Scientists, politicians and public figures discussed the problem of municipal solid waste management. A round table was held at South Ural State University in the framework of the "Clean Country" All-Russian Motor Rally.
"Chelyabinsk is the penultimate point of the route, which began in Balashikha on September 6th and will be completed in Yekaterinburg on September 29th. We will cover more than 3 thousand kilometres through 11 constituent entities of the Russian Federation," said Ruslan Gubaidullin, Executive Director of the "Clean Country" Association. "Ecology is about each one of us; a certain person stands behind every piece of paper that didn't make it to trash bin. All production facilities and factories are worthless if we are not able to carry garbage to the trash bin. Three institutions (government, business and society) together will be able to achieve the goals set for us by the president. By 2030, the amount of landfill waste must be halved. Each one of us needs to learn to be an environmentally friendly person."
As part of the event, a round table was held in Chelyabinsk, where a conversation with students took place, programs on environmental projects were presented, a film screening and a rich environmental sports program were organized. According to the organizers, it is also possible to introduce environment-oriented thinking through sports. For example, today plogging, which came from Sweden, is gaining popularity in different countries. Plogging differs from ordinary jogging in that you take a bag with you and collect all the garbage you meet along the way. Such a run was arranged for the residents of Chelyabinsk in the Recreation and Entertainment Park named after Yu.A. Gagarin. And throughout the day, an exhibition of modern technology for recycling and disposal of solid municipal waste was held near the SUSU Main Building. Schoolchildren and students were invited to the excursion. It was for a reason that South Ural State University was chosen as the venue for the event.
"SUSU is a good partner of the Ministry of Ecology of the Chelyabinsk Region," says Minister of Ecology Sergei Likhachev. "The university Rector Aleksandr Shestakov pays great attention to environmental issues; we jointly head a working group to address these issues. SUSU scientists are doing a lot to solve environmental problems in our region and our country. We have created a Centre for Environmental Monitoring in the Chelyabinsk Region, and part of its work is the developments of SUSU scientists, for example, the Ecomonitor program. This information and analytical system allows for real-time evaluation of the concentration of pollutants in the air anywhere in the city."
South Ural State University is not only engaged in unique developments in ecology, but also conducts a great educational work among students, academic and administrative staff, the purpose of which is to popularize an environmentally friendly attitude among the urban dwellers. An example of this is a waste sorting campaign, which took place today in parallel with the federal event. Such campaigns are regularly held at the university.
"The issue of ecology is important for our university, it is one of the focus areas in the work of the university, which is spelled out in the SUSU Development Strategy until 2030. Environmental projects developed by our scientists are in demand and recognized by the professional community. A number of scientific developments have already been introduced into practice, some of the projects are at the stage of implementation," says Vyacheslav Burmatov, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs. "We understand the importance of creating a culture of waste management. We carry out a lot of informational work, our students regularly hold campaigns on waste sorting. We notify in advance through our information channels when the next campaign will take place. It is usually attended not only by students, teaching and administrative staff, but also by residents of the Central District."
South Ural State University offers educational programmes in Ecology, which are popular among applicants.