What should we say, as citizens involved in the efforts
to restore the beauty of the natural, healthy night
– and what have we already done on the relevant 12.
Symposium held in Europe?
I wrote a draft of the Declaration in a hurry by the end of a meeting in
Osnabrück in 2011. I am sure that the old way of defining Light
Pollution as a list of unpleasant consequences of nighttime lighting is
absolutely wrong. However, it is still used by the IDA.
Using a misleading
definition is being the main, if not the only obstacle on the way of
restoring a healthy, acceptable and sustainable night environment.
See the
beginning of the wikipedia item,
for real definitions written by real experts, independent on
polluting industries.
Unfortunately, lighting industry and lay people in general take
the IDA as an authority. It might be not bad... if it could become
one at last. Let's try to help it toward that goal.
The current opportunity
was the 12. Symposium for the Protection of Night Sky in
Bielsko-Biala, Sep 14-15, 2012. See its
programme,
an
abstract of my lecture-appeal
and an
abstract of my secondary lecture
on expressing and measuring light amounts, or even the "slides" for
both lectures.
Good news: vast majority of the participants (16-1-4) approved the
Declaration
on the afternoon of Saturday Sep 15, so it is no mere Bill
anymore. See its
non-Bill version with the real name of the group included. For a
better English of this version, thanks are due to Bob Mizon.
To endorse its text individually, you may use a form at
web77.eu/ida/.
Below, some
non-English versions of the text may appear, following a Czech one.
Jenik Hollan