The First Konrad Adenauer Foundation Forum on ASEAN Media & the Environment was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, September 5�8, with support from US-AEP. The forum, which focused on how the media covers environmental issues in Asia, was attended by more than 30 senior journalists and editors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members.

Among the speakers were US-AEP Deputy Executive Director Mr. Richard Sheppard, who spoke on US-AEP�s activities in greening the supply chain. Also presenting at the conference was Ms. Budi (Asti) Larasati, project leader for the Indonesian nongovernmental organization EcoLink, who discussed their US-AEP� funded project to create information materials to raise community awareness about industry�s environmental impact.

In addition, the Indonesian Pollution Prevention Roundtable (KMB), with assistance from US-AEP, organized a site visit to a local automobile factory, PT Pulogadung Pawitra Laksana, for 12 of the participants. KMB has been working closely with the factory on implementing cleaner production methods. "The participants seemed eager to learn about what they were doing on cleaner production," said Isna Marifa, technical manager for the Clean Technology & Environmental Management (CTEM) program in Indonesia, who accompanied the participants on the visit.

US-AEP has worked closely with Komite Nasional-Responsible Care Indonesia (KN-RCI) over the past three years to help them attain certification to implement Responsible Care, a public commitment by the chemical industry to improve their environmental performance. As a result, KN-RCI was endorsed by the International Council of Chemical Association (ICCA) on August 25.

KN-RCI and the Indonesia Chemical Industry Club (ICIC) became involved with Responsible Care in October 1997, organizing a conference to highlight the benefits of Responsible Care and its relationship to ISO 14000. After that initial conference, KN-RCI gathered over 40 signatures of companies committed to adopting these business standards, including Dow Chemical, Bayer, and OxyChem. US-AEP�s Clean Technology and Environmental Management (CTEM) program has assisted KN-RCI in this process, including providing relevant certification information and reviewing their action plan, bringing speakers and major chemical corporations to local conferences, and providing informational materials to publicize the program. "US-AEP has taken KN-RCI from birth, through development of their action plans and final application," said Conchita Silva, the US-AEP CTEM technical manager who worked on the Responsible Care program.

KN-RCI is optimistic that the value-added benefits of Responsible Care can help chemical companies to be more competitive and efficient. Setyabudhi Zuber, secretary-general of KN-RCI and Board member of ICIC, said that "getting approval from ICCA is just a start. The next step is to follow up on the action plan. It is the wish of KN-RCI that Responsible Care becomes our culture, especially with the chemical industry community in Indonesia."

A regional workshop for "Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Accreditation Body Assessors"�organized by the Singapore Accreditation Council and US-AEP�s Environmental Exchange Program and Office of Technology Cooperation�was held in Singapore, August 24�27. The main goal of the workshop was to train Asian accreditation body assessors on becoming qualified to assess ISO 14001 EMS accreditation bodies.

Seventeen participants from accreditation bodies in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore attended the session. The workshop was led by Mr. Mike Ross, president of EMS for the Registrar Accreditation Board, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mr. Ross, as well as 11 of the participants, attended the workshop through EEP. [EEP is administered by the Institute of International Education.]

As a result of the solid waste study tour organized by US-AEP�s Environmental Exchange Program in June, a one-day seminar on "Solid Waste Management Practices in Bhopal-Modernization and Community Participation" was held August 17. The seminar, co-sponsored by US-AEP, Bhopal Municipal Corporation, and the National Institute of Urban Affairs, was attended by more than 70 people. Highlighted topics included the development of a public/private partnership in the management of solid waste and educating the public on technology choices and current waste management activities.

Two members of the June study tour�Mr. D.P. Tiwari, Bhopal Municipal Commissioner, and Mr. A.K. Jain, Municipal Commissioner, Maumbai�made presentations on the technologies and management practices they encountered on the tour. Several US-AEP staff members also gave presentations at the seminar, including P.U. Asnani, US-AEP Urban Environmental Infrastructure Representative/India; Suneel Parasnis and Nutan Zarapkar of the Office of Technology Cooperation in Mumbai; and Therese Leasburg, US-AEP Country Director for India.

Welcome to the newest US-AEP AAAS Science & Diplomacy Fellow, Joseph P. Dudley, who started work with the US-AEP Secretariat September 17. Dr. Dudley holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and has worked as a wildlife ecologist and conservation biologist for 8 years in Africa. He will focus on public/private sector policy initiatives, and can be reached at 202- 712-4196 or by e-mail jdudley@usaid.gov.