| Sustainable Development and the Business Community |
The goal of this project is to promote an environmentally friendly, modern economy and public utility sector that would also meet European Union requirements. CES promotes legislation related to ownership patterns, organizational and institutional structures and business activities that regulate environmental liabilities. CES also recommends methods of privatization that provide the best opportunities for environmental improvement and sustainable development and fosters environmental awareness and environmentally friendly management practices in the business sector. The project addresses all major forms of business organizations -- strategic foreign investors, Hungarian restructuring companies, environmental firms, banks and other financial institutions.
The first stage of the project investigated the environmental implications of industry and agriculture privatization. Results of the research have been summarized in the reports of: Mária Csanádi and Erzsébet Páczi, Environmental Aspects of Privatization; and Ferenc Laczó and Szabolcs Nagy: The Impact of Privatization on the Sustainability of Hungarian Agriculture.
The project Strengthening Business Contribution to Sustainable Development led by CES for Nations in Transition at the University of Minnesota was launched in early 1996. This project: (1) evaluated the impact of strategic foreign investment on environmentally sound restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe, (2) identified barriers and opportunities for the development of the environmental business sector, (3) evaluated the environmental impacts of governmental strategies for strategic foreign investors and the environmental business sector, and (4) developed policy recommendations. More than 200 questionnaires collected from municipalities, regional environmental inspectorates, central governmental institutions, enterprises and financial institutions had been received and processed by June 1998. In addition, CES was in charge of summarizing the findings of the regional survey of governmental organizations and their impact on the “environmental friendliness” of businesses. This regional report was completed by September and presented on the international conference of environmental economists in Poland.
In cooperation with several institutions (the EKFM Co. Ltd, the Technical Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and CES for Clean Air Policy Washington D.C., among others) CES participated in a World Bank project investigating the potential for the energy use of biomass in Hungary. CES's responsibility within this multi-party project was to map the legal and economic framework of the production and use of biomass.
Another way of promoting environmentally friendly restructuring is CES’s participation in the organizing and delivery of the Post Diploma Studies of Miskolc University. The inclusion of environmental management issues into the manager-engineer post-graduate program of the Management and Organization Department of the University was initiated by the Environmental Training Project, which in Hungary was coordinated by CES. Participants of the program become acquainted with the basics of environmental economics and environmental policy, learn about environmentally friendly technologies, energy efficiency, environmental impact assessment, environmental management systems, pollution prevention, waste minimization and waste management. Other subjects, such as strategic management, logistics and marketing, also deal with environmental aspects.
CES is also organizing a series of hazardous waste management training.
The course makes training participants acquainted with (a) legal regulations
pertaining to hazardous wastes both in Hungary and the European Union,
(b) expected modifications to regulations as well as (c) the knowledge
and skills necessary for preparing a hazardous waste management plan. The
training provides a basis for achieving effective waste minimization and
management and meeting regulatory requirements.
 Strengthening Business Contribution to Sustainable Development |
| Environmental
Training Project |
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