Chemistry International
Vol. 21, No. 1
January 1999
News
and Notices from Other Societies and Unions
News from the Federation of European Chemical Societies (FECS) General
Assembly
Istanbul Turkey,
17-18 September 1998
Millennium
Celebrations
100 Distinguished European Chemists
The President informed the General Assembly that the project had
been approved by the Executive Committee in March and that in August
member societies had been sent a letter inviting them to submit nominations
by the closing date of 26 February 1999.
Guidelines for considering the nominations would be approved
by the Executive Committee in October. The Working Party on the History
of Chemistry would be involved in the selection process, the final decision
to be taken by a selection committee
FECS
Calendar
The President informed the General Assembly that plans for a calendar
to mark the Millennium had been approved by the Executive Committee,
although the question of the necessary funding had not been resolved.
FECS
Web Pages
The President urged member societies to develop their own web pages,
if they did not already exist, and use the help that was available from
the Royal Society of Chemistry. He urged member societies to make use
of the opportunities provided by Chemsoc for the use of chemical societies
and their members, the alternative being commercially provided sites.
Dr Gagan added that the Chemsoc web site was a valuable service for
Divisions. The General Assembly noted the development of the
IUPAC and ACS web sites.
Dr. Inch commended in particular the developing conference
database within Chemsoc, and encouraged member societies to contribute
information.
The
European Chemist
Magazine
Dr. Inch drew attention to the first issue published in May and
urged member societies to provide information that could help create
future issues, the next one being expected in November/December. He
explained that a major problem was to assemble a number of people who
are able to provide information from different countries which could
be analysed for its European significance. Until the quality of the
magazine meets the required standards, he is not planning to approach
industry for sponsorship. Approaches to member societies for firm commitments
to purchase the magazine will be made in due course.
Future
Direction of FECS
Divisional Status
The General Assembly considered the circulated papers. Dr. Jensen
and Professor Pasynkiewicz presented the applications of the Working
Parties on Chemistry and the Environment and Organometallic Chemistry
for Divisional status. The General Assembly noted that the Working Parties
met the required criteria concerning membership and level of activities
and accepted the recommendations from the Executive Committee.
Green
Chemistry
Dr. Jensen reported that the European Environment Agency (EEA) had
invited FECS to help organize a European Green Chemistry Award similar
to the U.S. Green Chemistry Award. The EEA expected that funding would
be available via the European Commission, and planned to publicize the
award in the summer of 1999, with the first awards (possibly one academic
and one industrial) being made in the year 2000.
There was some discussion of the use of the word 'green',
which was not well accepted in all European countries, although it was
possible that the U.S. influence would eventually prevail. Dr. Inch
reported that in considering the terms 'sustainable' and 'green', the
RSC had concluded that sustainable chemistry went beyond green chemistry.
It was noted that the preliminary proposal was for the FECS to appoint
and oversee the work of an awarding panel and that the Green Chemistry
Network in York University might be asked to be the administrative body.
The General Assembly gave approval in principle to the
proposal to work with the EEA in organising a European Green Chemistry
Award and agreed that the Division of Chemistry and the Environment
should be authorized to continue the discussions and act on behalf of
FECS. Dr. Darms urged that efforts should be made to ensure the right
amount of visibility for the FECS name in association with the award.
Dr. Malin
gave a presentation highlighting the many international activities of
the ACS which incorporated green chemistry. The ACS Committee on Environmental
Improvement was actively involved in the U.S. Green Chemistry Award.
Much staff activity was devoted to, for example, the organisation of
workshops in collaboration with other bodies.
Dr. Czedik Eysenberg reported that the Austrian
Chemical Society had a working party looking at life cycle questions.
Dr. Inch reported on the arrangements to establish the
Green Chemistry Network at the University of York, financed by the RSC,
and the plans to publish a green chemistry journal/magazine.
Dr. Jensen invited representatives to send him by post
any further information that was available.
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