Report on the activity of the Association In Favour of Sustainable
Development of Poland in the period from
4 May 2000 to 30 April 2004

According to the rules of sustained development, Poland`s environmental resources have to take part in the economic development of unifying Europe. For many reasons, they are in a much better condition than in well-developed countries. Because of that, Poland has an opportunity to learn on mistakes made by its neighbors and use its resources in such a way that they could stimulate economic development on the one hand and, on the other hand, be rehabilitated and multiplied. Rational use accompanied by the need to respect ownership rights requires clear division of competence and duties between the State and self-governmental structures. The State is obliged to protect all the existing plant and animal species and to guarantee unlimited access to good air, water and create recreation opportunities to its citizens. For these reasons, the State with the best group of well-paid professionals at its disposal should remain the manager of such areas as the State Forests and National Parks covering up to 30% of the territory of the country, water management according to drainage basins and spatial planning on the national and regional level. Forest management has to cooperate closely with water management and constitute the basis for planning activities. Other activities related to environmental protection should be delegated to local governments, which should receive financing to enable such activities. For these reasons, the law of well-developed countries should be adopted and implemented as soon as possible, in particular, with regard to waste utilization and purification while we should remember not to lose the philosophy of good Polish law concentrating on protection and environmental effect.

Each citizen should have full access to objective information about the condition of the environment in the whole country as well as in his or her place of living. Such information can only be provided by an institution free from any political or economic pressure. Because of that, the State Inspection of Environmental Protection should recover its independence and be subordinated to the Parliament just like the Supreme Chamber of Control.

Sustained development required qualified personnel representing in-depth knowledge - environmental as well as economic - occupying appropriate positions on various levels of the state and local administration. Environmental knowledge is necessary to evaluate environmental resources. In turn, economic knowledge is required for their assessment and application for economic development. Only if we are able to evaluate environmental resources, assess them correctly and include their value to the economic calculation related to all investments we will be able to create regional development programs taking advantage of environmental, cultural and human values, making it possible for Poland to compete effectively with economies of highly developed countries. The Association unites experts in demography, culture, economics, natural sciences, town planning and architecture. It concentrates on promotion of the idea of sustained development and creation of related programs on the regional and national level.

Activity of the members of the Association began in November 1997 when Professor Jan Szyszko - chief of AWS programme group in charge of Natural Environment Protection was appointed to the post of Minister of Natural Environment Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry. On his initiative, in 1999, the Programme Council was set up and preparations for organising conferences on strategies for sustainable development of Poland started. The conferences were meant to integrate the world of politics, science, economic and local government activists as well as the mass media with the aim of propagation and realisation of the idea.

The Programme Council consisted of:

• Prof. Janina Jozwiak, rector of the Warsaw School of Economics,
• Prof. Wlodzimierz Klucinski, rector of the Warsaw Agricultural University,
• Prof. Edward Nieznanski, deputy rector of the Catholic Theology Academy,
• Dr Jaroslaw Kaczynski, member of Parliament,
• Dr. Adam Lipinski, editor-in-chief of Nowe Panstwo weekly magazine,