Overview
According to the United Nations’ Brundtland Commission, sustainability is defined as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". 1 In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are part of the 2030 agenda and address some of the most significant challenges that the world faces. Our team recognized the importance of integrating these goals into our work, so from the beginning, we focused on five of them.
Which goals did we decide to work with this year?
Our project is deeply connected with conservation and sustainability as it aims at soil restoration, desertification prevention and forest regeneration after wildfires. Throughout the year, we actively put an effort, with the help of qualified stakeholders, to predict the positive and negative effects our project would have on the goals for Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life on Land (SDG 15), Quality Education (SDG 4), and Partnership for the Goals (SDG 17).
Goal 15
Life on Land
"And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and my soul.”
—John Muir
Why goal 15?
Our lives depend on our planet and its well-being, so it is important to take measures for its protection. 30% of the earth’s surface is covered by forests, areas significant against climate change, that provide a home to almost 80% of all terrestrial species of animals, plants, and insects. 4 Almost 13 million hectares of forests are lost yearly leading to desertification and loss of biodiversity. 6 In Greece, this loss has become even more intense in the last few years. Our country recognizes the dangers of these facts as well as the main reason behind them, which is wildfires.7 So it is really important for a solution to be found in order to protect the soil and give forest lands the chance to recover. We believe that Euphoresis could provide this, so we decided to focus on four subgoals of SDG 15 which are 15.3, which targets to combat desertification and restore this land as well as land that is affected by floods or droughts 15.4, which targets the conservation of mountain ecosystems and their biodiversity, 15.1 that ensures the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements and 15.2 that promotes the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally. Even though the last two are on the Agenda by 2020 we believe that efforts are still in place and progress needs to be made.
Positive long-term impact
How does euphoresis contributes to SDG 15?
Our project is suitable since it battles desertification and helps in soil recovery after wildfires. Euphoresis can be implemented in the soil after a wildfire and the swelling capability of the hydrogel enables it to decrease the risk of floods since it assists in water absorption. The existence of the microorganisms inside the hydrogel results in the enrichment of the land with various significant nutrients such as nitrogen and organic matter that can promote plant growth. This procedure ensures the fastest restoration of land, a significant parameter since burnt lands are in critical danger of erosion especially in the first few weeks. Euphoresis also assists in protecting the biodiversity of the forests by helping in the preservation of endemic plant species of each land that is treated, while also allowing the restoration of the habitats of numerous animal species. Our project can also tackle social and economic issues since 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood.
Professor Aristotelis Papageorgiou
Professor of forest genetics
As Professor of forest genetics, Aristotelis Papageorgiou pointed out that the restoration of burned forests and desertificated lands gives people the opportunity to be occupied in relevant professions such as stockmen, beekeepers, lumbermen, etc. Therefore the primary economic field is supported, which is essential for our country that highly depends on it. You can read more about the integration of stakeholders’ and academics’ feedback in our work on our Human Practices page.
Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals:
In order to inform the next generation about the vital role that forests play in our lives we organized a school visit. We gave children the opportunity to list all the benefits forests have on human life in contrast with the way humankind treats this land. We wanted to compare society’s behavior against key areas of our ecosystem while simultaneously highlighting the difference that everyone’s actions can make.
After a meeting with Victoria Datsi, Environmentalist and Forester, and Environmental Coordinator at Aegean Airlines, we came to the conclusion that even though the treatment of land after a wildfire which is what our project does is very important, so is the prevention of the fire. Garbage is a problem that not only downgrades the quality of land but also puts it at risk for a potential fire. This is the reason we participated in WWF’s Greece program “Adopt a Beach”, where volunteers choose a beach near their city and are responsible for visiting and cleaning it three times a year. After a brief explanation about the program from its director, we chose the beach of Peraia Thessaloniki and carried out our first visit in the first week of October. There, members of our team picked up all of the trash in a 100-meter radius documented and categorized each piece and then registered everything in a special platform of the program so that it could be later used for statistical analysis.
Goal 12
Responsible consumption & production
“I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use.”
-Mother Teresa
Why goal 12?
