BALLERINA stands for:
BALTIC SEA REGION ON-LINE ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR INTERNET ACCESS
- A regional effort to share environmental information using Internet/World Wide Web
Organised by:
BALLERINA Workshop BALtic Sea Region On-Line Environmental Information Resources for INternet Access 13 - 14 June 1996, Stockholm, Sweden BACKGROUND: - BALLERINA - BALtic Sea Region On-Line Environmental Information Resources for INternet Access - is intended to be a regional effort to share environmental information using Internet/World Wide Web (WWW). - BALLERINA is meant to be developed as a co-operative effort among agencies and organisations which produce and disseminate environmental information about the Baltic Sea and its drainage area. The purpose is to provide co-ordinated, yet decentralised, access to various types of information of relevance for the environment of the Baltic Sea region to Internet users. A good model is the Great Lakes Information Network serving those concerned with the Great Lakes in North America. - BALLERINA will improve communication and sharing of environmental information by providing a gateway (top-level WWW page) on Internet/WWW. From this page it will be easy to find environmental information about the Baltic Sea and its drainage area. This sharing of information will foster co-operation in developing regional answers to the unique environmental and societal challenges facing the Baltic Sea and its drainage area. - BALLERINA is primarily intended to serve the needs of those who use environmental information at the national and international levels of the Baltic Sea region. BACKGROUND A background document for the workshop is in preparation. DOCUMENT: This is accessible through Internet at the 'address': http://www.grida.no/ballerina/. It will be continuously updated until April 15. 1996. A printed version will also be sent to participants (and other interested) before the workshop.
AIM AND TOPICS: The aim of the workshop is to discuss and provide guidelines on how to make the BALLERINA initiative the main gateway for environmental information on the Baltic Sea region on Internet. Discussion topics are: - How to get the 'mandate' from the main environmental information providers - the political dimension. - How to agree upon lead party(ies), advisory board and co-operative mechanisms - the institutional dimension. - How to bring the Baltic Sea region institutions and persons to the Internet - the capacity building dimension. - How to build the technical infrastructure (Internet/WWW servers with tools) - the technical dimension. - How to populate the BALLERINA with key environmental information - the substance dimension. - How to define the resource needs and how to secure the funding - the financial dimension. SOME Mr. Stig Hammarsten (confirmed) KEYNOTE Secretary of the Swedish Governmental Report on the use of SPEAKERS: Information Technology in Environmental Management. Mr. Toomas Mölder (confirmed) Director of CIESIN/UNDP Estonian Centre and co-ordinator of CIESIN/UNDP Baltics Regional Node WWW. Ms. Carol A. Ratza (confirmed) Director of the Great Lakes Information Network and Programme Manager at the Great Lakes Commission, USA. Mr. Svein Tveitdal (confirmed) Director UNEP/GRID-Arendal WORKSHOP The workshop will comprise invited keynote presentations, STRUCTURE: working group and plenary discussions. A small laboratory of PCs connected to Internet will allow for some basic introduction to Internet. VENUE Swedish Environmental Protection Agency & TIME: Blekholmsterrassen 36, S-106 48 Stockholm. This is very close to the Central Stockholm railway station, where also the airport shuttle buses have their end stations. Thursday 13. June 10am - Friday 14 June 4pm.
PARTICIPANTS - We hope that institutions from most of the nine AND THEIR 'MOTHER' riparian countries and the five peripheral countries will INSTITUTIONS: be represented. - We presume that the agencies or institutions represented, whether IGOs, national agencies or authorities, or NGOs, plan to or have already published environmental information on the Baltic region on Internet. - We suppose that the participants will be representatives from their agency or organisation. MAX. NUMBER Due to space limitations we will basically accept max. 2 PARTICIPANTS participants per institution. We will in principle follow the 'first come - first served' principle. REGISTRATION: Fee: Participants from RU, EE, LV, LT, PL, UE, and BL: no fee. Participants from other countries: NOK 250 Deadline: 10 May 1996. HOTEL & HOSTEL Ho(s)tel reservations must be done by each participant INFO: individually. We can recommend the following (all prices per night): - Hotel Terminus, 5 min walk, single room SEK 795 - 1145, double room SEK 1415. Phone: +46-8- 22 26 40. Fax: +46-8- 24 82 95. Breakfast included. - City Hotel, 10 min walk, single room SEK 805, double room SEK 1095. Breakfast included. Phone: +46-8-7237272. Fax: +46-8-723 72 99 - Prize Hotel, 3 min walk, single room SEK 880, combi room SEK 980. Breakfast excluded. Phone: +46-8-14 94 50. Fax: +46-8-149848 - Långholmen Youth Hostel, 10 min walk, SEK 160 / bed in 4-bed rooms. Bed linnen and towel must be brought. Breakfast excluded. Phone: +46-8-6680510. Fax: +46-8-7208575 FURTHER Those registered by the deadline will receive further INFO: information by snail mail. This will also be available at: http://www.grida.no/ballerina/ Additional information about practial issues: Camilla Wahlman, Swedish EPA, phone: +46-8-6981426, fax: +46-8-6981584, e-mail: cwa@environ.se Additional information about the BALLERINA initiative: Sindre Langaas, GRID-Arendal, phone: +46-8-161737, fax: +46-8-158417, e-mail: langaas@grida.no
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