The R’09 conference (14 – 16 September 2009) and the World Resources Forum will take place simultaneously in Davos, Switzerland, and in Nagoya, Japan as well as in Berlin, thanks to the latest technology.

Davos/Nagoya - This arrangement is intended to reduce the number of intercontinental flights taken by participants. A life cycle analysis carried out after the conference is over will throw light on exactly how much pollution the environment has been spared in this way.

According to information, everyone will be thinking about energy efficiency and resource management in Davos from the 14th to the 16th September. The primary aim of the R’09 Conference, now being held for the ninth time, is to improve the material usage and energy efficiency of manufactured products, services and processes, whether during the production, usage or even the recycling phases. The topics covered, range from renewable energy and innovative recovery and recycling technologies through life cycle analyses and eco-balance evaluations to the increasing scarcity of chemical elements which primarily find applications in the electronic industry, as well as sustainable solutions to the problem of the worldwide (and growing) mountains of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste).

The conference is being organized by Empa in cooperation with the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW), the EcoTopia Science Institute of the University of Nagoya and the Factor 10 Institute. Food for thought will be provided by (among others) Dennis Meadows, co-author of the Club of Rome’s 1972 study “The Limits of Growth”, Ashok Khosla, President of the Club of Rome and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as well as Ernst Ulrich von Weizsaecker, co-Chair of the Resources Committee of UNEP, the UN’s environmental resource program.

Simultaneously parts of the conference will be transmitted to Berlin, where are parallel event organized by the German Federal Environment Agency is taking place.

World Resources Forum
The “World Resources Forum” (WRF), held at the conclusion of the R’09 and also co-organized by Empa, is oriented toward politicians, scientists, entrepreneurs and consultants working in the field of sustainable resource management. The WRF is an independent, international discussion platform which deals intensively and in depth with topics relating to resource usage and innovation in resource productivity. Scientists, engineers and economists use the platform to analyze, question and discuss the all aspects of the global handling and usage of natural resources. The aim is to identify economic systems which take full account of the significance of resource utilization and productivity.

The WRF follows political aims — namely, to provide decision makers with realistic guidance and recommendations to help realize sustainable development. Subjects which are discussed at the WRF include new economic frameworks which lay greater emphasis on the sustainable usage of resources, as well as new funding models. In addition the WRF specialists are working on a declaration – a "call for action".

Detailed information on both events is available at www.r2009.org and www.worldresourcesforum.org.

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