Sustainable production and consumption is about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and access to basic services as well as green and decent jobs, thus aiming for a better quality of life for all. 3 One of the main targets of this goal is to "reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse" (subgoal 12.5). 4 In our country, Greece, we still face systemic issues regarding SDG 12, and the main reason is waste management practices. In general as the Voluntary National Review (VNR) 2022 states “There is a relatively low circularity of the economy”. 7
Positive long-term impact
How does euphoresis contributes to SDG 12?
From the beginning of our journey SDG 12, and more specifically the principles of circular economy were very important for our team since we could witness the catastrophic effect waste has on the environment and the economy, an example of which is the overflowing landfills that surround our cities. That is the reason why we tried to incorporate these principles in our project and after research we decided that our biopolymer will be created from waste of the food industry. Our hydrogel consists of two polysaccharides, pectin, and chitosan, that are obtained from food waste. More specifically, pectin’s main resource is citrus waste and chitosan is derived from chitin, a polymer that can be found in crustaceans’ shells.
The food industry is one of the most wasteful industries globally and accounts for nearly 22 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. 4 The main problem is that approximately one-third of the food produced is lost or wasted 5 resulting in huge environmental, economic, and social issues.
After our meeting with “Boroume”, a non-profit organization aiming to save food waste and distribute it to those in need, we came to the conclusion that we can approach companies that produce the kind of waste that we are interested in. Then we can either buy it from them or it could be given to us so they could save on the cost of its management. Examples of these companies could be major supermarket chains, companies that produce juice, or those that distribute crustaceans.
What do we want to achieve?
Our goal is to help in the reduction of the byproducts we mentioned and reuse them, in efforts to decrease their volume in landfills and their environmental impact, while also encouraging others to seek ways to sustainably recycle industrial waste.
Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals
Apart from the connection that our project has with SDG 12, we thought it would be important to raise awareness of the importance of this goal to our local community. We, as consumers, are also responsible for the sustainable development of the world and future citizens need to be aware of these responsibilities.
This is why in some of the schools that we visited (ages 7-12) we focused on explaining the values of SDG 12 and their significance. In our efforts to make children more interested in the matter, we proposed an activity in which students brought recyclable items from home and created an art project. We wanted to highlight the importance of recycling and reusing and the difference it could make in our planet and our society, so students can understand that even what is considered garbage can be turned into something useful. Our country, in its efforts to reach the 12 SDG has proposed a goal that aims to reduce food waste by 30%, regarding the 2030 Agenda. 7
In that spirit, we designed an application that can be used by companies in the food industry, where they can report the waste that they have available, so other interested parties can purchase it. Individuals will be able to search for the particular waste category they are interested in and see the availability. The reason behind this is that we wanted to create a fast, easy, and accessible way for companies to communicate and distribute their waste to others who could find it useful in order to promote circular economy and the reduction of garbage. We came in contact with Rudi Dieleman, Director and Co-Founder at PectCof B.V., a company that extracts pectin from coffee, to discuss our idea about pectin extraction from citrus and get feedback regarding the app. He gave us some insight into the demand for pectin on the market and found our proposal for the app interesting since there are several sources of pectin in the food industry like carrots, coffee beans, oranges, etc., with waste that could be found useful. Our application can be further developed by future iGEM teams or any individuals in order to add more categories of waste by-products that can potentially be used by other companies and expand the effort of reducing waste. For more information, you can see our Contribution page.
Goal 13
Climate action
"We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.”
-Barack Obama
Why goal 13?
Climate change is a controversial topic that concerns our world more and more these days. This goal emphasizes the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen resilience to climate-related hazards, and assist poor nations in mitigating and adapting to climate change.1 Observing every summer the rising temperatures and the outbreak of uncontrolled wildfires, we decided to focus on finding sustainable ways and actions to raise awareness and even fight climate change. In general, our project is directly related to this goal, as we promote faster, safer, and more reliable regrowth of burnt forests. This action can contribute to the limitation of global temperature rise below 2°C while average global temperatures are increasing beyond 3°C.8. In order to accomplish our goal, we decided to deal with the following subgoals: 13.1, 13.3, Specifically, we try to enhance the resilience and adaptation ability of all countries towards the dangers and natural disasters and also raise awareness on how we can moderate this worldwide phenomenon.
