“Energy Marathon” contest is held annually by the Department of Energy Efficiency of the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus. Its goal is to teach the rational use of energy resources and respect for the environment, to increase the culture of handling energy resources, to share effective experience of educational institutions in this area. All this contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 7 “Inexpensive and Clean Energy”.
Participants of the final stage of the Republican competition, held on March 31, 2021 in Borisov, were students and teachers of educational institutions, who won in 6 regions of Belarus and the city of Minsk. The participants of the final presented to the jury their works in different formats, which contained practical proposals for effective and efficient use of energy resources in educational institutions and at home. The event was organized by the Department of Energy Efficiency of the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus, the Main Department for Education of the Minsk Region Executive Committee, the Minsk Region Department for Supervision of Rational Use of Fuel and Energy Resources, Borisov State College and the Minsk Region Institute for Education Development. You can watch a recording of the award ceremony on the website of the Department of Energy Efficiency.
On March 23, 2021, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus hosted a meeting of Minister Andrei Khudyk and employees of the Ministry with representatives of the institution “Center for Environmental Solutions” (SEC) headed by Evgeny Lobanov. CES is a member of the Sustainable Development Partnership Group, and Evgeny Lobanov is the coordinator of the Sustainable Development Partnership Group on environmental issues.
At the meeting they discussed promising areas of cooperation: — sustainable waste management (effective ways to recycle and use waste, alternatives for replacing plastic, related life-cycle issues of biodegradable goods, hazardous substances in goods, use of lead in paint); — water quality (condition of surface and ground water, quality of water in wells, water pollution by microplastics and aspects of its impact on health); — condition of atmospheric air and factors that influence on its quality, level of greening of Belarusian towns and settlements.
The partnership of state bodies and public organizations is important for effective joint work and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Such interaction can be carried out within the framework of the work of the Public Coordination Environmental Council under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus, as well as within the work of the Council for Sustainable Development and other elements of the Sustainable Development Goals management architecture.
Infrastructural development in innovation activities and the creation of science and technology parks is an important contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 9, “Industrialization, innovation and infrastructure”. Belarus has established science and technology parks in all regional capitals and in some other towns, 18 in total. The result of their activity is a steady increase in the volume of innovative and high-tech products produced by their residents. All kinds of scientific, industrial and innovative activities are possible in the technoparks. Among them there are those specializing in specific areas, for example, biotechnology. Engineering technoparks gather promising small innovative enterprises around themselves and help them expand the volume of production and create jobs. University science and technology parks implement projects of university graduates. Technoparks play an important role in stimulating innovative entrepreneurship by providing technological and business services for the development and production to startup creators, inventors and scientists. Thus technoparks become an important element of state policy in the sphere of small and medium-sized enterprises and innovations development.
You can read more about the development of technology parks in Belarus in Belta’s article.
Belarus systematically works to provide quality drinking water to all residents of the country. Today the provision of consumers with quality drinking water in Belarus is 94.7%.
According to the sub-program “Clean Water” of the State program “Comfortable Housing and Enabling Environment” for 2021-2025, by 2025 this indicator shall reach 100%. For this purpose it is planned to build more than 860 deferrization stations, reconnect 109 villages to centralized water supply systems and reconstruct 70 sewage treatment plants under the subprogramme “Clean Water”.
The Republic of Belarus actively promotes sustainable use of water resources in the international arena. The Belarusian delegation took part in the high-level meeting on implementing the goals and objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development organized on 22 March 2021 at the UN Headquarters. Belarus joined the joint statement of the meeting, which was signed by 156 countries, confirming its commitment to the implementation of SDG 6 “Clean Water and Sanitation.
Sustainable use and conservation of water resources is an integral part of sustainable development. Ensuring universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all is an important contribution to SDG 6.
A youth scientific and practical forum dedicated to smart cities was held in the town of Glubokoe
The forum “Intellectual Youth: from SMART-initiative to SMART-city” was held in Glubokoe. The main purpose of the event was to give young people the opportunity to get involved in working out the main directions of sustainable development of the country.
Young people from Dokshitsy, Glubokoe and Ushach districts, as well as deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, representatives of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization, Council of Young Scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the China-Belarus Industrial Park “Great Stone”, representatives of profile departments of regional and district executive committees participated in the forum. The forum discussed modern biotechnologies, information technologies in medicine, the effectiveness of the innovative agro-industrial complex, prospective areas of interaction to create and implement advanced developments in education, healthcare and smart transformation of urban infrastructure in small settlements.
Participation of young people in the implementation of modern innovative and scientific projects at the regional level is an important condition for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Photo: vitvesti.by
National voluntary campaign “Forest Week” will be held in all regions of Belarus from April 3 to April 10, 2021. It is organized by the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Belarus. The campaign will take place for the 14th time. Last year within the frames of the campaign more than 23 million trees were planted on the area of 5.5 thousand hectares. The main goal of the campaign is to draw public attention to the necessity of forests preservation. Forests provide food security, play a key role in the fight against climate change and help to preserve biodiversity. Forest Week is a contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 15 target 15.2: Implement sustainable management practices for all types of forests, stop deforestation, restore degraded forests, and significantly increase reforestation and reforestation worldwide.
To participate in the action, one needs to contact the nearest forestry. More information and contacts are available on the Ministry of Forestry website.
Some of the national sustainable development indicators:
The forum “Smart Sustainable Cities: Organizational and Technical Aspects of Development” was organized by the International Telecommunication Union together with Giprosviaz OAO with the support of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus.
