Finland Times

 

The 2nd European Conference of Defence and the Environment (ECDE) will take place in Helsinki on 9-10 June, 2015 with the special theme—Nordic initiative in "Developing Technical and Practical Solutions for Environmental Protection of Heavy Weapons Ranges."  

 

The Conference is organized in cooperation by the Finnish Ministry of Defence, the Construction Establishment of Defence Administration and the Finnish Defence Forces, according to a press release of the Ministry of Defence.

 

The event is supported by DEFNET, an informal expert-level group comprising of specialists from the Ministries of Defence of EU member states and Nordic Defence Estates, cooperation forum for building and construction organizations of defence administrations in the Nordic countries, said the release.

 

The ECDE is Europe's premier forum for exchanging information on the environmental impacts of military operations, live-fire training on military training areas and management of environmentally hazardous substances.

 

Experts in their fields from throughout Europe and North America have been invited to present their research and development.

 

In addition, the conference covers topics such as environmental management, policy and legislative issues, and energy efficiency of military facilities.

 

Conference program will include speeches from European Defence Agency Director Denis Roger and chairman of DEFNET. 

 

The Chief of Defence, General Jarmo Lindberg, will open the conference. Expert presentations, that cover broadly the environmental impacts of military activities and their management, form an essential part of the conference program.

 

The ECDE conference will provide a discussion forum for all stakeholder groups including policy and decision makers, subject matter experts, authorities, academics and the industry, said the release.

 

The first ECDE in 2013 attracted more than 100 participants.