Positive long-term impact
How does euphoresis team contributes to SDG 13?
Knowing that climate change is a worldwide phenomenon, we want to achieve not only the awareness of individuals but also leave our mark to change that emerging dangerous situation. Our actions aim to inform and sensitize people about the climate crisis with the hope that people will adopt a greener lifestyle.
Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals
We approached entities that were also directly related to the subsequences of climate change, such as the Ministry of the Environment and organizations that cope with those problems. They all agreed after a wildfire that O 2 levels drop as CO2 increases. That influences greenhouse effects, leading to an increasing pace of climate change. Our project is aiming for quicker and safer reforestation so that vegetation can be restored and the levels of gases mentioned before reversed. We also communicated with professors and environmental experts to guide us in finding the best actions to achieve our goal. Specifically, we had conversations with them, sharing our ideas, taking feedback, and organizing actions such as a webinar, etc.
Dr. Dimopoulos Kostas
Ministry of Environment and Energy
During our Zoom conference, Mr. Dimopoulos noted that wildfires have serious effects on climate change by accelerating the phenomenon. The increasing pace of climate change is leading to more and more fires with an exponential growth rate. He claimed our idea can affect those enlarging numbers by slowing them down, as vegetation revives quicker with a more effective ability to accomplish that. He proposed that we use our biopolymer in double-burnt areas of land, as it is nearly impossible for the forest to restore itself.
Mrs. Conrad Landis
Ministry of Environment and Energy
During our meeting with economist and data analyst Mr. Landis, he expressed his opinion about the 13th goal. He believes climate change is a sensitive phenomenon and very difficult to deal with as economic, social, and environmental issues arise. He then proposed small but precious actions in order to try to leave our mark. Actions like communicating the severity of it to individuals from different backgrounds as well as garbage cleaning from different areas of our city (Seih-Sou Forest, Epanomi Beach, etc.)
Ms. Victoria Datsi
Team Manager
Ms. Datsi helped us see climate change in a more holistic way. Specifically, she added to promote recycling in every aspect, such as clothes, garbage, etc. She also cheered our effort to make our biopolymer out of pectin and chitosan, which they derive from food waste. She mentioned (accompanied by the 12th goal) that this action of millions of tons of food waste may help slow down climate change
Mr. Vlachonasios
Assosiate Proffesor in the department of Botanics, Auth
Mr.Vlachonasios was very supportive and believed in our project from scratch. During numerous meetings with him and discussions about how to prevent the wildfires, he advised us to use genetically modified plant seeds to promote faster growth or to absorb greenhouse gases. His feedback was very useful and stuck that idea in our minds. Although EU policy for GMOs is very strict, there still remains little hope to manage climate change more efficiently.
Summing up, experts from the field gave us useful feedback that we implemented into our work. They suggested we organize actions like recycling, cleaning of local beaches and forests, and more. They praised our work in trying to keep people informed about the devastating consequences of climate change, such as wildfires, and how we can try to stop or even slow it from happening.
Goal 4
Quality education
“A good education is a foundation for a better future.”
– Elizabeth Warren
Why goal 4?
The lack of quality education can be a common phenomenon; few people have real access to it. The venture's goal is to educate individuals and promote sustainable development by providing accessible, high-quality education to all, regardless of gender, poverty, or location[1]. We chose to work toward that goal because of the somehow new concept of synthetic biology that is currently emerging more and more in our lives. Getting in touch with our former teachers in our high schools, we came across some disturbing facts about the awareness of this unknown, for most students, scientific field. Not only students but also most people in our society ignore the applications of synthetic biology in our everyday lives. In order to fight that, we broke down this goal into its subgoals and focused on the following: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.7. With that, we want to not only educate students of different ages but also their teachers so they can convey that knowledge.
Positive long-term impact
How did our team work for SDG 4?
