NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS WORKSHOP ON CHANGING CONSUMPTION PATTERNS IN HUMAN SETTLEMENTS TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS 11 APRIL

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS WORKSHOP ON CHANGING CONSUMPTION PATTERNS IN HUMAN SETTLEMENTS TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS 11 APRIL

A workshop on "Changing Consumption Patterns in Human Settlements" will be held at Headquarters from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, 11 April, in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium.

The workshop, being held in conjunction with the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development currently meeting at Headquarters, has been organized by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and the United Nations Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development. Topics to be discussed include resource conservation strategies in human settlements based on the efficient use of natural resources, including energy, forests, and the reuse and recycling of wastes.

A number of national ministers of environment will be participating in the workshop, which will focus on the impact of rapidly urbanizing areas on the carrying capacity of local and distant ecosystems. It will also address practical ways to reconcile human settlement development and conservation of the natural resource base in developed and developing countries. Workshop participants will discuss the conclusions and recommendations of a preceding two-day expert group meeting involving specialists from around the world.

Those expert group recommendations will also be presented on Friday at a 3:30 p.m. press conference in room 226.

For additional information contact: Kalyan Ray, Chief, Building and Infrastructure Technology Section, UNCHS (Habitat), tel: (212) 963-4200 or Lexington Hotel, tel: (212) 755-4400; Erik Brandsma, Focal Point, Changing Production and Consumption Patterns (Chapter 4, Agenda 21), United Nations Department of Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, tel: (212) 963-0013; Bill Hass, Information Officer, Department of Public Information, tel: 212-963-0353.

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