The International Society for Industrial Ecology
promotes industrial ecology as a way of finding innovative solutions to
complicated environmental problems, and facilitates communication among
scientists, engineers, policymakers, managers and advocates who are
interested in better integrating environmental concerns with economic
activities. The mission of the ISIE is to promote the use of industrial
ecology in research, education, policy, community development, and
industrial practices.
|
To download the ISIE marketing tri-fold, click here. History of the ISIE
In January of 2000,
a group of leaders from diverse fields who share an interest in promoting
industrial ecology gathered at the New
York Academy of Sciences. The group decided the time had come to
create an international society. They formed a steering committee and began planning the launch
of a new society dedicated to supporting research, applications, and communication
related to the rapidly growing
field of industrial ecology.
The mission of the
ISIE is to promote the use of industrial ecology in research, education,
policy, community development, and industrial practices. In order to
accomplish
this mission, ISIE seeks to build a community of interest, support cumulative
learning, produce quality research, and promote social change.
In February
2001,
the International Society for Industrial Ecology formally opened its
doors to membership. The formation of ISIE is another important step
in the
establishment of the field of industrial ecology.
A
Short History of Industrial Ecology
In
1989, Scientific American published what would prove to be a seminal
article for the field of industrial ecology. The article by Robert Frosch
and Nicholas Gallopoulos was titled “Strategies
for Manufacturing” and suggested the need for "an industrial
ecosystem" in which "the use of energies and materials is optimized,
wastes and pollution are minimized, and there is an economically viable
role for every product of a manufacturing process."1
Frosch and Gallopoulos
envisioned a more integrated model of industrial activity that would be
environmentally sustainable on a global level. Their article was the catalyst
for a Symposium
held by the US National Academy of Sciences in the early 1990s that has
been heralded as a founding event for the modern field of industrial ecology.
During the decade
following the symposium, the US-based effort becoming known as industrial
ecology joined with and built upon a substantial body of research,
practice
and expertise already underway throughout the world, but especially in
northern Europe.The field’s growth was signaled by two Gordon
Research Conferences in the United States as well as a number of special
sessions at annual meetings and conferences of various professional and
scientific organizations.
In the late 1990s
the field gained increased international recognition through the creation
of the Journal of Industrial
Ecology -- now a widely respected, scholarly, peer-reviewed journal
-- and the establishment of an academic degree-giving program at the Norwegian
University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
Industrial
Ecology: Tools of the Trade
Industrial ecology
provides a powerful prism through which to examine the impact
of industry and technology and associated changes in society and
the
economy on the biophysical environment. It examines local, regional
and global uses and flows of materials and energy in products,
processes,
industrial sectors and economies and focuses on the potential
role of industry in reducing environmental burdens throughout the
product
life cycle.
Industrial
ecology asks us to “understand how the industrial system works,
how it is regulated, and its interaction with the biosphere; then,
on the basis of what we know about ecosystems, to determine how
it could be restructured to make it compatible with the way natural
ecosystems function.” 2
The field encompasses
a variety of related areas of research and practice, including:
- material
and energy flow studies ("industrial metabolism")
- dematerialization
and decarbonization
- technological
change and the environment
- life-cycle
planning, design and assessment
- design for
the environment ("eco-design")
- extended
producer responsibility ("product stewardship")
- eco-industrial
parks ("industrial symbiosis")
- product-oriented
environmental policy
- eco-efficiency
Notes:
1.) Frosch, Robert
A. and Nicholas E. Gallopoulos. 1989. Strategies For Manufacturing. Scientific
American 189(3):152.
2.) Erkman, S. 1997.
Industrial Ecology: An Historical View. J. Cleaner Prod. 5(1-2):1
|
Current ISIE President Roland Clift, CBE.,
FREng., FIChemE., HonFCIWEM., FRSA, University of Surrey
 Marina Fischer-Kowalski, Ph.D. Klagenfurt University
ISIE President 2007-2008
 Braden Allenby, Ph.D., J.D Arizona State University
ISIE President 2005-2006
 Thomas Graedel, Ph.D. Yale University
ISIE President 2003-2004
|