With our actions and activities, we hope to leave our mark on educating people from different age groups in a much more substantive way. People who are not familiar with the goals and how synthetic biology is associated with them are now given the chance to enhance their knowledge and pass it on to others. Specifically, we focused on providing every individual with fundamental information on wildfires. We discussed how they occur, what happens after them, and how we, as people, can fight this obscure phenomenon. Our goal was not to just hand over our knowledge but to help them, via conversation, reach their own unique conclusion dealing with controversial topics such as wildfires.
Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals
In general, we promote equal and quality education for both genders, so that kids in every school grade as well as their teachers will be able to acquire and promote knowledge to others. Furthermore, we went to schools and educated kids of different ages (5–18) on synthetic biology and environmental concepts based on their level of understanding. We achieved that via simple but educational board games, combining fun with knowledge gain, and by hosting little experiments that swept them off their feet. Also, we hosted a conference in synthetic biology in which numerous professors from different universities shared their knowledge on different topics, followed by two workshops to educate attendees of our event. We invite you to visit our Human Practices page to see more!
Our board game was a simple trivia game in which students had the chance to try and answer numerous questions on the 17 goals of Sustainable Development. After a brief presentation on the goals, students were able to answer some fundamental questions about them. Also, in the context of our project, we embedded questions that were related to our project, such as how increased are forest fires due to climate change or how much quantity of food waste is not used properly in the context of the circular economy. It was really nice to hear them say they loved the board game so much that they wanted one of their own. We hope other iGEM teams find our idea useful for getting their learners in touch with the goals.
Feel free to check out our question cards HERE! We welcome you to use and enhance our trivia game with your team to help spread awareness about SDGs to a wider audience in the future!
We can all agree that education in our country is based on theoretical tutoring, leaving most students unable to understand how the things they read function in real life. We tried to initiate that and provide them with a simple extraction of DNA from strawberries. See Human Practices
The best way to pass your knowledge on to a kid is by providing it in a fun way so that it will be engraved in their memory. In order to achieve that, we hosted a relay race after segregating them into two teams, in which the young students did ‘’reforestation’’. More specifically, we gave every kid a little card. Three different kinds of cards existed: soil, seed, and water. As the race started, one kid from each team with the soil card must run a small distance and put it in the ground, and then after running back to their team, he would give a high five to someone with the seed card. The kid with the seed card had to do the same, and then a high five was given to someone with the water card. That trio combination provided us with a tree, and the team with the greatest reinforcement would win. With that simple game, we aimed for the fun and the teamwork of the game, as well as showing them the importance of reinforcement and what it takes to accomplish it in the most simple way.
During our conference, we had the chance to exchange ideas and discuss synthetic biology, not only with the lecturers but with the attendees as well. This interactive kind of learning paid off, as everyone who attended cheered and was encouraged to host more actions like that. See Human Practices
Mr. Koutantonis
Biology Teacher
With those actions mentioned above, we had the chance to contact school professors who were familiar with the SDGs and try to embed and contact them with the kids. Specifically, during our visit to Serres, Mr. Koutantonis, the biologist professor of the school, helped us communicate our knowledge in a proper way to the kids. Our relationship stayed strong during our preparation for the competition, hosting numerous meetings with our team and helping us learn how to educate students of different ages. Our collaboration was not one-sided, but we exchanged ideas and our experiences on what we'd learned about the SDGs during our actions. Mr. Koutantonis was not the only one who approached us and gave us his insights into quality education; many other professors from different visits to the schools discussed with us a more sustainable and useful type of education. They cheered our efforts and encouraged us to organize more educational activities like them. Also, they proposed hosting a bigger event to include both students and teachers in order to evaluate the different points of view.
Goal 17
Partnerships for the goals
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
– Helen Keller
Why goal 17?
There’s nothing to achieve without cooperation among the people in our community. The goal focuses on encouraging global collaboration, establishing effective partnerships among governments, corporations, and civil society, and mobilizing resources to fulfill the other SDGs. Getting to know other iGEM teams not only from our country, Greece, but worldwide, we considered what the organization of iGEM can offer us. We realized how easy it is to communicate with different regions of our globe and contact people that share the same concerns as us.[1] Therefore, we took the initiative to take advantage of the opportunity given and work with the 17.16 subgoal,in which we try to strengthen the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.
