208 Ecology and Applied Environmental Science
environmental risk coming from an activity. The formation of an environmental management system for a business, organization, a governmental
agency etc. can be based on certification. Certification systems offer guidance
and advice to a wide spectrum of sectors that include audits, labelling, lifecycle assessment etc. In the last decade, the ISO 14001 system has been used
at an international level for environmental certification. It is part of the ISO
(International Standards Organization) series. At a European level, EMAS
(Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) has been developed on the basis of a
European Union resolution that requires its application in all member-states.
For the time being, it is an optional system aiming at certifying businesses,
organizations etc. It provides recognition that the organization has established an environmental actions programme designed for protection of the
environment against the negative impacts of the organization’s activities and
for continuously improving its environmental performances.
Resource squandering and polluting activities in some sectors of a business are evidence that it needs significant environmental improvement. All
systems of environmental management focus on the need for continuous and
unlimited effort for minimization of environmental burdening for the sake
of the quality of life of present and future generations. A connection with
a system of environmental management pertains to all categories of people
involved with the business’s activities, specifically investors, employees, customers, insurers, auditing mechanisms and non-governmental organizations.
11.8 gEograPhic inForMation SyStEM
An environmental Geographic Information System (GIS) describes a locality by using different information levels that it combines in order to offer
a better understanding of environmental problems. It is a useful tool that
can assist decision-making procedures and the formation of an environmental management strategy. The selection of the information levels that
will be used depends on the object of study, e.g. depiction of a point-source
pollution event in a stream, designing of a regional zone of fauna protection area, exploration of a possible relationship between environmental
factors and an alteration of the morbidity index of the people of an area.
The spectrum of possible GIS applications is wide and covers most of the
environmental sectors.
The GIS offers possibilities for better natural resource management. It can
combine various groups of environmental data with the data of the locality,
such as addresses or geographic coordinates, which gives the public, private
companies, non-governmental organizations and governmental agencies
access to the information. Through a distributed database, the information
can be collected once and used many times.
environmental risk coming from an activity. The formation of an environmental management system for a business, organization, a governmental
agency etc. can be based on certification. Certification systems offer guidance
and advice to a wide spectrum of sectors that include audits, labelling, lifecycle assessment etc. In the last decade, the ISO 14001 system has been used
at an international level for environmental certification. It is part of the ISO
(International Standards Organization) series. At a European level, EMAS
(Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) has been developed on the basis of a
European Union resolution that requires its application in all member-states.
For the time being, it is an optional system aiming at certifying businesses,
organizations etc. It provides recognition that the organization has established an environmental actions programme designed for protection of the
environment against the negative impacts of the organization’s activities and
for continuously improving its environmental performances.
Resource squandering and polluting activities in some sectors of a business are evidence that it needs significant environmental improvement. All
systems of environmental management focus on the need for continuous and
unlimited effort for minimization of environmental burdening for the sake
of the quality of life of present and future generations. A connection with
a system of environmental management pertains to all categories of people
involved with the business’s activities, specifically investors, employees, customers, insurers, auditing mechanisms and non-governmental organizations.
11.8 gEograPhic inForMation SyStEM
An environmental Geographic Information System (GIS) describes a locality by using different information levels that it combines in order to offer
a better understanding of environmental problems. It is a useful tool that
can assist decision-making procedures and the formation of an environmental management strategy. The selection of the information levels that
will be used depends on the object of study, e.g. depiction of a point-source
pollution event in a stream, designing of a regional zone of fauna protection area, exploration of a possible relationship between environmental
factors and an alteration of the morbidity index of the people of an area.
The spectrum of possible GIS applications is wide and covers most of the
environmental sectors.
The GIS offers possibilities for better natural resource management. It can
combine various groups of environmental data with the data of the locality,
such as addresses or geographic coordinates, which gives the public, private
companies, non-governmental organizations and governmental agencies
access to the information. Through a distributed database, the information
can be collected once and used many times.