RAVAGE OF THE PLANET Ⅳ

摘要

The fourth International Conference on Management of Natural Resources, Sustainable Development and Ecological Hazards (RAVAGE for short) took place in Opatija, Croatia, organised by the Wessex Institute (WIT), represented by its Director, Professor Carlos A Brebbia. The meeting was sponsored by the International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning and the International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics. The conference has a long and distinguished history having started in Bariloche, Argentina (2006) where it was opened by the Nobel Prize Laureate Dr Adolfo Perez Esquivel, to continue in Cape Town, South Africa (2009) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2011). The basic premise of the meeting is the need to determine solutions before our planet reaches a point of no return. Our society has fallen into a self-destructive process by which natural resources are consumed at an ever increasing rate. This process is now spread across the planet in search of further sources of energy and materials. The aggressiveness of the quest is such that the future of our planet is in the balance; the emphasis has been in dominating nature rather than trying to achieve harmonious relationships with her. The process is compounded by the pernicious effects of the resulting contamination of air, water and soil. Like the first three meetings, the aim of this conference is to take stock of our situation and try to facilitate constructive principles and policies.