Langaas, S. (Ed.) (1998). Proceedings of the BALLERINA First Annual Conference, 22-23 May 1997, Riga, Latvia. GRID-Arendal Project Report 202028/98/1

ISBN 82-7701-005-2

Cover: S. Langaas

Additional copies of the report can be ordered from:
UNEP/GRID-Arendal
Global Resource Information Database
Longum Park, P.O. Box 1602, Myrene,
N-4801 Arendal, NORWAY
Tel.: (47) 370 35 650
Fax: (47) 370 35 050
E-mail: grid@grida.no
http://www.grida.no/

The Internet version of the report is accessible at:
http://www.baltic-region.net/about/

The BALLERINA First Annual Conference was organised by the BALLERINA Interim Steering Committee with the assistance of Latvian Fund for Nature, Latvian Environmental Data Centre and Baltic Environmental Forum.

This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes provided acknowledgment of the source is made. The BALLERINA lead parties, UNEP/GRID-Arendal and Stockholm Marine Research Centre would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source.

Further information
Dr. Sindre Langaas, UNEP/GRID-Arendal, BALLERINA network co-ordinator
Phone: +46-8-161737. Fax: +46-8-158417. E-mail: langaasgrida.no

Ms. Britt Hägerhäll Aniansson, SMF, BALLERINA editor
Phone: +46-8-161727. Fax: +46-8-157956. E-mail: ballerinasmf.su.se

The BALLERINA web site
http://www.baltic-region.net/

Printed 1998 by:
Akademitryck AB,
S- 590 98 Edsbruk,
Sweden

TABLE OF CONTENT

• ABSTRACT
• OPENING SESSION
  • Organisers welcome address. Mr. Sindre Langaas, BALLERINA Network Co-ordinator, UNEP/GRID-Arendal
  • Official Latvian welcome remarks. Mr. Guntis Pukitis, State Secretary,
  • Latvian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
  • The BALLERINA initiative: History, Present and Future. Sindre Langaas, BALLERINA Network Co-ordinator, UNEP/GRID-Arendal
  • The BALLERINA web site. Britt Hägerhäll Aniansson, BALLERINA
  • Editor, Stockholm Marine Research Centre
• BALLERINA PARTNER PRESENTATION SESSION
  • Oral presentations
  • Geographical user interface for network-based Baltic Marine Environment Information System: BALTICSEAWEB Mr. Anssi Neuvonen, Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT)
  • RECNet - Regional Environmental Cooperative Network. Mr. Rossen Rossev, Regional Environment Centre, Hungary
  • State of the Environment in Finland. Ms. Raija Leppäjärvi, Finnish Environment Institute
  • The Emerging Network Infrastructure in NW Russia: Present Situation, problems, and Solutions. Mr. Nathaniel S. Trumbull, Director Transboundary Environment Information Agency
  • Recent developments in EIONET and its expansion to PHARE countries. Mr. Hannu Saarenmaa, EIONET Project Manager, European Environment Agency
  • Virtual Meetings for Real Problems - the Baltic 21 Web site. Ms. Ulrika Hagbarth, Baltic 21 Secreteriat, Ministry of Environment - Sweden
  • Environmental Information on WWW sites in Lithuania. Eugenija Lelyte & Zigmas Bigelis, Joint Research Centre of Environmental Protection Ministry of Lithuania, Lithuania
  • Estonian Environmental Home Page. Mr. Andrus Meiner, Estonian Environment Information Centre
  • Ecological Russian Net Magazine ECONEWS. Mr. Vladimir F. Levchencko, Ecological Russian Net Magazine Econews
  • Community Access to Environmental Data and Information. Mr. Stephen Goransson, US EPA 5
  • Public Awareness and Environmental Education Clearinghouse. Mr. Raimonds Ernsteins & Valdis Bisters, CESAMS, Univ. of Latvia
  • BASICS, a statistical database over the Baltic Sea Region. Mr. Lars Rydén, Baltic University Programme, Sweden
  • Paper presentations
• WORKING GROUP SESSION
  • Working Group 1: Institutional Set-up
  • Working Group 2: BALLERINA web site structure, content and design
  • Working Group 3: Capacity Building
• CONCLUDING SESSION
• APPENDICES
  • Appendix I List of Participants
  • Appendix II BALLERINA - A Brief Overview (Information leaflet)
  • Appendix III BALLERINA - an Internet based environmental information co-operative network and gateway to the Baltic Sea Region. Paper presented at: 7th Stockholm Water Symposium/3rd International Conference on the Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS), 10-15 August 1997, Stockholm, Sweden.