The Forum enabled the leading specialists from different countries to exchange their experience in the field of developing smart city technologies and solutions on the most topical issues, to discuss the problems of the smart city and the ways to solve them. The first day of the Forum focused on the organizational aspects of developing smart sustainable cities, and the second day on the technical ones. High level representatives from the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the Republic of Armenia shared their experience. You can find the presentations of the participants on the website of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus, and you can read the special issue of the magazine “Vesnik Suvyazi” — “Smart City: Vectors of Development”. Implementation of the smart city concept is an important contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 11 “Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements.
The State program “Environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources” for 2021-2025 was approved by the Decree № 99 of the Council of Ministers of February 19, 2021. The purpose of the program is to provide environmentally favorable conditions for the citizens and environmental protection, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
The program includes 6 subprograms: “Subsoil of Belarus”; “Hydrometeorological activities, protection of natural resources in climate change”; “Management of persistent organic pollutants”; “Conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity”; “National system of environmental monitoring”; “Functioning of environmental protection system”. Among the planned activities of the program are: developing management plans for the Nyoman and Western Dvina river basins; development of a system of specially protected natural areas, conservation of rare and endangered species of wild animals and wild plants, measures to mitigate climate change and adaptation to a changing climate, and others. The program is available on the National Law Portal.
Implementation of the State Program “Environmental Protection and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources” for 2021-2025 will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 13 “Combating Climate Change”, 15 “Conservation of Terrestrial Ecosystems” and other SDGs.
On March 26, 2021, an on-site workshop “Investment opportunities for the development of territories exposed to radioactive contamination as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster” was held in Kostyukovichi under the auspices of the National Coordinator for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals A. M. Isachenko. During the workshop, the concept of the Chernobyl Investment Platform was presented. The event was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNDP, local authorities, the private and scientific sectors, and public organizations.
Workshop participants presented the main directions for the development of areas of the Mogilev region that were exposed to radioactive contamination as a result of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, project ideas and the possibility of their financing. S. A. Smolikova, Deputy Chairman of the Kostyukovichi District Executive Committee, spoke about the development of the Kostyukovichi district and the implementation of specific measures to overcome the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster and the socio-economic development of the region. G. M. Emelyanova, Deputy Chairman of the Krasnopolsky District Executive Committee, focused on the implementation of the main directions of the State Program for overcoming the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster for 2016-2020 in the Krasnopolsky district. R. M. Illarionov, Deputy Chairman of the Slavgorod District Executive Committee, presented the district’s initiatives, which are the key to sustainable development of rural areas. A.V. Kutsarskaya, local assistant to the Cherikovsky district executive committee, presented projects in the field of sustainable development in the Cherikovsky district. R.V. Melnikov, Director of the Sustainable Region Foundation, spoke in detail about the functioning of the Chigirinsky cluster.
In addition to specific examples of sustainable development of districts of the Mogilev region, workshop participants discussed general issues of approaches to the development of project activities (S. V. Tarasyuk, Director of the International Fund for Rural Development), opportunities for financing and stimulating small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurship (Yu. A. Kavetskaya , head of the department for organizing financing of small and medium-sized businesses of the Development Bank), scientific approaches to the development of the Chernobyl investment platform (N.N. Batova N., head of the sector of environmental and economic problems of the State Scientific Institution “Institute of Economics of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus”), principles of innovation and green economy as basis for the creation of the Chernobyl investment platform (V. Kozyr, director of Technopark Polesie LLC).
A. L. Abramyuk, coordinator of UNDP programs and projects in the Republic of Belarus, presented the concept of the Chernobyl Investment Platform to the participants. It will create conditions for the synthesis of existing and innovative solutions, technologies, management methods and financing for the revitalization of affected areas, leaving no one behind from development opportunities. Thus, the platform will make a significant contribution to the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals and will be aimed at reducing inequality in the development of regions of Belarus.
Presentations by the participants:
Under the auspices of the National Coordinator for achieving Sustainable Development Goals Isachenko A.M., an off-site workshop “Investment opportunities for the development of territories affected by radioactive contamination as a result of the Chernobyl NPP catastrophe” was held in Kostyukovichi on March 26, 2021. During the workshop the participants discussed the issues of sustainable development in the Mogilev region. The concept of the Chernobyl Investment Platform was also presented. The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNDP, local authorities, businesses, scientific institutions, and public organizations.
In their speeches the participants noted the serious impact of the Chernobyl accident on Belarus and shared the experience of specific activities undertaken in the Mogilev Region to overcome the consequences of the accident and to ensure sustainable development at the local level. The region together with the UN agencies actively implements projects in such areas as economy, ecology and basic services. One of such projects will be the Chernobyl Investment Platform. The Chernobyl Investment Platform will create conditions for generating and summarizing lessons learned, existing and innovative solutions, technologies, management methods and financing to revive the affected areas and leave no one behind in the development opportunities. Thus, the platform will make a significant contribution to the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals and will aim to reduce disparities in regional development in Belarus.
The Chernobyl Investment Platform is based on three key elements:
At the initial stage, the Chernobyl Investment Platform will contain investment proposals based on the results of previously implemented UNDP projects, developments of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, developments of local technology parks and business initiatives.
Thus, the Chernobyl Investment Platform will become an additional mechanism for implementing a comprehensive support program for the population of the regions recovering from the Chernobyl accident, further enhancing their capacity and sustainability, as well as for developing solutions for socio-economic development in partnership with the public and private sectors, national and international partners.
Information on presentations from the event will be published in the Events section.
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