Positive long-term impact
As each individual is a part of our community, everyone should contribute and be a part of that effort. By bringing people closer and exchanging ideas, we hope to raise awareness and help create a more sustainable future for our society. We want to embrace the discussion and then take part in plenty of actions and activities to make our world a better place to live.
Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals
In order to achieve that, we decided to schedule collaborations both between iGEM teams and with external partners, student groups, etc. to promote sustainable development and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change and human activities. We made video collaborations with other iGEM teams to raise awareness via social media and hosted talks with them to exchange ideas and thoughts on controversial debates around the globe and especially in our living area. We also hosted a litter-picking activity with the environmental team of AUTh in the context of teaming up with teams in order to deal with problems in our society. Experts and stakeholders from the field helped us find the best approach to discussing those topics with various people. They suggested actions that we could organize in order to get people to know thoroughly about the problems our society faces and how we can overcome them. They also claimed that our approach to the goal is effectively motivating people to be a part of the effort to distribute sustainable goals to our community.
In the context of partnership with other iGEM teams, we uploaded an Instagram video in which we presented some of the SDG’s. The teams that helped us raise awareness were iGEM Patras Medicine speaking about the 3rd goal, iGEM Bulgaria with the 14th goal, iGEM Ionis with the 7th goal, iGEM KU Leuven with the 12th goal, and our team presenting the 17th goal. We aimed to inform people briefly on what the SDGs are and motivate them to get to know them better.
By hosting this conference, we aimed to bring people closer to the goals, not only by informing them about the SDGs but also by making them discuss and exchange ideas to achieve sustainability.
Negative impact
It is important to us to acknowledge any possible negative long-term impact our project could have on any SDGs. After several meetings with numerous stakeholders that were mentioned above a few things came up. To begin with, apart from our projects’ positive impact on SDG 12, there are possible dangers that we should consider while implementing our idea.
First and foremost the creation of the biodegradable bioco-polymer can be a very expensive procedure for mass production. This parameter can stir companies away from this production, even if it could be the most sustainable solution to the problem.
For the environmental impact, chemical pectin extraction includes certain substances that could be harmful to the environment but unfortunately at the moment, it is the most affordable solution, especially in a scaled-up production.
When it comes to SDG 15, even though the vast majority of scientists that we approached about feedback for our project were really positive about our approach, like Mr. Dimitrakopoulos Alexandros and Mr. Yiagkou Minas ( See Integrated Human Practices and Human Practices), we came across a couple of professors that were skeptical about the level of interference. One of these few negative feedbacks was given by Mr. Papaioannou, a professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the Department of Forestry (see Human Practices) We took all of that in mind and proceeded with great caution in our further research and experiments, trying to be as less invasive as possible and incorporating multifaceted feedback of experts in our practices.
All about SDG 4, people may not share the same interests as us and subvert that knowledge given to others.Furthermore, in order to sustain and establish quality education as something stable, more people should be awakened and involved. Currently, actions like what we are undertaking are not that common, and quality education may remain something utopian. Furthermore, misinformation is an issue in our times that is more topical than ever, making individuals struggle with the dangerous impacts of this phenomenon and threatening the goal of quality education.
Climate change is a sensitive issue(SDG 13).Nowadays, misinformation in the media and other sources tend to lead people to think the wrong way about climate change. Αs a consequence, many people believe we intervene in the restoration of the ecosystem, although our project focuses on the assistance of it to make this work properly. 17th SDG may have negative impact too, We all know sometimes discussion may lead to disagreements, that need to be overcome in order to find a feasible solution. Also, the connection between people from different countries, ideologies and beliefs might need a careful approach to respect and satisfy everyone's will.
Impact on other SDGs
As we mentioned at the beginning, we chose to focus on some of the sustainable development goals that we thought were more suitable for our work. This does not mean that Euphoresis can not have an impact on any of the remaining ones.
Goal 14
Life below water
"Health to the ocean means health for us."
