Advanced Information and Knowledge Processing

Springer-Verlag London Ltd.

Also in this series

Gregoris Mentzas, Dimitris Apostolou, Andreas Abecker and Ron Young Knowledge Asset Management 1-85233-583-1

Michalis Vazirgiannis, Maria Halkidi and Dimitrios Gunopulos Uncertainty Handling and Quality Assessment in Data Mining 1-85233-655-2

Asuncion Gomez-Perez, Mariano Fernandez-Lopez and Oscar Corcho Ontological Engineering 1-85233-551-3

Arno Schad (Ed.)

Environmental Online Communication

With 64 Figures

ECOresearc et

Arno Schad, DDr. Professor of Information Systems The University of Western Australia, Business School, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia

Series Editors XindongWu Lakhmi Jain

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Environmental online communieation. - (Advanced information and knowledge processing)

1. Environment protection - Computer network resources 2. Sustainable development - Computer network resources 3. Web site development - Computer network resources 1. Schad, Arno 025'.0633372

ISBN 978-1-84996-913-0 ISBN 978-1-4471-3798-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-3798-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

Apart from any fair deaJing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographie reproduction in accordance with the terms of Jicences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the pubJishers.

AI&KP ISSN 1610-3947

springeronJine.com

© Springer-Verlag London 2004

Originally published by Springer-Verlag London in 2004

The use of registered names, trademarks etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

The pubJisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made.

Typesetting: Electronic files prepared by editor

34/3830-543210 Printed on acid-free paper SPIN 10959756

Preface

This book brings together artieies exploring the design, implementation, man­agement, funding, promotion, and evaluation of networked information systems that advocate sustainability and the protection of natural ecosystems. Case stud­ies of deployed and planned information systems complement theoretieal work on the methodologieal, technologieal, and organizational foundations of envi­ronmental online communieation.

Studying communieative strategies and processes that function between disci­plines and worldviews, this book helps unearth hidden assumptions and miscon­ceptions about environmental issues, contributes to a mutual understanding of existing problems, and suggests priorities for research and policy development. The 25 chapters contained in this volume analyze environmental online commu­nieation from four interrelated perspectives: Raising Environmental Awareness, Environmental Science, Corporate Sustainability, and Networks and Virtual Communities. The chapters document social and technologieal challenges and allow readers to appreciate the diversity of approaches and projects.

The initiative to compile this edited volume sterns from the activities of the ECOresearch Network [696], an interdisciplinary collaboration that encourages scientific discourse and critieal debate to establish a shared understanding of en­vironmental online communieation. The network also hosts the book's official Web site at

www.ecoresearch.net/springer [701],

whieh provides supplemental material induding text sampies, bibliographie resources, project descriptions, and detailed author profiles induding current affiliations and research interests.

Emerging Technologies

Advances in information technology are transforming the way society handles the explosive growth and dwindling half-life of knowledge in general [46; 218; 607], and of environmentally relevant information in particular [435]. Interactive me­dia such as the W orld Wide Web, electronic mail, or text messaging via wireless devices revolutionize the reach and efficiency of individuals and organizations alike - from simple electronic mailing lists to video activists broadcasting protests live via palm-top computers and mobile phones [587], or attempts to ron an or­ganization remotely while dimbing K2, the second highest mountain in the world [600; 643; 791].

Broadband connectivity, global ubiquity, portability, 24/7 availability, and adaptivity transcend historical modes of production. They trigger social change and catalyze advanced economic systems, creating both opportunities and con­straints [91; 610; 612]. Besides improving productivity and reducing transaction costs, new technologies enable people to participate in decision-making [135] and increasingly align networked information systems with the visions of their pio­neers and early proponents [81; 153; 386]. The proliferation of these technologies powers the transition to a knowledge-based economy, connects the world's poor

VI Environmental Online Communication

to entrepreneurial and educational opportunities, and helps balance power by enabling businesses, government, and civil society to scrutinize each other in col­laborative, consensus-building processes [135].

Online communication arguably has the potential to support democratic deci­sion structures and decrease inequality as outlined above. Since stakeholders are not equally well-positioned to express their views in online environments, how­ever, the Internet may "just as easily undermine sound decision-making and pub­lic participation" [636, P41]. It may exacerbate existing inequalities if steps are not taken to ensure widespread access [135]. Barriers of distance, language, literacy, and connectivity hinder participation [560]. They limit the Internet in its reach, which is helpful but not yet adequate to ensure access in all countries.

