Dear Colleague,

We are happy to announce the availability of the first Knowledge Planet prototype, the latest addition to the Media Watch on Climate Change. If your graphics card supports OpenGL, you can access the Java applet directly from the welcome screen at www.ecoresearch.net/climate, or by clicking the "3D" button in the upper right corner of the Semantic Map View. Developers from the NASA World Wind engineering team recently presented the application at JavaOne, the largest annual gathering of Java developers and an eagerly anticipated opportunity to witness the latest technology trends. Knowledge Planets visualize large document collections using a landscape metaphor. The peaks of the virtual landscape indicate abundant coverage on a particular topic, whereas oceans and valleys represent sparsely populated parts of the information space (a more detailed description is available at www.geospatialweb.com/knowledge-planet).

We would also like to remind you of the upcoming submission deadline (15 June 2008) of the mini-track on "Information Systems and Sustainable Development" at the 42nd Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences (www.ecoresearch.net/hicss-42). The mini-track emphasizes the significant synergies that exist between information systems and sustainability research from organizational as well as technical perspectives. Collaboration and cross-fertilization between these domains can be mutually beneficial and presents unique, timely and socially relevant research opportunities.

With kind regards,
The ECOresearch Team

------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS
------------------------------

June 15, 2008
Call for Papers: Minitrack on Information Systems and Sustainable Development
42nd Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences
http://www.ecoresearch.net/hicss-42

June 30, 2008
14th International Interdisciplinary Conference on the Environment
http://ieaonline.org/
Venue: Edmonton, Canada
The Interdisciplinary Environmental Association (IEA) invites you to participate in the 14th International Interdisciplinary Conference on the Environment! The conference is motivated by the increasing need to combine ideas and research findings from different disciplines to enhance our understanding of the interactions between the natural environment and human institutions.

July 06, 2008
Environmental Modelling and Software
http://www.iemss.org/iemss2008/
Venue: Spain, Barcelona
The 4th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software aims to enhance environmental processes by means of fostering the discussion and interchange of challenges, solutions, ideas, new methods and techniques, and future research lines in environmental modelling & software. The congress joins together several interest groups working in different but complementary features and/or scientific fields in Environmental Modelling, Assessment, Decision Making and Information Technologies.

August 14, 2008
Environmental Communication and Decision Support
http://www.homepages.dsu.edu/elgayaro/AMCIS08-Call%20for%20papers.htm
Venue: Canada, Toronto
The mini-track focuses on innovative design and use of Decision Support Systems (DSS), and their application to the environmental domain. The urgency and scope of environmental problems call for both immediate action and sustainable long-term strategies. Consequently, decision-makers need to reexamine their knowledge assets and identify new methods to exploit them more effectively. The fields of environmental communication, ecosystem monitoring and environmental resource management are constantly developing such methods.

September 10, 2008
Environmental Informatics
http://www.enviroinfo2008.org/
Venue: Germany, Lueneburg
The EnviroInfo 2008 conference aims to facilitate exchange of experience and knowhow between academics, and professionals in environmental informatics. The monitoring of sustainable use of resources and energy, impacts of products and processes on climate, climate change impacts on value chains etc. are complex tasks. They demand sophisticated information systems and data processing techniques, for instance process simulation tools, computer- based environmental accounting systems, geographical information systems, visualization tools, reporting modules, as much as possible integrated into a consistent modeling framework.

October 05, 2008
IUCN World Conservation Congress
http://cms.iucn.org/news_events/events/congress/
Venue: Spain, Barcelona
More than 8,000 of the world's leading decision makers in sustainable development: from governments, NGOs, business, the UN and academia. Together in one place for 10 days: to debate, share, network, learn, commit, vote and decide. The objective: ideas, action and solutions for a diverse and sustainable world.