Baltic University Programme - A regional university network

Instructions to authors from North-Western Russia, Belarus and Ukraine of the textbooks related to the project Ecosystem Health and Sustainable Agriculture Education.

You have been invited by the Baltic University Programme to write a chapter or parts of a chapter in a course package project. This is a part of the effort to enhance the environment of the Baltic Sea (and of the Great Lakes in the US/Canada), especially regarding the contribution from rural areas to the pollution of these sea and lakes.

The course package will consist of four modules, each of about 200-250 pp. The first module will consist of more basic level information and will be obligatory before studying the other three. It can be used for many stakeholders such as students studying at most faculties with natural sciences as a basis and with natural resources and rural development as their main focus. The first module could also be attractive for professionals and administrators from ministries or municipalities, advisors and managers. Module 1 will however be produced after the other three are finalised, and maybe not within the time frame of the EHSA project but later, depending on financing.

The three more advanced modules should be of interest to university students studying agronomy, veterinary science, public health, nature geography, biology, wildlife management or similar subjects. The titles of the modules will be:

Rural Development and Land Use (mainly humanities, social, economic and law issues) Editor Ingrid Karlsson

Sustainable Agriculture (mainly plant production and animal husbandry + soil and water issues) Editor Christine Jakobsson

Ecology and Animal Health (mainly ecosystem health, veterinary and human health issues, but also biodiversity) Editor Leif Norrgren

The project is a true collaborative effort where the networks of The Baltic University Programme and The Ecosystem Health Network are the main resources. People involved come mainly from the Baltic Sea Region but some important and welcome contributions are made by colleagues in the USA, as a part of their effort to enhance textbooks useful in the enhancement of the environment of the Great Lakes and its watershed area.

Aim of the book project
We hope that we, all of us together, with this project contribute to a better understanding and implementation of the concept of sustainability within the area “Ecosystem Health”. The concept of sustainability should be our leading star. Our book project should provide explanations of problem complexity and examples of problem solving, using a comprehensive ecosystem health approach. It goes without saying that we also, in the writing and editing of the text, and in our communication and discussions, will keep to general norms of good ethics of writing and will have respect for human rights as understood by the UN declaration of human rights.

Sustainability may be defined as a process to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. One of the most often-cited definitions of sustainability is the one created by the Brundtland Commission, led by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Commission defined sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Sustainability takes into account the consideration of economic, environmental, social, (often also institutional is included) aspects of human society. We must accept that all parts of the biosphere of our planet are affected by man.

The project thus follows initial intentions of the Baltic 21 agreement, as stated in the first Baltic 21 statement by the Council of the Baltic Sea States in 1998[1

A Sustainable Agriculture for the Baltic Sea Area

Sustainable agriculture was defined within the framework of Baltic 21 Agreement in 1998 under heading 4.6, as follows:

 At a new meeting in Luleå, Sweden, on 29 August 2003, the Heads of States of CBSS agreed on some more details concerning the responsibilities of the agricultural sector in the Baltic Sea Area (stated under area IV in a Baltic Sea States’ Declaration on Environment and Sustainable Development)[3]:

It is our firm belief that agriculture and related activities can, if well managed, be positive for the ecosystem biodiversity.

A sustainable rural development has its backbone in a sustainable agriculture. Agriculture is so much more than food production. It includes preservation of cultural heritage, wildlife/hunting production, fishery, forestry etc. Thus, when discussing a future sustainable rural development, all aspects need to be taken into consideration.

The statements above will be part of an introductory chapter to each of the modules.

Practical instructions
In order to help us to produce the books with a high quality and a minimum of misunderstandings, you are expected to:

Submit an electronic version of an outline of your article, or part of article as soon as possible.

Submit a first draft (if you have not already done so) to the editor in charge of your chapter and to the main editor of your book/module before the end of April 2007. If you have already sent your first draft, please get in contact so that we can start the process of including diagrams, photos, figueres, and discuss amendments, additions, and cross references to other chapters.

If you cannot send your first draft within the month of April, you must inform your book editor immediately and the editor will either find another author, or we will solve the problem together.