ABSTRACT

During the two days, the Conference was able to agree on the institutional set-up for BALLERINA. This set-up was made sufficiently flexible to reflect the voluntary nature of the BALLERINA network. UNEP/GRID-Arendal and Stockholm Marine Research Centre were elected as lead parties for the period 1997 -2000. An advisory board composed of twelve prominent persons, representing a wide range of institutional types, from most countries in the Baltic Sea Region, was also elected for the same period. Furthermore, the Conference discussed the current structure, design and content of the first version of the BALLERINA web site (http://www.baltic-region.net/) and provided ample advice to the lead parties in how to improve it. The issue of capacity building and other types of assistance was also discussed at length. It was concluded that this is sorely needed within the CEE and NIS states of the region, however that the type of assistance needed varies among countries.

A major part of the Conference dealt with presentations of various Internet projects of the various BALLERINA partners attending the Conference. These presentations clearly demonstrated the strength in the Internet medium for transboundary information sharing as well as the creative information forces that can be unleashed by the power of this new tool.

The Conference vividly illustrated that despite the blessings of the Internet for communication among like-minded, it can never replace face-to-face meetings such as this.

The BALLERINA First Annual Conference was organised by the BALLERINA Interim Steering Committee with the assistance of Latvian Fund for Nature, Latvian Environmental Data Centre and Baltic Environmental Forum.

OPENING SESSION

Organisers welcome address. Mr. Sindre Langaas, BALLERINA Network Co-ordinator, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

The conference objectives and outputs were identified as being several. In many ways it could be considered a constituting General Assembly of the BALLERINA network, Langaas stated. Further, it would give valuable input to the important debate on the development of the BALLERINA web site, as well as on necessary and important capacity building measures to improve the information availability. Additionally, the conference would give an opportunity for many participants to present their on-going work, and equally for others to learn about planned or on-going projects. A very important add-on effect of a meeting such as this, would be the many informal discussions that will take part between prospective partners, he added.

Finally, Mr. Langaas expressed his gratitude to the local co-organisers; Latvian Fund for Nature (LFN), Latvian Environment Data Centre (LEDC) and the Baltic Environmental Forum (BEF), for their excellent choice of Conference venue, in the middle of the historical Riga Old Town, and their substantial organisational efforts.

Officialn Latvian welcome remarks. Mr. Guntis Pukitis, State Secretary, Latvian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development

Mr. Pukitis ended his welcome address by wishing the BALLERINA initiative all success and promised that the Latvian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development would give it as much support as possible.

The BALLERINA initiative: History, Present and Future. Sindre Langaas, BALLERINA Network Co-ordinator, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Autumn 1995
At a workshop in Latvia, the Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) dealing with the North American bilateral Great Lakes region was presented. Mr Pranas Pranckevicius, US EPA Region V then suggested that a "GLIN" for the Baltic Sea Region might be an attractive way to share and disseminate environmental information for this transboundary region. He proposal was followed-up by UNEP/GRID-Arendal and supported financially by the Swedish EPA.

Spring - Summer 1996
A conceptual discussion paper was developed. This paper elaborated some of the issues related to the set-up of such a regional information network and was to a large extent based upon the GLIN model. The paper was the main background paper at an international BALLERINA workshop organised jointly by the Swedish EPA and UNEP/GRID-Arendal in Stockholm, June 1996. Attended by 65 persons from 35 institutions from 12 countries in the region as well as the GLIN Director Carol Ratza, the overall concept was unanimously agreed upon, and a number of useful viewpoints regarding the various institutional, technical and financial issues were given. The workshop nominated an Interim Steering Committee (ISC) to ensure proper follow-up of the conclusions of the meeting.