- Sylvia Earle
While contacting several stakeholders in order to evaluate our work for SDGs we came across Ms. Christina Kontaxi, a marine scientist, currently a Freelancer registered in the Consultants Registry of the ex-Ministry of Environment & Public Works, and conducted a meeting with her when she gave us some very valuable information. She informed us about the landfills in our city Thessaloniki and how they are overflowing, especially with organic waste, the same kind as the one we hope to use for the creation of our bio-copolymer. This organic waste produces liquids that later end up in nearby rivers and lakes and harm the aquatic life. By reducing this waste as we explained in SDG 12, we help prevent this situation and actively contribute to goal 14 (Life below Water). Ms. Kontaxi, also mentioned that organic waste is the parameter most responsible for methane release in the atmosphere, which has catastrophic consequences on the environment and contributes to climate change. So by decreasing the waste, less amounts of methane are produced, an action fitting to SDG 13 (Climate Action). After the devastating wildfires, the water coming from rains contains ash components very lethal to the aquatic fauna, goal 14th 9. Thus our biopolymer is trying to reduce this problematic aftermath of a fire.
Goal 3
Good health and well being
“There is no medicine you can take that has such a direct influence on your health as a walk in a beautiful forest.”
—Dr. Qing Li
Apart from the environmental impact Euphoresis can have, we believed it was necessary to explore its connection with humans, more specifically with human health. We approached several psychologists and clinical psychologists in order to understand the effect that forests can have on mental health. The reason behind these actions is that we wanted to highlight how people can benefit from the restoration of soil thus the potential revival of forests. After our meetings with the psycologist Xanthopoulou Despina and Professor Baka Afroditi from the Department of Social and Clinical Psychology we came to the conclusion that forests have an effect on different human senses like hearing, vision, smell and lighten them. Forests also have a significant effect on physical health since they produce an important amount of oxygen. To educate people, especially fellow college students about all of the above, in collaboration with HelMSIC, Hellenic Medical Students' International Committee, we created a flyer about the effects that forests can have on physical and mental human health and distributed it. Furthermore, Euphoresis is an innovative venture in the field of synthetic biology and is therefore a promising product for the industry. Thus, the connection with the 9th goal is something inevitable. After developing our prototype idea and the R&D in the field, we aim to patent our project and look for investors to fund our team to take it even further.
Holistic Impact: Actions for Multiple Goals
Even though we chose to focus on five Sustainable Development Goals some of the actions and events we planned are intimately related to more than one SDGs. In the next few paragraphs we analyze these activities, their purpose as well as their outcome
Webinar
“From information to action: for a more sustainable future”
While interacting with friends and family we came to the conclusion that most of them are not familiar with the sustainable development goals or sustainability as a whole. This gave us the idea to host a webinar regarding SDGs and more specifically SDG 4, SDG 13, and SDG 15 in order to raise awareness about their practical application in our world. Our webinar “From information to action: for a more sustainable future” took place on September 2nd and the participants were:
Mrs. Stefanos Katsoulis
President of the foundation Youth Unesco in Thessaloniki, Greece
Lecture:
"The 2030 Agenda as an Opportunity for a Sustainable Future"
Dr. Phoebe Koudouri
Professor of Economics & President of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, President of the UN SDSN Global Climate Hub, and Co-Chair of the SDSN Europe and SDSN Greece
Lecture:
“The UN SDSN Global Climate Hub: Developing the net-zero resilient pathways”
Dr. Mariengela Fotelli
Researcher in ELGO Dimitra, Forest Research Institute
Lecture:
“The role of forest ecosystems, the threats and their potential”
Mr. Katsoulis elaborated on an introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals and focused on SDG 4, Quality Education. Dr.Kountouri presented to us some very interesting statistics about the course of various SDGs in Greece while Dr. Fotelli tried to highlight with her presentation the value of forest lands as well as the dangers that they face in recent years.
At the end of the event, the conferees had the required time to ask any questions directly to the participants. This gave us the opportunity to have an interesting conversation about Sustainable Development Goals in Greece, more specifically about the lack of awareness on the matter from citizens and the indifference that is usually present on such issues, and share our opinions on the matter.
