In this paper I will describe three ways in which Swedish information on environmental issues will be made available on the Internet.

1. The Home Page of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.environ.se)

2. The Swedish contribution to the EIONET (not yet launched)

3. Information Technology in Environmental Management (http://www.environ.se/itima/itima.htm)

The Home Page of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency

The web-site gives access to

• general information about environmental problems and policies in Sweden

• press releases from the Agency

• information about Swedish national parks and the right to public access

• services from the Library (including lists of new literature every month)

• titles published by the Agency, with the option to place orders on-line (payment is still managed the old-fashioned way)

• selected full-text articles from the journal Miljöaktuellt

The Swedish contribution to the EIONET

• environmental policies

• environmental management in Sweden

• Swedish Nature (biotopes) - descriptions and data

• State of the Environment in Sweden - data on pressure, state and actions to manage the threats to the environment

Information Technology in Environmental Management
(summary of the Official Report from the Environmental Council)

(by Mr Stig Hammarsten, Lænsstyrelsen i Gævleborg, S-801 70 GÆVLE, SWEDEN)

Environmental management engage an increasing number of persons from different fields. The Swedish Environmental Policy is increasingly depending on individual initiatives based on local knowledge on the environmental situation, as in the work with local AGENDA-21-programmes. Better access to good quality information and environmental data is a prerequisite for improved environmental management

Information Technology (IT) is a powerful tool for the retrieval, analysis and distribution of data and information about the environment. The rapid technical development of data networks, especially the Internet, has proved particularly useful in this context. This report describes how IT can be used in environmental management and is based on the assumption that research, environmental monitoring and other activities produce high quality data and information. It focuses on how to improve the distribution and retrieval of such information.

Increased access to and use of data and environmental information may lead to a better knowledge of environmental problems.Together with high-quality environmental education, this should lead to more informed decisions being taken and hence to better results. There is also, however, a risk of misinformation. It is difficult and time consuming to establish the reliablity of information found on the

Internet and, in the future, environmental workers must have tools that make it possible to find high quality environmental information easily.

The growth of the Internet has made it possible to distribute large amounts of environmental information at low cost and with small environmental impacts. Internet is, however, not available to everyone and cost and lack of competence are a barrier for some categories. But in the environmental sector, however, most professionals already have access to the Internet.

Environmental management does not demand any special technical or juridical development. Strategy should, therefore, focuse on the quality and availability of data and information about the environment. The Internet will become the dominating network for information distribution also in this field. The main objective of this report is, therefore, to increase the availability and quality of environmental information published on the Internet.

Common datamodels (terms and definitions) is a prerequisite for increased information exchange. Today s datamodels must be further developed and harmonised with European standards.

A major part of the environmental data produced in Sweden is publicly financed, but prices and availability varies. High prices and unclear policies for access to data limit the use of the data produced. Prices based on marginal costs and a responsibility for data owners to publish data on the Internet is needed in order to avoid suboptimizing in environmental management. The same principles should also apply to environmental information. The marginal costs for information distribution on the Internet may become so low as to motivate zero pricing.

The major cost today, when using Internet, is the working hours neeeded to search for relevantinformation. The creation of a Swedish Environmental Network (SEN) with catalogues and a search engine can make it simpler to find relevant information. Initially, the SEN will focus on the needs of professionals in private and public environmental sectors.There will also, however, be parts of the network for school pupils and a wider audience. The SEN can also cover health effects and green markets. Development will depend on how fast different organisations begin to publish relevant information on the Internet.

It is suggested that the SEN should have four parts:

1. Catalogues with links to websites that publish information that meets a specified quality standard and use a standardised layout. The SEN will become a quality mark for environmental data and information of relevance for Sweden.

2. A search-engine and database with all the relevant environmental information from the Nordic countries. This data must be collected with automatic agents and can not be quality controlled.

3. A set of electronic conferences about the Swedish environment.

4. An email-catalouge with environmental workers in Sweden.

   The initial project to build the SEN will take about 2 years and the budget is 7 million SEK. The SEN will then be run by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

The feasability of Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) for environmental reporting should be evaluated.

Projects where IT has been used to decrease environmental impacts from different activities such as publishing and transportation should be supported. Environmental Agencies should be fore-runners in this field and give a series of good examples for others to follow.