On June 21, 2021, pupils of the Minsk City Education and Recreation Center “Leader” were introduced to the Youth Ambassadors of the SDGs as part of the project “Sustainable Summer” organized by the SDG Youth Ambassadors.
The aim of the project is to popularize the Sustainable Development Goals, to consider the actual problems in their achievement, to put forward new ideas for the implementation of the SDGs. The Youth Ambassadors of the SDGs held a global café “A Youth Perspective on Promoting the SDGs”. Each team received a personal assignment on the topic of the SDGs, and participants voiced their suggestions, opinions, and initiatives for achieving the SDGs.
On June 10, 2021, the second preparatory meeting of the 29th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum (EEF) was held with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus.
The participants discussed women’s economic empowerment as a key factor in achieving sustainable and inclusive development, peace, security and stability; promoting women’s entrepreneurship and equal participation in business and trade; promoting sustainable development by empowering women in the fields of environment, trade and transport, thus contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goals 5 “Gender Equality” and 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth”.
Detailed information about the meeting can be found on the website of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus.
The online eco-marathon “Be Eco!” has been launched in Belarus. The marathon takes place from June 14 to 24, 2021 with the participation of experts, scientists in various fields of knowledge, specialists and bloggers who lead an eco-friendly lifestyle.
The goal of the marathon is to raise public awareness of environmental issues and spread new knowledge in the field of ecology.
The participants will try to lead an eco-friendly lifestyle, contribute to environmental protection and mitigating the negative effects of climate change. This will contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals 10 “Responsible Consumption and Production” and 13 “Combating Climate Change” and other Sustainable Development Goals.
The marathon is supported by the “EU for Climate” project implemented in partnership with UNDP and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus with financial support of the European Union. You can learn more about the rules of participation in the marathon on the marathon’s Instagram page.
Polotsk and Novopolotsk have become pilot cities, where new road infrastructure has been created, including bicycle lanes, and innovative technologies for organizing public transport and regulating traffic flows have been applied. Using innovative approaches of green mobility has a number of benefits for local residents. CO2 emissions and concentrations of harmful substances in the air are reduced. Residents choose healthy lifestyles. The prerequisites for the development of local entrepreneurship are created: the expansion of bicycle services and the opening of new commercial outlets in pedestrian and bicycle zones. Optimization of the public transport system, smart traffic lights and innovative road markings make moving around the city more convenient and safe. Green mobility helps to make small cities more comfortable and environmentally friendly, it expands the opportunities to use new digital technologies, and stimulates new partnerships and inter-regional cooperation, which significantly contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17. The Green Cities project is implemented by the UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). More information about the project implementation can be found here.
On June 3, 2021, the Digital Economy Forum was held on the platform of the XXVII International Specialized Exhibition TIBO-2021. The aim of the forum was to create a multifunctional communication and presentation platform for the digital processes implementation in the work of enterprises and companies in all spheres.
The forum discussed the State Program “Digital Development of Belarus for 2021-2025,” the national e-health care system, digital transformation of the tax authorities, priorities of digitalization of the agro-industrial complex, creation of the single information platform for transport activities, and digitalization of the cultural and educational spheres.
According to the State Program “Digital Development of Belarus for 2021-2025,” it is planned to form a unified architecture of state data and policies for their management. Most government functions and organizations’ business processes will be converted into electronic form. This will make it possible to increase labour productivity, improve product quality and expand sales markets.
You can read more about the speeches at the forum on the website of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus.
The seminar “Opportunities and prospects for organic agriculture in Belarus” was held at Belagro-2021 on June 2, 2021. At the seminar, the visitors were told about the current conditions for the development of organic agricultural production and certification of organic products and processes of its production.
The Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Production and Circulation of Organic Products”, which came into force on November 18, 2019, singled out organic agriculture as a separate industry, allowing to establish special rules for the production, storage, transportation and sale of organic products. According to statistics, there are 20 agricultural producers, 14 processors of organic products and 6,791.2 hectares of organic land in Belarus as of June 1, 2021. Organic farming helps to reduce the negative impact on the environment and contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 2 “Eradicate hunger”, 13 “Combat climate change” and 15 “Conserve terrestrial ecosystems”.
The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Belarus and the Center for Environmental Solutions.
Photo: ecoidea.by
The International Specialized Environmental Exhibition-Forum “Ecology Expo — 2021” was held on June 3-5, 2021 in Minsk. The exhibition featured the environmental platform “SDG Youth Ambassadors: Care for the Environment”.
The Youth Ambassadors presented the Sustainable Development Goals and projects related to them. They spoke about the importance of the Goals and the opportunities for everyone to contribute to their achievement. Ivan Rizevsky, a student of the Department of Geology and Geography at Gomel State University and a Youth Ambassador, made a presentation on the implementation of Goal 7 “Clean and Affordable Energy”. The forum allowed the Youth Ambassadors to exchange opinions in the field of environmental policy and communicate with representatives of environmental organizations in Belarus.
Mogilev Regional Development Agency and the Regional Working Group on Sustainable Development are holding a contest of best practices for the implementation of the Regional Sustainable Development Strategy of Mogilev region until 2035 (SDS-2035). Legal entities, non-profit organizations, individual entrepreneurs, local authorities, initiative groups working in partnership with local authorities can participate in the contest. Projects can be submitted in three categories:
– “Best Project Idea to Implement the SDS-2035” (a description of the future project idea aimed at the successful implementation of the SDS-2035);
– “The best implemented project for the achievement of SDS-2035” (description of the project, which was implemented or is being completed in the year of the contest on the territory of Mogilev region and contributes to achieving SDS-2035);
– “For significant contribution to the implementation of SDS-2035” (description of the activities of the contestant who has implemented and implements their activities based on the SDGs and contributes to the implementation of SDS-2035). The Mogilev Regional Development Agency is accepting documents until June 15, 2021. Application forms for participation in the competition can be found on the website of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee.
On May 21, 2021, a high-level event on culture and sustainable development was held in the UN General Assembly Hall in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The participants of the event, including representatives of the Republic of Belarus, shared the experience of crisis management measures aimed at preserving the cultural environment during the pandemic, and discussed how investments in the creative economy can stimulate recovery after the pandemic.
Within the framework of the event, a video message of Valery Gromada, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Belarus, was broadcasted in which he informed about the measures to support the sphere of culture and anti-epidemic measures implemented by the Republic of Belarus.
Culture has a transformative role as an accelerator of the Sustainable Development Goals. The cultural component is included in most of the SDGs related to quality education, sustainable urban development, environmental protection, economic growth, sustainable consumption and production patterns, building peaceful and inclusive societies, gender equality and food security. More information on culture and sustainable development is available on the UN website.
The 1st International Specialized Exhibition-Forum Ecology Expo-2021 and the XVI Republican Ecological Forum were held in Minsk on June 3-5, 2021.
Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Alexander Subbotin spoke at the event. He noted that the green agenda enters all spheres of the economy and becomes an important trend. Renewable resources, waste recycling, environmentally friendly products and packaging, construction of treatment plants, minimization of emissions into the atmosphere ー all this contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Presentations of green technology, energy-efficient construction, green transportation, efficient use of waste, bio-packaging, organic and environmentally friendly products, eco-tourism, the best practices of green schools were shared at the exhibition.
More information about the 1st International Specialized Exhibition-Forum Ecology Expo-2021 and the XVI National Ecological Forum can be found on the official website of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus.
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