- as an opportunity to transform the ISO 9001, or 9002:1994 to the new version
of ISO 9000:2000
- as a ticket to participation in international competitions

Recent developments in the environment have introduced new demands on quality management in organizations. The Technical Commission 176 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO/TC 176) has been forced to respond to this, and the result of their activities is the new version of the set of standards for quality management, under the designation ISO 9000:2000. This version fully respects the continually increasing application of a procedural approach to management of organizations and is close in structure to the standards of the ISO 14 000 series, which are aimed at the introduction and development of the environmental management system (EMS).

For the transition between systems of quality management in organizations, from the previous ISO 9001/2:1994 version to the new ISO 9000:2000 version, a three-year transition period has been established, during which time organizations should move to adopt the new version.

The National Programme for labeling environmentally friendly products in the Czech Republic is one of the voluntary activities by which the state, through the Ministry of the Environment, influences industrial production in order to decrease its negative effects and consequent impact on the living environment. The main principles of this Programme include its predominant orientation around consumer goods, its openness and comprehensibility, its ability to conduct random checks, and its systematic international integration. Participants are involved in the Programme on a voluntary basis, and it is fully coordinated to match individual national and international programmes for ecological labeling, i.e. ecolabeling systems, particularly in the countries of the OECD, and mainly in the European Union.

The fundamental aim of the Programme is to provide consumers with a state guarantee that products labeled with the protected trademark "Environmentally Friendly Product" have a minimum negative influence on the environment. This is connected with ensuring and facilitating easy orientation for the environmentally aware consumer in the broad spectrum of almost comparable goods, and amidst the large number of varied and many times unknown or deceptive signs and labels presented on the various wrappers used for consumer items.

Karlštejn Castle, a national cultural monument, is for many a symbol of Czech statehood and a national treasure, while for others it is a factory for tourism. For some the castle is exceptionally valuable as a monument of construction, aspiring for inclusion in the list of world cultural and natural heritage, though others view it as a ruined monument after the purist reconstruction work carried out on it.

In any case the castle is one of the most frequented historical tourist sites in the Czech lands. Each year over 300 000 visitors pass through the castle gates. In the following issues of this magazine we will attempt to acquaint readers with the historical context and the development of methodical approaches to the reconstruction of the castle, and subsequently we will present the results of the completed repairs of the ceiling construction in the Emperor's Palace and below the floor of the Holy Cross Chapel, along with preparations for salvaging other threatened structures.