Sustainability Handbook
After many discussions with professors, stakeholders, people from our surroundings and members of our team we decided to make a handbook of proposals on how different people such as Citizens/Students, Businesses, iGEM Teams can contribute to achieve each goal effectively. We came up with some ideas and get others emerged after connection with individuals. Also, in our effort to expand and enrich it we contacted different iGEM teams from different countries and proposed them to translate it to their language. With that, we aimed at sharing our ideas within the iGEM community and leaving our legacy to the following generations of teams to build on. Our approach is on a theoretical basis but many ideas could be useful and feasible to be implemented in the future. Our main goal is not only to inform and get people familiar with the goals, but to make them consider how they can contribute to achieve them. We give the stimulus to get people to engage with it. We hope other iGEM teams and community in general to find our effort remarkable and try to make it even better.
Conference
“Shaping the Future: Sustainable Development Goals in action”
Throughout the year we tried to host or participate in several events or collaborations regarding sustainability or the sustainable development goals. In that spirit, Stella Apostolaki, Executive Director of the Centre of Excellence in Sustainability at the American College of Greece, informed us about the importance of approaching the local community, which in our case consists of fellow students in our university. That is when we decided to host a conference with the title “Shaping the Future: Sustainable Development Goals in action”. We invited students from any field with the only requirement that they are interested in learning about sustainability. Acknowledging the importance of SDG 17 we decided to co-host the event with Youth Unesco Club Thessaloniki and Xanthi TechLab, two associations relevant to the matter. Additionally, we incorporated the participation of high school students and teachers but decided to separate each category in order for the event to be more targeted
Workshop
Organisers:
‣ Giannakoudis Dimitris,
Xanthi American Space Coordinator and Specialist
‣ Priftis Antonis,
Regional Europe Officer, UN SDSN Youth
Description:
Students were able to actively participate in an interactive approach to sustainability and the SDGs in combination with a negotiation workshop. The first step was the exposure of the students to negotiation techniques that would be later used.
Case Study
Organisers:
‣ Giannakoudis Dimitris,
Xanthi American Space Coordinator and Specialist
‣ Priftis Antonis,
Regional Europe Officer, UN SDSN Youth
Description:
After a presentation about the sustainable development goals, a case study, created by Xanthi Tech Lab, was presented to them. They were asked to examine it and later, in groups of three, negotiate from two opposing sides, while always keeping the values of sustainability in mind.
Our goal was to raise awareness about the matter in the academic department and hopefully spark interest in the students to research and learn about sustainability.
During our conference, students had the chance to get familiar with the 17 goals of Sustainable Development and propose their ideas for achieving a more sustainable future. For that, we created a three-axis workshop:
Workshop steps
First action:
After a brief presentation of the goals we separated the students and formed four groups of eight people each, and gave them 4 random goals(the 17th goal was given to all the teams). They had the chance to communicate with each other and share ideas and proposals on what actions should everyone follow to achieve the purpose of the goal given.
Second action:
Students had to make a PowerPoint presentation, with the laptops we provided them with, writing down all the ideas they shared and presenting to all the other students who attended.
Third action:
Every group presented to all the other groups what they discussed and what are their proposals to accomplish the goals. Students attending the presentation had the opportunity to express their own thoughts and reflections making an open dialogue with each other. Many interesting and promising suggestions were heard and in the end, students had a more comprehensive view of the goals.
In a different room high school teachers had the chance to be provided with new insights and inspirations. Especially, Stefanos Katsoulis, president of the club Youth Unesco of Thessaloniki, had the chance to instruct and inform teachers on the implementation of SDG’s on the schools. At first teachers attended the lecture from Stefanos, and then shared their thoughts and ideas of the best ways to engage with the goals. Many interesting proposals and discussions were made in a dialogue based seminar. After long conversations, teachers had the chance to test their knowledge on a game Stefanos created. They were separated in small groups of three people each and answered questions on the 17 goals. With that, teachers were able to interactively learn about them and even implement the game itself in the schools. After all, teachers claimed that this action helped them to get to know how to properly contact the SDG’s to their students, which was and our initial goal.
Here you can se some pictures from the conference!
