All-Russian Youth Ecological Forum at SPbU
SPbU’s Campus “Mikhailovskaya Dacha” has held the IV St Petersburg All-Russian Youth Ecological Forum.
At the opening ceremony, SPbU’s Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Extracirricular Affairs and Methodological Support Ekaterina Babeluk told that the quality of our life depends on the quality of environment.
“Now it is high time we cherished new ecological values. Our young people can contribute greatly to our future. The quality of our life depends on the quality of our environment. St Petersburg University carries out a number of projects in ecology, and we would be glad to support initiatives and invite you to work with SPbU. I am sure we will have favourable results”, — said the Vice-Rector.
Ecology is part of our national idea, with its vast territories, forests and fields. Those who focus on the ecological problems invest in our future.
Director of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Aleksandr Bugaev
St Petersburg University, as a co-organiser of the Forum, is reasonably a platform to hold this key event during the Year of Ecology in Russia. Sustainable social, economic, and ecological development form the grounds of SPbU. The model of the Green Campus is a concept of the “green” eco-oriented environment and the main tool in the ecological policy of the University.
The Fourth Youth Ecological Forum was in a new format. Instead of the traditional plenary session we had a talk-show #Eco-Challenge. Ecology is always a controversial issue, as the moderator Boris Korchevnikov, a famous TV presenter, told.
The talk-show discussed three key controversial issues. The first discussion shed light on how to make the zoo a more comfortable place for animals to live in. The second discussion focused on the “green” technologies. The experts told about Russian advances in the sphere and about alternative sources of energy the world has today. The third discussion was concerned with waste recycling. They discussed the possibilities of the separate collection of waste and industrial recycling in Russia.
The experts on the environmental law, culture and innovations talked in the TED Talks format of 12-minute lectures: the lecturers dwell about the issue and share their views and experience.
During the workshops #Eco-Practice, the experts shared their experience in ecology: from ecotourism to legal ecological campaigns. SPbU’s Associate Professor Elena Bykova told about how to efficiently use WOW-factor in ecology in creating a media-project, how to present news and why talk about ecology in the social networks and new media.
It is important to understand that any ecological project implies a customer and a subject, and we as those who use the media space should know how to use it.
SPbU’s Associate Professor Elena Bykova
Other significant events of the Forum were a festival “Brighter Together”, briefing of the volunteers’ ecological headquarters from 85 regions in Russia, and a bike ride. The young researcher presented their projects to the expert jury at the pitch-session.
SPbU is successfully implementing a number of the “green” projects. For example, separate collection of waste (paper, glass, plastics, bulbs, and batteries); cycling instead of using public transport or cars; lectures on ecological issues. The University supports the concept of the “green” building: by using such technologies we build Mikhailovskaya Dacha. The project implied the concept of the natural lighting, LED bulbs, and high efficiency equipment.