Search by tag «Ecology» 46 results
Partying for Sustainable Development: How Festivals are Going Green
Festivals all over the world regularly bring together thousands of people; few of them, however, are anywhere near as environmentally conscious as the Burning Man in Nevada, US, which leaves its desert venue even cleaner than it was before. Jürgen Forkel-Schubert, a senior expert on sustainable development at the Ministry for Urban Development and Environment of the City of Hamburg, explains how festivals can go green using Hamburg’s experience as an example.
12.04.2019
Professor Alessandra Bonoli on Ecodesign, Circular Economy and Life Cycle Thinking
In late February, professor Alessandra Bonoli from the University of Bologna (Italy) gave a series of lectures at ITMO University. Prof. Bonoli is an expert in the field of the Integrated Product Policy of the European Union, which aims to facilitate the transition from traditional manufacturing to environmentally responsible production. As part of the Industrial Ecology and Cleaner Production international program, Prof. Bonoli delivered the course “Eco-Design and Life Cycle Thinking”. ITMO.NEWS spoke to her and learned how circular economy, ecodesign and life cycle thinking contribute to sustainable development.
05.04.2019
Different Volunteering, Eco Camps and Fresh Perspective on Things: Belgian Gloria Sagaradze on Interning at ITMO
Belgian Gloria Sagaradze came to Russia to do a three-month internship at ITMO University’s Student Initiatives Development Office. Among the projects she worked on were collaborating with the organizers of the international ecological camp Ecological Raids held at ITMO’s sports and recreation center Yagodnoye, helping Nigerian students develop an events plan for their student club, and mastering student project management. ITMO.NEWS met Gloria to talk about the difference between volunteering in Russia and Belgium and the valuable lessons she learnt from traveling.
05.02.2019
What Future Does Climate Change Spell for St. Petersburg?
Climate change, global warming, and other environmental issues remain constant hot topics all around the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has recently published its latest assessment report, calling for immediate action against global warming. An increase of global temperature, even by a mere 1.5 degree Celsius, could have disastrous and irreversible consequences. Experts from Russia and Germany met at ITMO University to participate in a roundtable on climate change. One of the event’s speakers was Viktor Gorny, a researcher at the Scientific Research Center for Ecological Safety at the Russian Academy of Sciences (SRCES RAS), who reported how climate change would affect the citizens of St. Petersburg.
01.11.2018
Go Green in the City: ITMO Team Wins Regional Stage of Eco-Friendly Competition
Members of ITMO’s Department of Industrial Ecology and Safety Anastasia Pavlova and Violetta Savoscula won the regional stage of the international Go Green in the City competition, held annually by the Schneider Electric company. The contest’s participants had to solve one of five tasks on reducing energy waste and improving the quality of life in urban areas. ITMO team’s project on the use of thermoelectric modules in inland water transport for increasing the efficiency of diesel engines bested over 160 competitors.
31.07.2018
ITMO’s Environmental Camp EcoRaids Hosts First Eco-Festival
The Ecological Raids international volunteer camp has been recently held at ITMO University’s health-and-sports center Yagodnoe. For two weeks, students from six countries attended lectures and workshops on social and environmental projects and shared knowledge in the field of environmental protection. All of this happened on the shores of a beautiful lake in the Karelian isthmus. The camp ended with an open eco-festival.
05.07.2018
ITMO Volunteers Get Training in Germany
Olga Rybakina and Ilya Bokatiy, volunteers from ITMO's Student Volunteer Center, have recently returned from the German Niederkaufungen intentional community where they received training as part of the German-Ukrainian-Russian training as camp-coordinators. This educational course for students from different countries is organized by the German branch of SCI, an international organization that collaborates with volunteer centers from all over the world in order to train camp leaders and raise the participants' ecological awareness.
21.06.2018
EduEnvi: Education in Sustainable Waste Management in Russia and Kazakhstan
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation, the amount of waste from production and consumption in Russia totaled 5 billion tonnes last year. The statistics indicate that only 50% of waste is recovered, and only 7-8% of waste is recycled. There is no waste management system in any of the regions, and existing educational programs in the field of environmental protection are generally insufficient or ineffective. Six Russian and Kazakh universities are collaborating with universities in Finland, Denmark, and Spain to solve this problem. The developers of the project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program, are going to launch eight online courses in biotechnologies and waste management. The project will last for three years, and the courses may become part of several universities’ Master's programs.
27.04.2018
Eco-Friendly Board Game Teaches Students to Combine Business and Sustainable Development
Master’s students from ITMO University learned about sustainable development at a workshop on the board game Ecologic. Sustainable development is the concept of balance between humanity’s ecological, economic and social goals. This kind of balance is what Ecologic aims to inspire people to strive towards. ITMO.NEWS spoke to the game’s creators and their collaborators about what makes the game enjoyable - and beneficial to the world.
15.03.2018
The Dangers of Light Pollution
A recent report published in the Nature journal exposes the impact of excessive artificial lighting on everything around us, - and it proves to be much more serious a problem than one might think. With every year, the world is becoming “brighter”; the amount of artificially lit areas has increased by 2% between 2012 and 2016, and the luminance level grows by 1.8% each year. The key factor that contributed to this happening was the worldwide introduction of energy efficient and bright LED light sources. ITMO.NEWS spoke with Svetlana Kolgushkina, lecturer at ITMO’s Creative Lighting Department, to find out what light pollution is, and how countries choose to combat it.
13.02.2018