Particularly unlikely to serve citizens in poor countries or rural areas, afforda­bility and usability of the Internet vary greatly between and within countries [636]. Not surprisingly, the virtual reflects power differentials of the real. Ad­vanced systems cater to the needs of preferential clients. Their usage remains dif­ferentiated in territorial terms, following the uneven distribution of infrastruc­ture, wealth, and education [94]. Emphasizing this argument, Tehranian describes McLuhan's global village [364] as a "neofeudal manor with highly fortified and opulent castles (centers of industrial, financial, and media power) surrounded by vast hinterlands of working peasants clamoring for survival and recognition" [557, P55f.].

Such conflicting claims regarding the social and environmental cost-benefit ratios of information technology often arise when either side prescribes a one­way causal relationship between technology and society [47]. Yet technology only conditions society, but does not determine it. Assigning univocal meaning to in­formation technology or attempting to calculate its impacts deterministically ne­glect the real world's ambivalence and multiplicity [334]. Information technology is often used in ways never intended or fore seen by its inventors. Neither good nor bad (depending on context, use, and point of view), information technology cannot even be considered neutral since it "conditions or constrains, exposes or closes off, the range of possibilities" [334, pB].

With regard to environmental communication, emerging technologies facili­tate transitions [397] from broadcast to interactive communication, cognitive to experientiallearning, product to process orientation, conflict positions to shared meaning, distributive to integrative negotiations, and from isolated, compart­mentalized knowledge [599] to the ability to deal effectively with complexity, un­certainty, and risk. One-dimensional, linear ecological moralization is replaced by a discourse on value judgments from competing social, economic, and ethical points ofview [397].

Although environmental online communication has an immediate positive effect on agenda-setting within the target group, its long-term impacts are hard to evaluate. To a large extent, the long-term impacts depend on the quality, profes­sional representation, and credibility of communicated content. Constant pro­gress monitoring and participatory peer review among network members and extern al experts improve quality and representation [5]. Transparent processes that respect professional norms and procedural fairness help produce credible information [295].

Preface vii

Part I: Raising Environmental Awareness

Transcending geographie boundaries and exploring new symbiotie relations be­tween human society and nature [216], sustainability calls for partieipatory deci­sion-making and cooperative approaches to environmental governance [245; 599]. Public awareness, a cornerstone of such participatory strategies, contributes to informed personal choices, protection of the environment, and improved envi­ronmental performance by the corporate sector [636]. With its emphasis on pub­lic access to environmentally relevant information, online advocacy, and envi­ronmental education, the first part of the book covers three important aspects of raising environmental awareness.

Adopted by 178 nations in 1992, Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Envi­ronment and Development [567] artieulated access to environmental information, the opportunity to participate in decision-making, and access to justiee as corner­stones of environmental governance. The principle was elaborated by the targets of the Aarhus Convention [566], adopted in 1998, and entered into force in 2001. Governments reaffirmed these targets during the Johannesburg Summit 2002

[730] with the launch of the Partnership for Principle 10 [758], a co operation of government agencies and civil society groups to translate the principle into action at the national level.

At least three interrelated forces drive worldwide demand for public access to environmental information: the urgency and scope of environmental problems, the increasingly active character of civil society, and the revolution in information and communication technologies [432]. Disseminating environmental informa­tion via the Internet, directly or via online media as intermediaries, enhances public knowledge and builds awareness about the interdependency of ecological, economic, and sodal issues. Web-based or wireless services, for example, provide instant feedback on diverse issues such as weather, air quality, speed of traffic, or location of accidents [259].

Online advocacy also benefits from Internet technology in its aims to raise en­vironmental awareness. While sharing environmental concerns and responsibili­ties, individuals and organizations often lack co ordination. The competition for budget, jurisdiction, and influence increases their insularity [636]. Environmental online communication addresses this problem by encouraging networking and facilitating "environmental discourse that recognizes and incorporates the social construction of meaning in communieative processes" [366, P392]. Such a dis­course improves the quality of decisions, builds trust in institutions, and helps resolve confliet among competing interest [636].

