Russian students and eco-leaders discussed how to save the planet

Вторая Международная Студенческая Конференция "Устойчивые университеты за чистое будущее"

Source:

www.russiancarbon.org

On October 6, 2015, students from over the country and leading eco-leaders gathered to discuss the role of higher institutions in achieving sustainable development goals set by the President of the Russian Federation at the UN General Assembly. This large student eco-event was organized by Russian Carbon Fund, the Faculty of Applied Economics and Commerce of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and the Unilever company.

The organizers tried to incorporate student community with business and research institutions to accumulate and exchange advanced knowledge in the sphere of sustainable development and joint projects creation.

This event has a unique nature due to its entry list and ecological approach to its execution. "For the first time the conference in Russia was held in accordance with the international eco standard ISO 20121 Sustainable event management. We organized separate waste collection, a vegetarian catering, responsible purchases and other practices to reduce negative impact on the environment ", - Alexey Shadrin, the CEO of the Fund commented on the results of the meeting.

"Our goal was to inform future leaders about the problems of sustainable development and world practices. We are ready to share the results of successful implementation of our 5-year strategy of sustainable development with the audience,"- Sustainability Manager of the Unilever company Irina Antyushina said.

The official part of the conference began with greetings from Alexei Svishchev, the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Economics and Commerce who wished fruitful and successful collaboration to all the participants and guests, urging them to unite for a joint search for solutions to global issues. The Presidential Climate Change Advisor A. Bedritsky has sent his formal wishes for the conference. After that A. Frolov, the head of Roshydromet and Jay-Vee Raman, the President of Unilever in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, as well as leading clean technology experts and even French aeronaut Bertrand Piccard, the pilot of the #SolarImpulse plane, travelling around the Earth on solar energy, delivered their speeches. From their inspirational words, students learned that climate changes in Russia happens 2.5 times faster than in the rest of the world on average. But at the same time, our country has great potential to solve global problems. In particular, they mentioned potential development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable forest management and introduction of low-carbon technologies. At the end of the official opening, Vladimir Lukin, Sustainability Project Manager of the company Bureau Veritas Certification, presented the Organizing Committee a certificate of conference compliance with ISO 20121. After a break for a vegetarian buffet and an eco-technologies exhibition, the finals of "Climatron" award were held. Postgraduates and students presented their projects in the field of sustainable development in five categories: environmental project, social project, educational project, a strategic approach and business synergy. The jury marked the project of the St. Petersburg Institute for Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics on recycling and disposal of campus food waste, as well as the project of young researchers from Moscow State University of Civil Engineering describing environmentally friendly transportation of goods across the tundra in the Far North.

The winners of each category received gifts and an invitation to listen to the public speech of Paul Polman, the Unilever Chief Executive Officer, which he is to present at Skolkovo business school on October 20, 2015. The following year, the organizers expect even more participants and projects from all over the Eurasian Union.

Источник: Russian carbon Fund