UNESCO ASPnet conference in Saint Petersburg (29.November, 2019)
The next article is written by Jelisaveta Dzigurski - she is a Serbian volunteer in Tartu Nature House (Estonia) within the European Solidarity Corps which is the new European Union initiative that creates opportunities for young people to volunteer or work in projects in their own country or abroad that benefit communities and people around Europe.
On November 29th 2019, Lyceum 179 from Saint Petersburg held a
regional conference with international participation “Projects
and studies – implementation of the environmental component of
education for sustainable development.” The main aim of the
conference was to promote schools who are actively working on
popularization of environmental education and teaching about
sustainable development. Students had the opportunity to present
their experience of instrumental environmental research to the
various experts and scientists.
The conference was opened by Anna Solomonovna Obukhovskaya
(Deputy Director for Water Management of SBEI Lyceum 179) and key
speakers were Silin Aleksey Viktorovich (Vice-Rector for Science
and Innovation of Mechnikov North-West State Medical University),
Aira Unden-Selander (General Coordinator of UNESCO Baltic Sea
Project from Finland) and Viktoria Rudenko (Global Education
Project Coordinator and UNESCO ASPnet National Coordinator from
Estonia).
Aira Unden-Selander introduced prominent UNESCOs Baltic Sea
Project and pointed out how we should all learn not solemnly to
study subjects, rather how to develop critical thinking and to
explore the world around us. “In environmental education
accent is put on cooperation of the whole community, as well as the
cooperation of all the professors specialized in any of
a wide variety of subjects and fields.”
Conference gathered around 50 students-participants, from
Russia and Estonia, who presented their projects. From the
interviews students’ excitement towards the event was evident: Iris
Alev (Estonian Viimsi Gymnasium) and Vasilyeva Irina (Russian GBEI
Lyceum 179) both agreed that these types of manifestations are
important since they are a unique opportunity for young researchers
to present their projects and share their scientific interests with
others. "Scientific researches are not exclusively for
higher education scientists, youngest can also contribute with
their own projects and experiments", said Iris.
After the presentations, in the Assembly Hall of the Lyceum,
Sibiryakov Sergey Mikhailovich (Head of the Organizational and
Methodological Department of the Federal State Health Institution
“Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of Saint Petersburg”) and
Lyudmila Pavlovna Zueva (Honored Scientist of the Russian
Federation and Chief Epidemiologist of the Ministry of Health of
the Russian Federation for the Northwestern Federal District) held
their speeches to motivate and inspire young students in continuing
their contributions to science. “Such conferences are
extremely valuable, and I would like to see more of the
international participants next year. They are a real challenge for
both students and professors, from which a lot can be
learned”, emphasized Aira Unden-Selander.
While reflecting on the whole event with one of the organizers
of this conference - Alla Kushkha stated that she is pleased with
this year’s conference, acknowledged all of the participants for
supporting the event and promised to continue this tradition in
even wider and more international capacity.
Additionally, when it comes to international excursions it is
crucially significant to provide students with cultural activities.
Whole experience for the Estonian team, lead by Viktoria Rudenko
(NGO Mondo), also comprised of Tallinna Mustamäe Reaalgümnaasium,
Narva Soldino Gümnaasium and Viimsi Gümnaasium, was enriched with
guided visit of the State Russian Museum and guided city
sightseeing tour. Everyone was thrilled and enjoyed their time in
Saint Petersburg.
Finally, Estonian team would like to express their gratitude
to the organizers for the invitation and hospitality, as well to
Viktoria Rudenko for arranging meaningful extra activities and
providing the accommodation. The trip was partly organized also by
Gedy Matisen (Tartu Nature House) who is the National Baltic Sea
Project's coordinator in Estonia, and whos initiative was to send a
volunteer to the conference to get media coverage. Also, many
thanks go to the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research to
fund these initiatives towards ESD (education for sustainable
development).
Hopefully the pictures I made and the small article will paint
you a vivid picture of the whole experience. I am very thankful to
meet such nice people and hope the BSP (Baltic Sea Project) will
continue for a long time.
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