The expansion of formal and non-formal environmental education in terms of both geography and curriculum through traditional educational institutions, ad­vocacy organizations, and the media are indispensable for achieving sustainabil­ity. Environmental education requires accurate and credible information [287]. Underpinned by science and technology as providers of such information, envi­ronmental education is a powerful tool for understanding natural and social proc­esses and their complex interrelationships [458].

viii Environmental OnIine Communication

Part 11: Environmental Science

The rapid expansion of science results in differentiation and the creation of new "niches" succumbing to scientific scrutiny. Environmental science is no excep­tion. Ecology expanded into a wide range of specialized fields such as risk assess­ment, environmental ethics, resource economics, ecological psychology, envi­ronmental education, and environmental communication [607). The second part of the book addresses three problems intrinsically linked to this differentiation and the increasing complexity of environmental science. Complex environmental models are difficult to handle computationally, require advanced methods to rep­resent model structure and results, and introduce communicative challenges both within research communities and between researchers and external stakeholders.

Science is an important source of environmental indicators [365) and essential for promoting sustainability [90). Online databases such as the W orld Resource Institute's EarthTrends [691) and the United Nations Environment Programme's GEO Data Portal [708), for example, synthesize information gathered from a vari­ety of institutions, geographical regions, and economic sectors [432). Interactive visualizations allow exploring such multidimensional and often geographically referenced data [562).

Despite advances in representing and sharing complex data, some environ­mental simulations are either not feasible economically or still beyond the reach of supercomputers such as the Earth Simulator, the currently most powerful ma­chine [689). Distributed Internet computing overcomes these limitations by ex­ploiting spare computer cycles and breaking down the calculations into parallel units, which are then processed by networks of globally distributed volunteers.

Environmental scientific disciplines have superior expertise in their focal ac­tivities and specific me ans of disseminating information. In many cases, however, breaking away from "the mono-Iogical habits of entrenched and specialized dis­ciplines" [366, P390) remains achallenge. Lack of awareness regarding scientific expertise continues to jeopardize good intentions. Thus it is a shared responsibil­ity of researchers and the media to choose accessible and intuitively understand­able formats for describing complex phenomena [624).

Many failures to raise awareness stern from environmentalists' beliefs that sci­entific evidence and related ecological concerns are convincing on their own, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "comprehension gap" [397). To improve mutual understanding and overcome comprehension gaps, Meppem and Bourke suggest communicative strategies for developing and implementing environ­mental policy that explicitly deal with the "assumptions and motivations of con­tested positions in the sustainability debate" [366, P389). This can increase trans­parency and "give coherence and credibility to masses of scientific information" [295, P92). Good communicative strategies accept diverging perspectives, provide rules of conduct, and establish objective criteria for decision-making [90).

Part III: Corporate Sustainability

Environmental degradation is intimately linked to global modes of production and accumulation [279). Economic activities that degrade the environment gener­ally yield winners and losers with regard to the distribution of costs and benefits

Preface ix

[67; 636]. Environmental communication can spark interest in redistributing en­vironmental costs more fairly throughout society. Fuelled by the W orld Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg [730] and the numbers and magni­tude of accounting failures on Wall Street, there is a growing trend towards ac­countability, transparency, and stakeholder engagement across all levels, func­tions, and operations [230; 605]. This trend prornotes the concept of sustainability and fuels stakeholders' interest in the allocation and acquisition of corporate re­sourees.

Sustainable resource allocation requires the reporting of comprehensive and reliable indicators based on integrated analysis of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of corporate activities [112; 437]. Rather than direct1y influ­encing decisions, environmental reporting often creates conditions under which decisions crystallize [258]. It represents an additional stimulus to consider social and environmental issues [138] and sheds light on an organization's resource allo­cation and corporate communication policy.

Socially responsible investing affects the acquisition of corporate resources by integrating social and environmental values into the decision-making process. Evaluating the environmental performance of an organization based on its re­ports and external information sourees, socially responsible investing strives to deploy capital consistent with the needs of society and the natural limits of eco­systems [70]. External information sources include government reports on com­pany emissions and pollution registers such as Pollution Watch [760] and the Toxics Release Inventory [783]. By addressing the stakeholders' interest, these sources affect media coverage, public opinion, and stock market fluctuations [636].

Part IV: Networks and Virtual Communities

The final part of the book pays attention to communicating, managing, and ap­plying knowledge within virtual communities, the roles trust and credibility play in these processes, and how networked information systems catalyze the emer­gence and growth of virtual communities.

