By Anders Wijkman, Ambassador and Member of the European Parliament.

Some of you might know that some 30 years ago there was an

Anders Wijkman

important conference organised in Sweden. The theme for that conference was "The place of values in a word of facts". A number of Nobel laureates were present, discussing the future. Carl-Göran Hedén was one of the initiators of that conference and a few years ago he came up with the idea to do something similar, resulting in this conference with the title "The Place of Values in a World of Change". Sam Nilsson will discuss the speed of change at the meeting tonight and if I understood his opinion this morning he thinks that changes do not happen as fast as people say. I also have my doubts, but anyway what happens around the world is really a series of developments in scientific and technology areas, and many of us have difficulties keeping pace understanding what is happening. There is indeed a need to discuss issues like ethics, equity, and sustainability. There is a tendency that decision making in these areas are long term and in companies short term, driven by financial markets etc. The initiator and the driving force for this seminar, Carl-Göran Hedén has always been very engaged in these issues. What kind of values and what kind of ethics do we need, particularly in periods like the present one? This seminar will focus on biotechnology and bring different aspects of the biotechnology revolution to the fore and how it more specifically can be used in combination with other technologies in order to address a series of problems, particularly in disadvantaged regions.

Before I introduce the two co-chair persons, allow me to just expand on the phenomena Carl-Göran Hedén for a minute. Because he is a remarkable person, an inspiration for so many of us, a bridge builder. Building bridges between disciplines, one of those rare people who always applies a helicopter or horizontal perspective to what is happening. He builds bridges, emphasising multidisciplinary issues in a number of disciplines, also between commerce, science and politics. This man has been so important to so many projects over the years. Let me give you just one example. I have been working over the last 4-5 years trying to promote IT and development, that is, to provide access to information and communication technologies in the poorest regions of this world. There are very few international institutions that still have this on the agenda. There is one institution that has done a lot for about 20 years and that is IDRC, International Development ++++. I was at a congress Carl-Göran the other day where you were mentioned because they said if it had not been for Carl-Göran who was a board member at the beginning of the 1980ies, they had never taken on board at that point as a priority, information and communication technologies. Carl-Göran does not want this to be mentioned but one of these days he is celebrating his birthday. Some of us have decided to organise, annually or biannually, a Carl-Göran lecture. This is something we are going to pursue and the main orientation and focus of this lecture is multidisciplinary and sustainability.

Before we start the program I would like to introduce the two chairpersons. On my left, Tomas Rosswald who has just stepped down as the Rector or Vice Chancellor of the Agricultural University of Ulltuna after a long and very successful period. Now he has taken on another important position as the Executive Director of IFS, International Foundation for Sites, which is an important international program supporting research institutions in a number of areas. The other chairperson is on his way, Ashok Koshla, who has worked at the UN environment program and who was at the forefront of the preparation for the Rio Conference, and very often called for when task forces dealing with sustainability technology transfer are on the agenda. Ashok is particularly interesting as he does not only participate in seminars, sharing theories and principles, but he is also actively working on the ground as founder and Managing Director of Development Alternatives.