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G D R C    M o s a i c
www.gdrc.org

June 2006
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Welcome to another (but delayed) edition of GDRC's Mosaic!
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THIS MONTH'S SPOTLIGHT: EMS for Cities
from GDRC's Programme on Urban Environments.

Urban environmental management systems (loosely modelled 
after the ISO 14001 standards) can be used in conjunction 
with appropriate goals, and with management commitment, 
to help improve environmental performance and reduce 
negative impacts on the urban environment. 

Consumers, governments and companies up and down the 
supply and production chain are all seeking ways to 
reduce their environmental impact and increase their 
long-run sustainability. For cities and local governments, 
the key goals are to be environmentally efficient, and 
serve as a model for resource-saving and replication.

For cities, there are several benefits of developing 
an EMS. It provides leverage in emphasizing and 
replicating better environmental action. It enables 
and provides an integrated approach to environmental 
management. The ISO 14001 takes a comprehensive view 
of all of the processes of an organization - hence it 
is system dependent, and not person-dependent. It 
also promotes sound environmental management in the 
long run.

GDRC has been working on these and related issues . 
Resources on this topic are available at:
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/iso14001/index.html

As with all sections of GDRC, contributions, comments 
and suggestions are always welcome from users and 
subscribers! Please contact GDRC's Coordinator at - 
mosaic@gdrc.org
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FOCUS ON GDRC: LEARNING LESSONS
Keeping the Forests and the Trees in View

Much of GDRC's programmatic work has been shaped by 
adopting the well known saying, "Missing the forests 
for the trees" - which highlights the common mistake 
of looking too much into the details (the 'trees'), 
but ignoring the context and the big picture to which 
it is linked (the 'forest').

A key lesson learnt at GDRC is to keep the balance 
between the 'trees' and the 'forest'. It is important 
to help individuals contextualize their professional 
boundaries (and for organizations, their programme 
and project boundaries)  - i.e. the trees - within 
a larger developmental perspective - i.e. the forests.

This apporach is based on the belief that a bridge 
has to be built between those who have the information 
and the knowledge, and those that need it to solve 
the problems they face locally. Adopting this forest 
of knowledge to suit different trees is the key 
strategy used by GDRC - and hence its operating 
slogan - "Keeping the Forests and the Trees in 
View"!

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MONTHLY STATISTICS FOR GDRC'S WEBSITE

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ABOUT GDRC MOSAIC

The "GDRC Mosaic" is a monthly email newsletter 
that provides information bites, and summarizes 
programme activities of GDRC, including new items 
added to the website. You are welcome to 
forward this newsletter to friends and interested
people!

To subscribe: http://www.gdrc.org/about/newsletter.html
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Comments/suggestions/contributions: mosaic@gdrc.org 

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CONTACT ADDRESS:

Global Development Research Center
1-5-1-1013, Mori Minami Machi, Higashi Nada-ku,
Kobe 658-001, Japan
Tel / Fax: +(81-78) 452-8414
Email: mosaic@gdrc.org
Web: http://www.gdrc.org/
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Copyright (C) 2005-2007, GDRC. All rights reserved.