Simultaneously arousing both hope and fe ar among observers [37; 353], net­works and virtual communities have been assodated with conflicting claims about their impact on social interaction. On the one hand, online communication is seen as re-enchanting community (perceived as eroded in "real life") , substitut­ing territorially bound forms of human interaction by more selective patterns of social relations. On the other hand, online communication is accused of damag­ing community by encouraging domination, dogmatism, sodal isolation, and a withdrawal from the real world [47; 94; 353; 610; 612].

With the Internet diffusing into the mainstream of society, the dichotomy of these contested positions is becoming less pronounced. Independent of geo­graphie proximity and institutional affiliation, networks and virtual communities emerge through processes of co operation and sodal exchange l334; 454]. They depend on and benefit from a synergy of skills, resources, and projects, the con­stitution and dynamic maintenance of shared knowledge, flexible and nonhierar­chical mo des of co operation, and distributed dedsion-making [334].

x Environmental Online Communication

Built on common interests, virtual communities often establish sodal bonds that extend beyond the narrow focus of those interests [47]. People in networked sodeties live and work in overlapping relationships, typically cyeling through interactions with multiple sets of others [610; 612]. Such sodal networks have al­ways existed, but new technologies have supported and enabled their emergence as a dominant form of sodal organization [611].

Acknowledgements

This book would not have been possible without the help and contributions of many colleagues. My first word of appredation goes to the authors for their excel­lent chapters and active partidpation in the peer-review process. Each chapter was evaluated by two or three referees and revised at least once on the basis of their comments and critidsm. Apologies in advance to the people I have failed to acknowledge, and thanks to the following colleagues who generously provided additional reviews and feedback for the authors: Mitra Arami, Christian Bauer, Astrid Dickinger, Nicolas Knotzer, Robert Krimmer, Renee Lertzman, Sarah Lum­ley, Ken Morgan, Jamie Murphy, Barbara Pedersen, Richard Thomas, and Dave Webb. I would also like to recognize the finandal support of the University of Western Australia's School of Economics and Commerce to help establish and promote the ECOresearch Network. Annette McNamara is to be commended for her valuable assistance in the editorial process. At Springer, I would like to thank Stephen Bailey, Joanne Cooling, Catherine Drury, Beverley Ford, Lyn Imeson, Melanie Jackson, Rebecca Mowat, and Jenny Wolkowicki for their support and help in the materialization of this book.

Arno Scharl Perth, January 2004

Table of Contents

Preface ............................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... xi List of Authors ............................................................................................................ xiii

PART I: RAISING ENVIRONMENTAL A W ARENESS

Public Access to Environmental Information

Environmental Information Systems and the Concept of Environmental Informatics ................................................................................... 3

2 Mobile Access to Environmental Information ................................................... 11

3 EnviWeb and Environmental Web Services: Case Study of an Environmental Web Portal ................................................................................. 21

4 Web Coverage ofRenewable Energy .................................................................. 25

Online Advocacy

5 OnIine Communication for Environmental Fundraising ................................ 35

6 Howa Small Environmental Group Uses the Web to Inform and Promote Action: A Content Analysis ................................................................. 45

7 Usability Evaluation of an Environmental Web Site and its Support of the Organization's Mission and Goals ............................................ 53

Environmental Education

8 EFS Global Media Network: Exploring the Boundaries of Sustainable Education ......................................................................................... 63

9 An OnIine Community of Learners in Rural, Regional, and Remote Australia ................................................................................................................ 75

10 Self-assessment of Consumptive Behavior Based on Material Intensity ................................................................................................................ 79

PART 11: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Data Sharing and Distributed Internet Computing

11 Biodiversity and the Internet: Building and Using the Virtual World Museum .................................................................................................... 91

12 Climateprediction.net: AGlobai Community for Research in Climate Physics .................................................................................................. 101

13 Web Portal and Markup Language for Collaborative Environmental Research .................................................................................... 113

xii Environmental Oniine Communication

Geographically Referenced Data

14 Web-based Exploration ofEnvironmental Data and Corresponding Metadata, in Particular Lineage Information ........................ 127

15 Sharing Environmental Maps on the Web: The Austrian EnviroMap System .............................................................................................. 133

PART III: CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability and Sodal Responsibility

16 System Architecture and Maintenance of the Ecoradar Web Portal ............ 147

17 Environmental Investment Sites: Sector Analysis and Development of GreenMoney.at ....................................................................... 161

