In 1999 conferences on the state of the country in respect of demography, agriculture and culture was organised. The following reports were delivered:

Demography (March 1999):

• Prof. Janina Jozwiak - Demographic changes in Poland in the 90-ties, the second demographic transition?
• Prof. Irena Kotowska - Changes at the Polish job market in the transformation period

Agriculture (June 1999)

• Dr Barbara Fedyszak-Radziejowska - Polish countryside in the eye of the sociologist,
• Prof. Wojciech Jozwiak - Strategies for farm adaptation in Poland in the period of 1989-1998,
• Prof. Andrzej Bednarek - Ecological is better.

Culture (September 1999)

• Adam Hanuszkiewicz - Let s protect high culture,
• Filip Bajon - Waiting for a producer,
• Prof. Jan Skotnicki - Culture as an element of natural environment
• Krzysztof Janczar - Time is Money in culture.

The materials were published thanks to financial support of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management together with the help of the Nowe Panstwo Fund.

After Professor Jan Szyszko had been dismissed from the post of the Minister and appointed to the post of Secretary of State in the Prime Minister`s Office and Government Agent for ONZ Convention on Climate, further activity on strategies for sustainable development was continued by organising the following conferences in the series "Natural Resources - chances or obstacles to economic development":

• Role of forests in the process of the Kyoto Protocol regulations realisation - Forestry Research Institute (21 January 2000) (conclusions published)
• Policy of climate protection in Poland - the Prime Minister s Office (26 May 2000)
• Optimising the use of energy resources with the aim of climate protection in Poland - the Prime Minister s Office (29 September 2000)
• People, nature, culture, landscape as agents of development of Poland - Parliament`s Office (10 November 2000) connected with opening of Professor Jacek Damięcki s exhibition entitled "Binary Cities". Among the results of the conferences were conclusions signed by professors: Janina Jozwiak, Wlodzimierz Klucinski, Andrzej Klocek, Piotr Paschalis, Jan Rylke, Jan Szyszko, Stefan Zajączkowski, with a suggestion to put into the VI Program Outline of UE Research a subject entitled "Sustainable Development of Societies against global changes: managing the landscape in non urbanised area and lowering hothouse gases emission".

The document was sent to the Prime Minister, to Parliament, the Senate, the Minister of Education, and to Prof. Andrzej Wisniewski, chief of Scientific Research Committee.

The Association began its statutory activity on 4 May 2000, when its Foundation Congress took place. The founders of the Association were: Jan Szyszko, Konrad Tomaszewski, Mateusz Mroz, Tadeusz Zarski, Dorota Jachacy, Maciej Wardak, Slawomir Skrzypek, Jan Oldakowski, Stefan Zajaczkowski, Bogumila Michalska, Jan Rylke, Edward Nieznanski, Andrzej Lesniak, Krzysztof Janczar, Janina Jozwiak, and the priest Eugeniusz Marciniak respectively, in accordance with the attendance list. At the Congress, definitions of sustainable development were made and basic indicators of the development were given.

As for the definitions, it has been accepted that the sustainable development is fast economic development directed towards satisfying people s needs, associated with rational use of natural resources or restoring the resources which applies to areas affected by biodegradation.

The sustainable development is therefore measurable and its basic indicators are:

1. GDP increase
2. Decrease of unemployment
3. Sound demographic structure (predominance of young age classes) together with life expectancy increase
4. Improvement of air and drinking water quality
5. Occurrence or reoccurrence of wildlife species typical of clean, not polluted environment which can certify high quality food production potentials.