The Decree of the Ministry of Architecture and Construction of the Republic of Belarus of November 13, 2020 № 81 “On the approval and enactment of construction standards SN 3.02.12-2020” in Belarus approved new construction standards on creation of infrastructure for physically impaired people. The physically impaired include the elderly, people with injuries of the musculoskeletal system, chronic diseases or injuries, pregnant women, children of preschool age, adults with children in arms or in wheelchairs.
The new construction standards establish requirements for the design of an accessible environment for residential buildings, public and industrial buildings, as well as in the repair and modernization of buildings. According to the new standards, the building must have a ramp or lifting device, the way to the elevator must be without steps, and light switches and electricity meters must be in accessible locations.
Creating an accessible environment is an important contribution to achieving Sustainable Development Goals 10, Reducing Inequality, and 11, Resilient Cities and Human Settlements.
Photo: Unsplash
On March 30th at the Belarusian National Technical University and on March 31st at the Mozyr State Pedagogical University named after I.P. Shamyakin presentation meetings of students with the Youth Ambassador of Sustainable Development Goal #4 “Quality Education” Nikita Rachilovsky were held.
The theme of the meetings was “Sustainable Development: the future of the planet in our hands”. During each of the meetings and active discussions, participants learned the background of the SDGs and details of each of the 17 goals. BNTU students were most interested in questions related to the higher education system, professional aptitude, support for young professionals, and competencies that professionals and educators should possess.
In turn, students of the MSPU were interested in issues related to reducing inequality by income, gender, age, place of residence and other characteristics, as well as issues related to employability and employment on the basis of gender. The issue of more in-depth career guidance for students, starting at school, was also a hot topic. All participants of the presentation meetings offered their ideas and initiatives for achieving the SDGs.
On April 20, 2021 A.M. Isachanka, National Coordinator for the achievement of the SDGs, made a welcome speech at the opening of the International online conference devoted to the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe, which was organized on the initiative of the Ministry of Emergency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In his speech, the National Coordinator of Belarus noted that, despite the fact that 35 years had passed since the largest man-made disaster, the Belarusians were still feeling its consequences.
The National Coordinator emphasized that almost a quarter of Belarus’ fertile territory, where a fifth of the country’s population lived, was contaminated by the release of radioactive substances; the accident became a national environmental disaster, and the republic struggles with its consequences to this day. A.M. Isachanka pointed out that since the beginning of the 1990s, five national programs have been carried out in the country with total financing amounting to about 20 milliard U.S. dollars; the percentage of their implementation amounts to about 3 percent of the national budget annually. He informed that in march of this year another state program for the next five years aimed at further overcoming of the Chernobyl accident consequences was adopted. More than 1 billion dollars of budgetary funds are planned for its implementation. The National Coordinator thanked the international community, especially the UNDP, for its contribution to the recovery of Chernobyl-affected regions, and called for an intensification of international cooperation on Chernobyl to help implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
At a meeting of the Council for Entrepreneurship Development at the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee, the Pro-Rector for Research at A.A. Kuleshov Mogilev State University said that a regional academy for sustainable development is to be created on the basis of the university.
The establishment of a regional academy of sustainable development is envisaged by the Work Plan for Sustainable Development in 2021. The preparatory stage of the project is already underway. The academy will help to combine the capabilities of the universities in the region to promote business education, education for sustainable development and training of a new generation of specialists. This will contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 “Quality Education”. It will also contribute to sustainable regional development, which is one of the objectives of the Program of socio-economic development of the Republic of Belarus for 2021-2025.
The Sakharov International State Environmental Institute of Belarusian State University entered the UI GreenMetric 2020 environmental ranking. It ranked 796th out of 912 educational institutions from 84 countries.
The GreenMetric ranking was created to draw the attention of the academic community to environmental issues and is used to assess how universities contribute to the development of green infrastructure. The analysis is conducted according to 6 criteria: environment and infrastructure, energy and climate change, waste, transport, water, education and research. The consumption and saving of energy, rational use of water resources, storage and recycling of waste, quality of landscaping, availability of vehicles, the number of published scientific papers on environmental issues and academic disciplines related to sustainable development are taken into account.