Autumn 1996
The BALLERINA initiative and concept was presented to the European Environment Agency (EEA), HELCOM, and a number of national institutions by the ISC. The concept was very well received. Initial identification of funding sources started.

Winter - Spring 1997
Strong regional political support received at the first Baltic 21 Senior Official Groups (SOG) meeting in Stockholm, January. Successful fund raising. Financial support was received from EEA, the Ministries of Environment in Norway and Sweden, and from Swedish EPA. The BALLERINA-web site was launched on April 29. The First Annual Conference being held in Riga, Latvia.

The Future
Mr Langaas stressed that it is important to remember that BALLERINA comprises more than the website. It consists of three parts;

• The BALLERINA partners and their websites
• The BALLERINA network
• The BALLERINA website

Mr Langaas continued with what he considered a personal wish list for the future development of BALLERINA under these three headings:

BALLERINA PARTNERS AND THEIR WEB SITES

• More and better State of Environment Reports and also a Baltic one (preferably produced by HELCOM)!
• An overview of the Baltic Sea State Countries accedance to various treaties, working as an enforcement factor.
• All relevant institutions on-line
• Interactive services on-line

BALLERINA NETWORK

• Improved communication between environmental information people and institutions, e.g., by the annual conference
• Reduced east-west gap in Internet technology access and usage, for example by capacity building
• National information accessible for the whole region

BALLERINA WEBSITE

• Keep the BALLERINA web site at a high quality, complete and user friendly.
• Mailing lists
• Improve search possibilities
• Start a searchable/browsable database of organisations from A to Z
• Frequently Asked Questions about the Baltic Sea Region

He concluded by stating that two factors would have the most significant impact upon the BALLERINA development in the future, of which factor was completely out of control of the BALLERINA network, while the other was completely under its control. The first factor was the technological development of Internet. The other factor was how BALLERINA partner took advantage out of the Internet and thereby made BALLERINA the one-stop mall for environmental information.

The BALLERINA web site. Britt Hägerhäll Aniansson, BALLERINA Editor, Stockholm Marine Research Centre

The Baltic Sea Region - the drainage area of the Baltic Sea, including parts of 14 countries - is the common determinator for the selection of information collected, sorted and presented by BALLERINA. However, when doing so, the region is clearly placed in its international and pan-European geopolitical context.

The purpose of BALLERINA is to provide a broad spectrum of users with:

• a gateway to (or a clearing-house for) information on environment, natural resources and sustainable development in the Baltic Sea Region;
• clear and relevant pathways to such information, to ensure as good an overview as possible of what is offered;
• a time-saving tool by showing the way to informative, annotated links on various topics included on the site;
• an objective guide to information on Baltic Sea Region issues available on the web (on-line) or through other channels (off-line);
• a transparent, open, user-friendly and technically as "neutral" as possible information tool;
• a virtual meeting place, encouraging communication and exchange of information and experience between like-minded within the Baltic Sea Region,
• and with people world-wide expressing an interest in the region.

Another purpose with BALLERINA is to identify information gaps, point to needs for additional information, and actively stimulate further on-line publishing of information in a Baltic Sea Region context.

The existence of BALLERINA could, hopefully, be a challenge to those who can and wish to supply information of Baltic Sea Region relevance, to make their information available on-line and in English. By doing so, they will help increase the quantity as well as the availability of information.

Among BALLERINA advantages could be mentioned that it

• is an independent information initiative with one sole purpose - to guide users to a broad spectrum of information resources and ways to communicate on issues of fundamental importance to the future of the region.
• is guided by the principle of networking, opening doors, i.e., by the fundamental principle of free access to information.
• provides a high degree of flexibility.

Mrs. Hägerhäll Aniansson also presented a brief guide to the various sections of BALLERINA web site:

Baltic facts

The information provided here should, hopefully, supply basic answers to questions about the Baltic Sea itself and its major sub-basins and to questions about the 14 countries that depend on and jointly affect the drainage area of the sea. The links supplied so far for the Baltic Sea and its sub-basins include mainly environmental issues, but an effort has also been made to publish some basic descriptions about the characteristics, special features, pre-conditions and problems. Regarding the 14 countries of the drainage area, links are made to a variety of national or general resources providing a broad range of information on these countries.

