OVGC: Watershed Committee

The Journal of Industrial Ecology is an international, multi-disciplinary quarterly designed to foster both understanding and practice in the emerging field of industrial ecology. It is owned by Yale University, edited at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and published by The MIT Press.

WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY?

Industrial ecology is a rapidly growing field that systematically examines local, regional and global materials and energy uses and flows in products, processes, industrial sectors and economies. It focuses on the potential role of industry in reducing environmental burdens throughout the product life cycle from the extraction of raw materials, to the production of goods, to the use of those goods and to the management of the resulting wastes. Industrial ecology is ecological in that it (1) places human activity -- industry in the very broadest sense -- in the larger context of the biophysical environment from which we obtain resources and into which we place our wastes, and (2) looks to the natural world for models of highly efficient use of resources, energy and byproducts. By selectively applying these models, the environmental performance of industry can be improved. Industrial ecology sees corporate entities as key players in the protection of the environment, particularly where technological innovation is an avenue for environmental improvement. As repositories of technological expertise in our society, corporations provide crucial leverage in attacking environmental problems through product and process design.

ABOUT THE JOURNAL

Journal of Industrial Ecology will address a series of related topics:

* material and energy flows studies ("industrial metabolism")
* technological change
* dematerialization and decarbonization
* life cycle planning, design and assessment
* design for the environment
* extended producer responsibility ("product stewardship")
* eco-industrial parks ("industrial symbiosis")
* product-oriented environmental policy
* eco-efficiency.

Premiering with its first issue in winter 1997, Journal of Industrial Ecology is open to and encourages submissions that are interdisciplinary in approach. In addition to more formal academic papers, the journal seeks to provide a forum for continuing exchange of information and opinions through contributions from scholars, environmental managers, policymakers, advocates and others involved in environmental science, management and policy.

Links

Center for Industrial Ecology CIE
International Society for Industrial Ecology
Yale Center for Industrial Ecology CIE STAF Project