This book contains the edited proceedings of the Conference "Environmental Management in a Transition to Market Economy: a Challenge to Governments and Business", held on January 6-8, 1993 at the University of Geneva. It gives an overview of environmental issues in Central European Countries and a look at possible problem-solving approaches with comparative studies based on some Western country practices. Experiences in Western Europe have shown that a market economy is not a universal remedy to ensure the protection of the environment, and that there is a necessity for economic and administrative instruments, regulations and implementation mechanisms. The institutional structures and legal instruments available in Central European Countries are not yet developed to a sufficient extent. The scarcity of financial resources represents another major constraint. Therefore, solutions that worked well in Western Europe, in stabilised, strong economies, introduced gradually over several decades, cannot be considered to be automatically the best solution for Central Europe. The situation therefore calls for medium and long term solutions and systems analytic methods in order to include multiple constraints of different types. 

Contributors: J.-P. Bari, L. Bulin, S. Cummings, I. Deschamps, B. Devin, M. Drahny, R. Eglin, J. Famielec, B. Filipowicz, V. Gheorghe, O. Giarini, K. Gorka, J.-C. Hadorn, E. Hajba, A. Haurie, F. Holler, A. Jiresova, A. Kravatzky, P. Lanoie, B. Laplante, B. Legendre, E. Le Net, T. Litscher, M. Lubinski, A. Maurer, B. Moldan, H. Nowacki, W. Oborski, W. Pellekaan, I. Rapantova, I. Rummel-Bulska, B. Saugy, T. Sawik, R. Serafin, J. Szlavik, M. Vaccaro, M. van der Broek, N. van der Linden, T. van Harmelen, F. Van Oostvorn, E. Vajdovich-Visy, K. Wala, M.J. Welfens, P.J.J. Welfens, M. Zebrowski