Actors

In recent years, a large number of initiatives have been taken and networks established in the Baltic Sea Region. A considerable number of organisations - the traditional international bodies, pan-European organisations and networks, pan-Baltic and national organisations, NGOs and people-to-people initiatives, etc. - are active in a broad range of capacities and roles.

The ACTORS section of the BALLERINA has been structured to provide some basic answers to, inter alia, questions like

• who is doing what in the Baltic Sea Region?
• who is in charge, and who is paying?
• who are the important actors and what are their fields of responsibility, or spheres of interest?
• where can the actors be found and where can more information about different initiatives (intergovernmental conventions, actions programmes, citizens initiatives, NGO work programmes, etc.) be found?
• how are various initiatives interrelated, supportive, complementary and how do they differ?
• where could like-minded be found and how can duplication of work or contradictory work and expenses be avoided?

Environment

The ENVIRONMENT section is a main focus for the BALLERINA. It is also the least complete section so far, and probably at the same time the one with most potential to set a model for Internet-based regional information on environment, natural resources and sustainable development. 15 sectors or issues that affect the terrestrial as well as the marine and freshwater environments of the Baltic Sea Region are presently included, as a first attempt to guide visitors to more issue-specific, interesting (and as up to date as possible) environmental information. Obviously, it is a formidable task to define, select and group information sources on environmental issues of relevance to the region. What is relevant information? What is specifically Baltic, and which factors are of major importance for the state of the environment in the Baltic Sea Region although not specifically Baltic?

Meeting points

The BALLERINA aims at improving communication within the Baltic Sea Region community concerned with environment, natural resources and sustainable development. So far, a Regional Calendar is provided on the BALLERINA. A mailing list will be opened on BALLERINA during the autumn of 1997. It will be a forum for announcements as well as for discussions.

Science

The ambition is to make the SCIENCE section a comprehensive gateway to on-line information on international activities on environmental science and education in the Baltic Sea Region, as well as to initiatives on new solutions and technology (technological progress, clean production, etc.) in the field of environment, use of natural resources and efforts to achieve sustainable development. That way, the BALLERINA would offer a special place for the scientific and technical community, as well as for everybody else with a particular interest in scientific/educational work and new technical solutions focused on environmental issues of relevance to the Baltic Sea Region.

Baltic 21

This individual web site, and separate section of BALLERINA, is provided by the Baltic 21 Secretariat. It continuously tracks the development of the Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region - Baltic 21 - by offering full access to various types of working documents, information about the participants and the meeting schedule and reports. It also offers opportunities for on-line discussion and sharing of views. In itself, this web site is a good example on how an international programme development can be made as transparent as possible, by means of Internet.

BALLERINA PARTNER PRESENTATION SESSION

Oral presentations

Geographical user interface for network-based Baltic Marine Environment Information System: BALTICSEAWEB . Mr. Anssi Neuvonen, Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT)

The information system to be developed is an extension of an existing bibliographic database, which is accessible via traditional on-line information retrieval systems as well by WWW search form. The database, however, in its present form can be regarded relatively poorly accessible and not well known among professional and end users.

BALTICSEAWEB is based on a real user need for more accessible information on Baltic Sea environmental condition. The project will produce a practical and visible demonstrator, which will likely serve as a generic model for future developments in the area of enhanced information retrievability.

Bibliographic material on the Baltic Sea has been collected since 1975 within the framework of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, HELCOM. Presently, the database covers material since 1970 and is available on-line in Germany, Sweden and Finland.

The Baltic Marine Environment Bibliography covers information on all marine areas from the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia in the east and north to the Belt Sea and Kattegat in the west. The major part of the material for the database is obtained directly from authors, institutes and libraries (so called "grey literature") and to a lesser extent from monitoring journals and serials. The original documents are deposited in officially nominated contact libraries in every Baltic Sea state. The documents can be ordered as loans or photocopies through local scientific libraries from the contact libraries.

BALTICSEAWEB complements a number of other relevant projects and initiatives, such as MARIS , BALLERINA and EDMED . It will be of considerable benefit to decision makers in the area of environmental policies but also to commercial companies whose need to take account of environmental factors is ever increasing.