Below you find email addresses of the editors:

Module 2 Rural development and Land Use: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Module 3 Sustainable Agriculture: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Module 4 Ecosystem Health: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

If possible, take part in the Author´s meeting 25-26 June in Klaipeda, Lithuania. Travel, accommodation and expenses will be paid by the project.

Submit a 2^nd, revised draft (probably in collaboration with the editor and other co-authors whom you have been advised to get in contact with) before the end of spring 2008.

Your manuscript should be submitted to us following the instructions below. The text will be edited by the main editor and by our layout expert, so you may find that we have changed your structure to fit the figures better into the text, or we may even cut up your text to fit into several different chapters. Also, we may have opinions on the content, e.g. that you need to include more about other geographical areas or about other aspects of your subject. This is a genuine cross disciplinary exercise and in order to have a readable and well structured text the editors must have the final say on the end result. However, we will put a lot of energy into finding good compromises between authors and between the overall aim and the views of the individual authors.

Our reports are aimed for an academic as well as a wider public. We need to have a cross-disciplinary approach, addressing readers who might not be familiar with detailed scientific terminology. Please write in a popular yet scientifically accurate way. Most of our potential readers are well acquainted with English, but it is nevertheless a foreign language to most of them. Please be careful to explain less well-known specific terminology of your subject. Write in a clear and simple style with short sentences.

Regional coordinators should be consulted whenever there is a need for updated regional information or if there is a need for including an author from the region in a specific subject. Contact the editor or one of the advisors if you need to discuss the need for additional contents.

It is not important which letter style you use, this will be changed later. Use sub-headings but not more than two levels to structure your text and enhance its readability.

Be careful to make clear which level of order your sub-headings are. See the example below:

Chapter heading

Heading

Subheading 1

Subheading 2

Unless otherwise spelled out, we appreciate that your paper is no longer than twelve pages of text + figures, using Times New Roman 12 single spaced. This means about approx. 5000 words + 5-8 illustrations (the actual length could be longer or shorter depending on later editing, additions etc)

Illustrations, tables, photos etc should have high resolution (a minimum is 300 dots per inch). A general rule is that high resolution is appreciated, but if you are unsure of the quality, just contact the editor and we will evaluate whether the quality need to be enhanced.

Sources, references to copyright etc should be included in the information. Pictures and films already available for free should be submitted (including accurate references to the sources) to the editor of the project as soon as possible.

The text should be compatible with Windows Word. Be sure to send it to us as a .doc or .rtf or .txt file. Tables, figures and pictures should be compatible with Excel or Photoshop. A map should be submitted as a .pdf or .eps file. Footnotes may be used to avoid longish explanations or citations

Inquiries on how to write or other questions about the process and involvement from you should be sent to Christine Jakobsson and Ingrid Karlsson (please write to us both to ensure that there is at least one of us to pick up your questions).

Include descriptions of methods or refer to other texts where your methods are described, when you refer to your own or someone else’s investigation. Be careful to include references in your text whenever you quote facts cited from other authors. The references must match your reference list, which should be edited as in the example below (the so called Harvard type): a reference is included in the text as follows: "Svensson (1988) explained that..." or "according to Svensson (1988)…"; see examples below

Example of reference list:
Berlan-Darqué, M and B Kalaora. 1992. The ecologization of French agriculture. In Sociologia Ruralis, 32:1, pp 104-114.

Löfberg, A. 2001. Att upptäcka världen: Perspektiv som murbräcka för utveckling av världen och tänkandet om världen. In Montgomery, H and B Qvarsell (Eds.). Perspektiv och förståelse. Stockholm: Carlssons, pp 54-66.

Lönngren, M and S Axelsson. 1995. Hinder och möjligheter för miljöarbete - en kartläggning av centrala aktörers problembilder. Report no 3. Division for Extension Education, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Uppsala: SLU.

Malbert, B. 1998. Urban planning participation: Linking practice and theory. Doctoral dissertation at the Department of Urban Design and Planning, School of Agriculture, Chalmers University of Technology. Gothenburg: Chalmers.

Margerum, R. 1999. Integrated environmental management: The foundations for successful practice. In Environmental Management. 24:2, pp 151-166.