Introduction
Every year more and more factors affect the Earth and exacerbate global problems. Biology is the science of nature, and all environmental issues make us, as biologists, anxious. That is why during this year our iGEM team tried to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at every stage of the project. In 2015, world leaders launched 17 SDG tracks with the goal of tackling global issues across the planet by 2030 — ending poverty, global warming, marine life, gender equality and others. Our team managed to successfully achieve 3 SDGs this year:
- Quality education (4)
- Gender equality (5)
- Reduced inequalities (10)
- By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes
4. Quality Education
In July 2022, our team organized a summer camp for rural and urban students. A preliminary selection competition was held among children, because the number of places was limited and 42 students were accepted for free summer education. The summer camp was educational in nature and the program included both lectures by various professors and company representatives, as well as practical tasks in the laboratory and classes. The purpose of the camp was to popularize science and scientific thinking among schoolchildren in our country.
More information about summer camp can be found on …
- Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, nonviolent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all
This year we have successfully integrated our project for visually impaired children. Most of the events were organized with the possibility of attendance by blind children. Moreover, we held an educational workshop with children from a specialized school, during which they molded plasticine cells and their works were presented at the BioArt exhibition organized by us. Our team has created a synthetic biology board game and flashcards that visually impaired or blind children can easily play and learn about science, because all the details and words are also in Braille. In addition to all this, we have prepared video lessons with subtitles so that children of any category can learn biology from us.
- By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing states
Throughout the year, we held activities with children, the purpose of which was the cultivation of science and scientific thinking from an early age. We tried to convey that science is interesting, not boring and useful. Therefore, we believe that we managed to generate a love for science - biology, at least a quarter of the students with whom we worked, and in the future they will make their contribution to this area and will teach people interested in science. Our country is considered to be still developing, so it was very important for us to unleash the potential among our children for a better future. As they say, "small steps - to a better future".
- Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life
- End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
5. Gender Equality
Many directly and indirectly infringe on the rights of girls, so our team tried to show that girls are a fairly competitive part of the population. We can say that this year our team achieved gender justice, because, according to statistics, in all the events we held, the ratio of girls and boys was approximately 2:1, respectively. Moreover, some part of humanity believes that women are not capable of management and organization, and the leader of our iGEM team is a girl who successfully leads the team. At the same time, there are 14 girls and only 6 boys in our team. As for the activities, 42 students took part in the summer camp, of which 26 were girls and 16 were boys.
- By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
10. Reduced Inequality
This goal was successfully achieved by our iGEM team, as with our project we wanted to involve children with disabilities in our events and show them that they are also children and they have the opportunity to live a full life. We held a combined children's camp in which children from both urban and rural schools were present, and moreover there were 2 girls from a specialized school. Children of absolutely different nationalities, ages and categories were invited to our educational camp and selected through a general competition. In addition to the camp, our team organized a BioArt exhibition in September 2022, in which completely different people presented their work. Students, international artists, local artists, schoolchildren and children with disabilities all participated in the exhibition and presented their work.