Partners involved in the BALTICSEAWEB in addition to VTT are:

• From Sweden: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency / Library
• From Germany:
• Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany / Library (http://www.bsh.de/bsheng.htm)
• Federal Research Centre for Fisheries

BALTICSEAWEB is supported by European Commission DG XIII within the framework of Telematics Applications Programme . The project falls within Action Line B, call topic 5: End user access to inter-library network resources.

RECNet - Regional Environmental Cooperative Network. Mr. Rossen Rossev, Regional Environment Centre, Hungary

In the field of information, the RECnet have a well-filled website, in many ways resembling the BALLERINA website. RECnet also provide the same information through various types of Internet protocols and servers Gopher, ftp and CD-ROM for all users that don't have access to Internet. A new feature is the search engine EnviroPhantom, that search not only the REC-server, but also numerous servers containing relevant information, both in the region and in other parts of the world.

State of the Environment in Finland. Ms. Raija Leppäjärvi, Finnish Environment Institute

The Emerging Network Infrastructure in NW Russia: Present Situation, problems, and Solutions. Mr. Nathaniel S. Trumbull, Director Transboundary Environment Information Agency

Recent developments in EIONET and its expansion to PHARE countries. Mr. Hannu Saarenmaa, EIONET Project Manager, European Environment Agency

The EIONET is an official, intergovernmental network, serving both the decision makers and the public. It shall support e.g., integrated analysis of national SoE-reports and help in meetings, discussions and decisions. It shall also connect EEA member countries and PHARE countries, through the National Focal Points and via Topic Centres, support and link a diverse set of Special Interest Networks and serve as a quality control.

This means that it is split in three, partly overlapping, parts; an Intranet, an Extranet and a public EIONET. The latter is becoming more and more important.

Virtual Meetings for Real Problems - the Baltic 21 Web site. Ms. Ulrika Hagbarth, Baltic 21 Secreteriat, Ministry of Environment - Sweden

Environmental Information on WWW sites in Lithuania. Eugenija Lelyte & Zigmas Bigelis, Joint Research Centre of Environmental Protection Ministry of Lithuania, Lithuania)

Eugenija Lelyte, the webmaster of this first environmental website, has been launched to the LITNET through modem and public line. Only two users of Environmental Protection Ministry had an access to Internet.

In the beginning of 1996 the background of Ministry LAN has been developed under support of USAID/US EPA. The Ministry LAN has been joined to Public Institutions Computer Network VIKT of Lithuania through dedicated line and router. This connection enabled a part of LAN clients to have an access to Internet.

In 1996, the development of a Ministry of Environment Protection website began. In the same year two other websites were developed. These websites contains information about Vilnius town Air Quality (http://vilnair.gamta.lt) and about Gamma Monitoring in Lithuania. In 1997 Vilnius Air Quality website has been linked to Ministry homepage and Gamma Monitoring (Radiation Information) website is under testing.

The Ministry LAN has been enhanced and now consists of more than 50 users. Some of them have access to Internet services. The obstacle to have Internet access for all are weak PCs and a restricted number of IP addresses.

Structure of information

The information on all websites consist of :

• environmental information
• legal information
• administrative information
• other information

Environmental information (in English and Lithuanian) consists of:

• Environmental Protection Strategy of Lithuania
• Environmental Status, Processes, Trends in Lithuania
• Environmental Monitoring
• Hot spots in Lithuania
• Environmental Labeling
• Organizations dealing with Environmental Protection
• Conferences
• Publications
• Environmental Education and Science
• Vilnius Air Quality (this website contains links to BALTNET)
• Gamma Monitoring (under testing)

Legal information (in Lithuanian) consists of :

• Minister's decrees
• Conventions
• Contracts
• Projects
• Reports

Administrative information (in English and Lithuanian) consists of

• Organisational structure of Ministry
• Telephones of all employees of Ministry HQ and Regional Departments and other institutions in Ministry
• Faxes
• Email addresses of Ministry employees

Other information to be interested for users

• Environmental Information URL in Europe and over world
• Internet for beginners (in Lithuanian)
• Lithuanian Records book (in Lithuanian)
• Internet services in Lithuania (in Lithuanian)

Proposals and problems

A. The main problem is enhancement of information content management. The first website was created by informatics specialist Eugenija Lelyte (euglel@ktl.mii.lt). But to get a success is very important to join the most important environmental information and the assistance of environmental specialists are needed. To support this process the nomination of an editorial board consisting of Parliament Nature Protection Committee, Prime Ministerial advisor on Environmental Protection, and Ministry specialists has been discussed and got a preliminary approval.

