Nordic Talks at BSUT

Published: Friday, 29 November 2019 09:22

• news

On November 27, 2019 in Gomel, a regular meeting was held as part of the Nordic Talks project.

“Nordic Talks in Belarus” is a series of informative meetings and discussions with interesting guest lecturers from the Northern Europe region. The aim of the project: to highlight topics relevant to Scandinavia and Belarus and understand what is the secret of success of countries that have become world leaders in many respects. The project was organized by the Branch of the Nordic Council in Lithuania in cooperation with the Embassy of Sweden in Belarus, the Branch of the Embassy of Finland in Belarus, the Embassy of Norway in Kiev and the Centre for Swedish Studies in Minsk.

The Nordic Talks project aims to exchange knowledge and experience, establish and expand business contacts. This is a project that inspires and offers ideas on how to move forward and achieve significant goals on a personal, local and national level.

The event was opened by the vice-rector for scientific work of BSUT, Ph.D., associate professor Erofeev Alexander Alexandrovich, who introduced the guests and experts of the project.

Welcoming remarks were made by Martynas Snieganas, Information Advisor to the Office of the Nordic Council of Ministers in Lithuania, and Erland Lindblad Buman, Second Secretary of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kiev (concurrently in Belarus).

We invited a lecturer - an international expert in the field of political and economic measures for environmental protection Haakon Yentuft (Norway). He spoke about Oslo, which has become Europe’s greenest capital with minimal greenhouse gas emissions, and shared his experience on how city initiatives can influence important social decisions and what measures are needed to support the international sustainable development path. In addition, he touched on measures of national policy to protect the environment and, in particular, the climate budget.

Speech of the expert from the Belarusian side, Professor A. Nevzorova was devoted to the main directions of improving the transport system of Gomel in terms of sustainable development. The expert also touched upon the initiatives of the city authorities in this direction and their interaction with citizens.

The representative of the VeloGomel public organization Valentina Poznyakova told how the cycling movement has an impact on the environmental development of Gomel.

Irina Ponedelnik – the founder of the initiative “Youth for Sustainable Development”, the coordinator of the VuzEcoFest project in Belarus, spoke about the practices of youth participation in the processes of adaptation to climate change.

After all the speeches, the guests of the meeting were given the opportunity to ask questions to all experts and the lecturer.

Concluding the event, May Anastasia, director of the Centre for International Studies, thanked the university leadership for the opportunity to use BSUT as a venue for the meeting.

Given the relevance and importance of the topics addressed for Belarus, those present after the main event, during the coffee break, continued discussions with invited experts whether the Norwegian model of the new generation city is applicable to us and what steps both countries should take to achieve the environmental and social goals.