Representation in the rating shows the commitment of educational institutions to the Sustainable Development Goals, allows participants to share practical experience in the implementation of sustainable development programs and participate in scientific events of GreenMetric agency.
Winners of the second contest of initiatives for the development of entrepreneurship are 11 cluster initiatives and 21 socially significant initiatives https://bit. ly/3tNs3VJ, which will be implemented in 12 districts: Beryozovsky and Kobrinsky district of Brest region, Braslavsky and Orshany districts of Vitebsk region, Braginsky, Zhlobinsky and Khoyniksky districts of Gomel region, Lidsky district of Grodno region, Borisovsky and Molodechnensky districts of Minsk region and Bykhovsky and Klishovsky districts of Mahiliou region.
Innovative forms of entrepreneurial activity will be introduced and implemented in the pilot districts (creation of marketplaces and laboratories for innovative production), and socially significant initiatives will simultaneously develop business and solve social problems. These are initiatives aimed at the production of healthy food, innovative methods of solving environmental problems, the development of social entrepreneurship in tourism, expanding the availability of social services and employment opportunities for vulnerable groups.
Implementation of the winning initiatives will contribute to regional development and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, 9 “Industrialization, Innovation and Infrastructure”, 17 “Partnership for Sustainable Development”.
The 2nd entrepreneurship development initiatives competition was held under the project “Support of Local Economic Development in the Republic of Belarus”, implemented by the UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus. The 1st competition took place in 2020: 8 cluster initiatives and 25 socially significant initiatives won the contest. The results of the competition can be found here. Photo: by.undp.org
Public discussions of the draft National Action Plan to prevent land degradation take place in Belarus
Draft Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus “On Approval of the National Action Plan to Prevent Land (Soil) Degradation for 2021-2025” is submitted for public discussion till April 16.
The draft includes: — measures to improve the legal regulation in preventing land (soil) degradation; — practical measures on preventing degradation and rehabilitating degraded lands (soils); — increasing the level of scientific and technical knowledge and strengthening international cooperation in this area.
The activities included in the draft National Action Plan to Prevent Land (Soil) Degradation are aimed at achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15 “Conservation of Terrestrial Ecosystems”.
The organizer of the public discussion of the project is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus. You can find the draft at https://forumpravo.by/forums/npa.aspx?forum=15&topic=16140. Comments and suggestions can be expressed in a special thread on the Legal Forum of Belarus or sent to the organizer of public discussion from April 6 till April 16, 2021 inclusive, to the e-mail address: a.kuzmich.belarus@gmail.com.
The website of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus in the section Strategic Planning features the National Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Republic of Belarus for the period till 2035.
The Strategy includes sections on global development trends, the Belarusian model of sustainable development, a new paradigm of qualitative development of human potential, effective employment, digital transformation of the economy, creation of sustainable infrastructure and developed business environment, ensuring environmental security, multi-vector foreign economic policy and regional growth.
The National Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Republic of Belarus for the period till 2035 is one of the main documents for the country’s implementation of the Agenda for Sustainable Development till 2035.
Photo: economy.gov.by
The discussion club “ForUM” of the Belarusian State Order of the October Revolution and the Red Banner of Labor Agricultural Academy held a round table discussion on the Sustainable Development Goals. The round table was organized by Ekaterina Chernaya, a second-year student of the Faculty of Economics, who is a Youth Ambassador of Sustainable Development Goal 14.
Ekaterina told about the history of the development, basic principles, key aspects of the concept of sustainable development and each of the 17 goals. She spoke in more detail about the implementation of her project related to SDG 14 “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. The basis of her concept is to popularize this idea among young people.
Photo: baa.by
The SDGs Youth Ambassadors continue their meetings within the framework of the “Youth: Unity in Development” project. They actively promote the principles of sustainable development and tell their peers about the achievements of Belarus in implementing the 2030 Agenda.
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