Environmental Reporting

18 How to Provide Customized Environmental Reports Properly ..................... 173

19 Harmonizing Document Type Definitions for Corporate Environmental Reports ...................................................................................... 183

20 Environmental Information Practices in the Chemical Industry .................. 187

PART IV: NETWORKS AND VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES

Online Collaboration, Trust and Credibility

21 Epistemic Communities and OnIine Environmental Data Systems ............. 199

22 Communication Process Analysis in Virtual Communities on Sustainable Development. ................................................................................. 209

23 OnIine Tools for a Sustainable Collaborative Economy ................................. 221

Knowledge Management

24 CBNRM Net: From Managing Natural Resources to Managing Ecosystems, Knowledge, and People ............................................................... 235

25 Patterns of Internet Use by Coastal Managers: Results of a Survey ............... 251

Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 259 OnIine Resources ........................................................................................................ 287 Index ............................................................................................................................ 291

List of Authors

The book's Web site at www.ecoresearch.net/springer [701] provides additional author information including contact details, research interests, current projects, and a short biography.

BScMSc

ToluAina Researcher U niversity of Oxford, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics Oxford, UK

MSEEPhD

Gary Alexander Senior Lecturer in Telematics The Open University, Faculty of Technology Milton Keynes, UK

BA Hons (Oxon) DPhil

Myles R. Allen Lecturer in Physics University of Oxford, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics Oxford, UK

PhD

Wolf gang Amann Senior Researcher U niversity of St. Gallen, Research Institute for International Management st. Gallen, Switzerland

MSc

Andri Baltensweiler Senior Scientist Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Anastasios Bassoukos Software Developer Aristotle University, Mechanical Engineering Department Thessaloniki, Greece

Dr

Martin Brändli Senior Scientist Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Diploec

Rudolph Braun Research Assistant U niversity of Hohenheim, Chair ofEnvironmental Management Stuttgart, Germany

PhD

Steve Cabaniss Professor University ofNew Mexico, Department of Chemistry Albuquerque, USA

BNEMSc

Carl Christensen Researcher U niversity of Oxford, Computing Laboratory Oxford, UK

BSc (Hons), PhD

Matthew Collins Climate Scientist Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, The Met Office Exeter, UK

Renate Ebel State Institute for Environmental Protection Baden-Wuerttemberg Karlsruhe, Germany

Diplöm. ESSEC, PhD

Corinne Faure Professor of eCommerce/Marketing European Business School Oestrich-Winkel, Germany

BSc MSc (Hons) PhD

DavidFrame Researcher University of Oxford, Atmospheric Oceanic and Planetary Physics Oxford, UK

xiv

PhD

Michael Haase Division Head Environmental Information Systems, Research Institute for Applied Knowledge Processing; Ulm, Germany

Benjamin Hermann System Engineer Informations- und Technologiemanage­ment Beratungsgesellschaft mbH Stuttgart, Germany

Dipllng (FH)

Thomas Hillenbrand Project Manager Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Department of Environmental Technology and Environ­mental Economics; Karlsruhe, Germany

RNDrCSc

Jiri Hrebicek Professor oflnformatics Masaryk Univerzity Brno, Faculty of Informatics Brno, Czech Republic

MS

Yingping Huang Research Assistant University ofNotre Dame, Department of Computer Science and Engineering Notre Dame, USA

Dr

Ralf Isenmann Senior Researcher Kaiserslautern University of Technology, Department of Business Information Systems and Operations Research Kaiserslautern, Germany

Dipl Eng MSc

Athina Kaprara Electrical and Computer Engineer Aristotle University, Mechanical Engineering Department Thessaloniki, Greece

DrEng

Kostas Karatzas Assistant Professor oflnformatics Systems and Applications; Aristotle University, Mechanical Engineering Department Thessaloniki, Greece

Environmental Online Communication

BScPGDFM

Prakash Kashwan Program Associate The Ford Foundation New Delhi, India

BSc (Hons) PhD

Jamie Kettleborough Researcher Associate Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Oxfordshire, UK

MES

Shiban Khan Researcher U niversity of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, USA

Ir

RolfKleef Consultant AIDEnvironment Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Henning Kolb Student, Academic Staff University of Hohenheim, Chair ofEnvironmental Management Stuttgart, Germany

Dr

Helmut Krcmar Professor oflnformation Systems Technical University of Munich, Department of Informatics Munich, Germany

