 10 years until one-third of all species are gone. In 4 years, half of all known crude oil reserves will be gone; in 24 years, 80 percent will have been consumed. A look up reveals that 60 percent of the ozone over the Antarctic has been depleted, and that the amount of carbon dioxide will double in 61 years.

Number crunching

• Resources for the Future reported that in 1993 the economic benefits obtained by meeting European Community standards for ambient concentrations of total suspended particulates, sulfur dioxide and lead ranged from 0.0 percent of GDP in the Czech Republic to 11.5 percent in Hungary.

Free skills

• Free copies of Greenpeace's Skillshare, a how-to publication on preparing a campaign, are now available in Slovak, Hungarian, Russian and Polish. If you would like to obtain your own copy of this valuable publication, please contact: Eldonejo "Verdaj Brigadoj", Slawkowska 12/24, 31-014 Krakow, Poland; Tel/Fax: (48-12) 222-147; E-mail: zielbryg@gn.apc.org.

EMTCNET Digest launched

• The EMTC Network has launched the EMTCNET Digest, an electronic newsletter that will provide information about the developments of the EMTC Network and its members. EMTCNET Digest will be distributed using an unmoderated mailing list. To subscribe and receive the first issue, send an e-mail message with an empty subject heading and a message that reads "subscribe emtcnet-digest" to listserv@rec.org.

Meeting needs in Albania

• Members of the Local Office and Outreach Team visited the Albanian Local Office to discuss the business plan and the capacity building program. "The trip confirmed our impression that capacity building is still the biggest area for improvement in Albania. The local office is very much aware of this and they are taking the right steps to meet this need. But help from Budapest is still needed," said LOOT Team Leader Alexandar Juras.

Video library on-line

• The REC Library Video Database is now available on-line. The Video Database describes 85 environmental video tapes that are available at the REC. Titles include Black Sea for All of Us, I Need the Earth and the Earth Needs Me, and Measures of Pollution Prevention in Baia Mare.

Legislation in English

• REC has recently obtained an official English-language version of the recently passed Hungarian Environmental Protection Act. Copies are available from the REC's Business Information Service. For further information, contact Jerome Simpson at REC head office or via e-mail at: jerome@rec.org.

Do you know where your fellows are?

• Tudor Balinisteanu, a REC Junior Fellow in September 1994, is now working in the Amsterdam office of European Youth For(est) Action. Tudor is participating in their Eastern European Exchange Program. EYFA, an umbrella group of European environmental/alternative lifestyle organizations, is best known as the organizer of the annual eco-camp "Ecotopia."