State Environmental Council of Poland (PROS)

Panstwowa Rada Ochrony Srodowiska

Panstwowa Rada Ochrony Srodowiska (PROS)
c/o Ministry of Environment
Minister's Office
ul. Wawelska 52/54
PL-00-922 Warszawa
Poland
Tel. +48 22 5792 255
Fax +48 22 5792 263

winnicki@kk.jgora.pl
www.mos.gov.pl/mos/doradcze/pros_eng.html

www.mos.gov.pl/pros (home page in progress)

Current and Future Activities

Present Priority Fields

The present priority fields are:

Greenhouse gases emission and the country economic development;
Sustainable forest management;
Biodiversity (NATURA2000) and infra-structural investments;
Environment-friendly agriculture and rural policy;
Sustainable water economy;
Solid waste management policy and its implementation;
Financing of the environmental protection;
Current changes of environmental law;
Education for sustainable development.

Background and Mission

Establishment

The State Environmental Council of Poland (PROS) was founded in 1985 as an advisory body to the Prime Minister and later (1990) linked with the Minister of Environment. Currently based on "Prawo Ochrony Srodowiska” (Environmental Act) of April 27^th, 2001 (Dz.U. Nr 62, poz. 627).

Mission

The PROS gives opinions on environmental and sustainable development policies, new laws dealing with environmental protection, documents related to Polish participation in the EU and on any other matter requested by the Minister of the Environment.

The PROS also suggests activities related to environmental protection and initiates and reviews research programs. It co-operates with other bodies dealing with the environment and sustainable development, especially with the State Council for Nature Protection (PROP).

Council Members

The PROS has 30 scientists as Council Members. The members and the board of the PROS are appointed by the Minister of Environment. The Council Members are nominated for a period of five years and their current term will expire in 2011.

Chair Prof. Tomasz Winnicki	Karkonosze College of Jelenia Góra Environmental protection and engineering, water and wastewater treatment, separation processes
Vice-Chair, Head WG Biodiversity & Climate Change Prof. Piotr Paschalis- Jakubowicz	Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) Forest growth and economy
Vice-Chair, Head WG Energy & Environment Prof. Maciej Sadowski	IOS, Warsaw, Institute of Environmental Protection. Geography, climatology
Presidium Secretary Prof. Jan Zelazo	Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) Water economy and engineering, impact on environment
Head WG Education for Sustainable Development Prof. Tadeusz Borys	Wroclaw University of Economics, Jelenia Gora Faculty Environmental economics and statistics
Head WG Agriculture Prof. Irena Duer	IUNG Pulawy Environmental protection in agriculture systems
Presidium Member and Media Contact Prof. Edward Garscia	AURA monthly, Air pollution control, energy and environment
Head WG Sustainable Development Prof. Ryszard Janikowski	GWSH Katowice Environmental protection and engineering, environmental governance, system analysis
Head WG Water Economy Prof. Lucjan Pawlowski	Lublin University of Technology Environmental chemistry and technology
Head WG Environmental Governance Prof. Bazyli Poskrobko	Bialystok University of Economy Economy, environmental economy, environmental governance
Members: Prof. Leon Gradon	Warsaw University of Technology Chemical and process engineering, separation technologies
Prof. Maciej Gromadzki	Polish Academy of Science, Gdansk Department of Ornithology Ornithology, nature protection
Prof. Andrzej W. Jasinski	University of Wroclaw Geology
Prof Mariusz-Orion Jedrysek	University of Wroclaw Geology, biogeology
Dr. Andrzej Kassenberg	Institute for Sustainable Development (think-tank/NGO) Sustainable development, environmental governance
Dr. Janusza Kompala	Central Mining Institute Acustics
Prof. Andrzej K. Lesniak	PWSOS (Private Higher School on Environmental Protection), Radom Biology, forest and animals ecology
Prof. Andrzej Lesniak	AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow Environmental monitoring, geophysics
Dr. Boleslaw Maksymowicz	OBREM (Urban Ecology Research Institute), Lodz Municipal economy and ecology
Dr. Janusz Radziejowski	TWP College Polish Urban Planners Association Spatial Planning, Environmental Governance
Prof. Maciej Rudnicki	The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Environmental law and administration, financial law and management
Prof. Aleksancder Sokolowski	Forest Research Institute of Warsaw Ecology, phitosociology and environmental protection
Prof. Jerzy Solon	Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw, Department of Geoecology and Climatology Biology, ecology of landscape geobotanics
Prof. Jerzy Sommer	Institute of Law Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences of Wroclaw Environmental law
Ms. Joanna Szczepanska	Association for Poland’s Sustainable Development
Dr. Andrezej Szweda-Lewandowski	Lasy Panstwowe (Polish Forests), Region Lodz
Dr. Konrad Tomaszewski	Lasy Panstwowe (Polish Forests), Warsaw
Mgr. Aleksander Warchalowski	Warsaw University of Technology Air pollution control, meteorology
Prof. Bronislaw Woloszyn	Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow Biology, bio-speleology
Prof. Tadeusz Zarski	Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) Forest growth and economy

Staff Members

The council has one administrative employee that is a clerk at the Ministry of Environment.

Work Style

Tasks of the Council

The tasks of the council are to:

give recommendations to the Minister of Environment;
give consultations concerning new environmental law acts;
give opinions on some crucial macro eco-economic decisions;
participate in the Minister's Rewards Juries;
represent the council in the Parliamentary Environmental Committee;
represent the council in other bodies and meetings.

Activities approximately comprise 40% research, 30% meetings and 30% others.

Substructure and Working Groups

The ten first listed council members constitute the presidium. There are six working groups, namely:

Agriculture and Environment;
Biodiversity and Climate Change;
Education for Sustainable Development;
Energy and Environment;
Environmental Governance;
Sustainable Development;
Water Economy.

Council meetings

The activities comprise two semi-annual plenary meetings, three to four presidium meetings and a few other events like conferences, seminars and workshops.

The current work of the plenum, the presidium and WGs has been provided by individual Members.

Rules of the council cooperation has been settled by the Internal Regulations of the PROS.

Activities in the EEAC Network

The PROS joined EEAC in 2002. It is an observer to all Working Groups (Agriculture, Biodiversity, Energy, Governance, Marine environment and Sustainable Development.

In 2006 the PROS, together with the Finnish FCNR, hosted the 14^th EEAC Annual Conference in Warsaw on Action for Sustainable Forest Management: from Coordination to Education.

List of recent publications

You can search for policy advice in our Search Engine which also includes the titles in English of publications available in original language only. For the moment brief summaries of the following publications are available in English. A fuller list of publications (with summaries in English) is under development.

Environmental hazard caused by the planned gas pipe line on the bottom of Baltic Sea (June 06);
Sustainable forest and water economy – what Poland could offer as its share in the EU environmental policy (June 06);
System of financing of the environmental protection in Poland in accordance to EU-accession obligations – chances and threats (March 06).

More information on publications of PROS members.