The Green Lecture Series help understand environmental issues
St. Petersburg Peter the Great Polytechnic University held a Green Lecture Series — a series of lectures and masterclasses devoted to environmental literacy for students and university staff. Participants learned what the future holds for our planet, how to incorporate environmental habits into their lives, and how major Russian and international enterprises implement environmental management programs and introduce a «sustainable» agenda into company work.
As part of the environmental educational event, activists held four educational meetings with invited experts from various fields: separate collection and recycling, eco-fashion, plant-based nutrition, and innovation in entrepreneurship. Listeners got acquainted with the speakers’ real projects and actively participated in the general discussion, where they asked questions and looked for answers together with the speakers.
Alena Khon, head of the ReGreen Student Association, said that the Green Lecture Series is a large-scale educational project that helps students and employees understand environmental issues: instead of dry theory, the guys got real solutions to current problems and asked questions worrying them. Therefore, the project was interesting both for experienced eco-activists and for those who just started to be interested in this field.
The event was held in offline format with live broadcasts on social networks, so everyone has the opportunity to watch recordings in the group ReGreen association on Vkontakte.
The first meeting was on «The World of the Future: Why Save Us, Not the Planet?» The guest speaker Georgiy Kavanosyan, an environmentalist, hydrogeologist, YouTube blogger, and author of the Ecology project, talked about what awaits our planet in the future, what threats exist for mankind, and how we can counteract them. Georgy specializes in working with water resources and eco-urbanism, so the students of related specialties at Polytechnic University were especially interested to learn the current trends in this field.
Alla MAZINA, Deputy Head of International Education Department of SPbPU, Ph. D. in Engineering, Associate Professor of UNESCO Department «Education Quality Management for Sustainable Development» also spoke at the lecture. Alla told about the participation of SPbPU in the implementation of the sustainable development agenda, the university’s research in the field of environmental sciences, and improving SPbPU’s position in international rankings.
In addition, two masterclasses on recycling and upcycling were held as part of the Green Lecture Series. The participants knitted eco-friendly jute washcloths, which are made of harmless materials, can be used for a long time, and are suitable for composting. At the second master class, visitors engaged in handmade paper recycling: former term papers and egg cartons were transformed into unique postcards.
Prepared by the ReGreen Environmental Department