Improvement of information content should be performed on all levels - both BALLERINA website and on national websites. We should discuss developing of a number of tables of contents or graphical schemes containing information in different aspects, e.g. environmental objects (air, water and so on), indicators, global and regional problems (climate change, ozone), conventions and so on. The links should be made both to world information and to national information.

B. Another direction is enhancement of power of webmasters both in hardware and in software. As information is developed by a small number of enthusiasts it is very important to use the most efficient tools to develop high quality websites.

C. One of problems to be solved in the nearest future is data and information security. We plan to install a firewall for the Ministry LAN and should need more support and .advice for evaluating of entire security system.

D. A very important issue is testing, evaluating and implementation of the advanced information technologies, e.g. webcasting. As the main problem is not the collection of information but dissemination and the right understanding and using for sound and right solutions we studied IT trends to find a solution.

Estonian Environmental Home Page. Mr. Andrus Meiner, Estonian Environment Information Centre

EEHP was started as a pilot project during the course in GRID-Arendal, Norway, June 3-8 1996. During the following 10 months the result of course work was enhanced to first official version of EEHP, relased on April, 21 1997 in relation to official opening of Ballerina Home Page. As a straight continuation to the course work in Arendal the present version of EEHP did not involve any professional expertise.

Currently EEHP is located on the web server of Ministry of Environment of Estonia, however Estonian Environment Information Centre being responsible for content and upgrades. Technically speaking EEHP contains about 125 html files with a total size of 1 Mb. EEHP has about 40 links to external environmental web sites.

The information is set up in 4 parallel ways:

1. environmental sectors - air, water, biodiversity etc.
2. environmental institutions - Ministry, Regional Environmental Departments, NGOs etc.
3. environmental activities - National Environmental Monitoring Program, Environmental Reporting, International Conventions etc.
4. geographical reference - clickable map of environmental information resources.

At the present time EEHP is updated continuously (currently on a weekly basis) and last updates are documented on the front page. The major new release is planned for April 1998 when PHARE project for improvement of data use and data management in Estonia will be completed. This project contains also component for web site development. The new release will contain:

1. State of Environment report which is based on environmental indicators and follows the general Pressure-State-Response (or DPSIR) framework;
2. Comprehensive data on pollution source inventories for air emissions, solid waste and waste water discharge;
3. Estonian language version of EEHP.

The new release will be more or less rewritten according to the latest html-technology.

Ecological Russian Net Magazine ECONEWS. Mr. Vladimir F. Levchencko, Ecological Russian Net Magazine Econews

• To provide a forum in which to disseminate current information concerning environmental news, events, and conferences;
• To highlight the issue of sustainable development and the advances made in this field;
• To include writings applicable to environmental issues world wide, such as articles on environmental politics and evolutionary philosophy.

Community Access to Environmental Data and Information. Mr. Stephen Goransson, US EPA 5

Public Awareness and Environmental Education Clearinghouse. Mr. Raimonds Ernsteins & Valdis Bisters, CESAMS, Univ. of Latvia

BASICS, a statistical database over the Baltic Sea Region. Mr. Lars Rydén, Baltic University Programme, Sweden

• 'A Sustainable Baltic Region' - an undergraduate university course offered by the Baltic University Programme - first time Spring 1997
• Baltic Agenda 21 - the upcoming regional Agenda 21 plan to be made for the Baltic Sea area
• BALLERINA - BALtic sea region on-Line Environmental information Resources for INternet Access, a comprehensive Internet initiative to bring more relevant environmental and sustainable development information on-line
• Baltic Basin Case Study - BBCS - an EU funded international research effort investigating the sustainability of the Baltic Sea region

Paper presentations