Diploec

Martin Kreeb Research Assistant U niversity of Hohenheim, Chair of Environmental Management Stuttgart, Germany

Mgr

Miroslav Kubasek PhD Student Masaryk Univerzity Brno, Faculty of Informatics Brno, Czech Republic

Dieter Lehne State Office for Environment and Geology Hesse Wiesbaden, Germany

List of Authors

Dr

Wolfgang Loibl GIS Modeling Scientist ARC Systems Research GmbH Seibersdorf, Austria

MSPhD

Gregory Madey Associate Professor University ofNotre Dame, Department of Computer Science and Engineering Notre Dame, USA

Dr.!ng.

Jorge Marx-G6mez Assistant Professor of Business Informatics Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Germany

DiplMath

Asteris Masouras Software Developer Aristotle University, Mechanical Engineering Department Thessaloniki, Greece

Sebastian Maute System Administrator Informations- und Technologiemanage­ment Beratungsgesellschaft mbH Stuttgart, Germany

PhDMPhii

Fiona M. Haslam McKenzie Lecturer University ofWestern Australia, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences Perth, Australia

Dip! Ing

Roman Mesicek Researcher Sustainable Europe Research Institute Vienna, Austria

Dr

Aldo de Moor Assistant Professor Tilburg University, Department of Information Systems and Management Tilburg, The Netherlands

xv

Dr Ing Habil

Nicolas Moussiopoulos Professor ofHeat Transfer and Environ­mental Engineering; Aristotle University, Mechanical Engineering Department Thessaloniki, Greece

Diploec

Valentin Nicolescu Research Assistant Technical University of Munich, Chair of Information Systems Munich, Germany

Andreas Niederl Research Assistant Sustainable Europe Research Institute Vienna, Austria

Dr

Rudolf Orthofer Environmental Assessment Scientist ARC Systems Research GmbH Seibersdorf, Austria

Ioannis Papaioannou Software Developer Aristotle University, Mechanical Engineering Department Thessaloniki, Greece

Dr

A. Townsend Peterson Professor and Curator University ofKansas, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Biodiversity Research Center Lawrence, USA

IngMag

Michael Pieber Assistant Professor Vienna University ofEconomics and Business Administration, Department of Technology and Commodity Science Vienna, Austria

MSIS

Ingrid Pohl Information Analyst Campbell Alliance Raleigh, USA

xvi

Dr

Irene Pollach Assistant Professor Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Department of English Business Communication Vienna, Austria

Dipl Kffr

SusanRöver Account Representative The Dow Chemical Company Schwalbach, Germany

MarkusRuss Student, Academic Staff University of Hohenheim, Chair of Environmental Management Stuttgart, Germany

DDr

Arno Scharl Professor oflnformation Systems University ofWestern Australia UW A Business School Perth, Australia

Dr

Werner F. Schulz Professor of Environmental Management University of Hohenheim, Chair of Environmental Management Stuttgart, Germany

Dr

Heather Sehmel Assistant Professor ofWriting Richard Stockton College ofNew Jersey Pomona, USA

DiplMath

Theodora Slini Mathematician Aristotle University, Mechanical Engineering Department Thessaloniki, Greece

MAPhD

George R. Smith Associate Professor Ball State University, Department of Landscape Architecture Muncie, USA

Environmental Online Communication

MA

Lars T. Soeftestad Coordinator and Manager Community-Based Natural Resource Management Network (CBNRM Net) and Supras Consult Kristiansand, Norway

BA Hons (Oxon) MSc

David A. Stainforth Research Fellow U niversity of Oxford Oxford, UK

Dr

Horst Treiblmaier Assistant Professor Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Information Systems Department; Vienna, Austria

MLiSPhD

Nancy A. Van House Professor U niversity of California at Berkeley, School of Information Management and Systems; Berkeley, USA

PhD

Jörg Westbomke Deputy Division Head Environmental Information Systems, Research Institute for Applied Knowledge Processing; Ulm, Germany

Dr

Edward o. Wiley Professor and Curator University ofKansas, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Biodiversity Research Center Lawrence, USA

BSc(Env)(Hons)

Emma Woodward PhD Candidate University ofWestern Australia, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences Perth, Australia

MS

Xiaorong Xiang Research Assistant University ofNotre Dame, Department of Computer Science and Engineering Notre Dame, USA