Sustainability
Introduction
Sustainable practices support ecological, human and economic health and vitality and shape prominently the development of every iGEM project. Sustainability presumes that resources are finite and should be used conservatively and wisely. In an attempt to promote sustainability and a sustainable way of life, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, including our country, Greece.
Despite the fact that our team comes from Greece, a country with many potentials in the primary sector, we noticed important deficiencies in the field of Agriculture, such as lack of important data regarding soil physical and chemical properties in large and isolated areas, insufficient information regarding the combination between precision agriculture tools and other technological advancements and low efficiency of crop inputs including fertilizers, tillage, pesticides, and irrigation water. The main pillar-idea of our team's project is improving the quality of production using technology (GPS, DSS, soil-sampling drones, ML, portable lab) through Precision Agriculture.
Some of the main goals of the project are the access to agricultural data even in remote and large areas, the precise prediction of soil biodiversity and crops for planting and environmental protection by reducing fertilizers' use. As a result, tailor-made interventions and solutions will be offered to farmers on how to improve their crops' quality, leading to sustainability and profitability. Consequently, according to the projects' targets and the reasons which lead us to its conception, the sustainable development goals our project is related to are the following:
- Goal 2 - Zero hunger, as our projects promotes sustainable agriculture as a way to produce food with better quality and improve nutrition
- Goal 3 - Good health and well-being of all ages which is achieved through the improved nutrition
- Goal 12 - Responsible consumption and production
- Goal 14 - Life below water, as the project aims to the reduction of fertilizers and pesticides, so there is less harm for all the marine organisms, through irrigation water and sewerage
- Goal 15 - Life on land, as the project is related to crops on land and soil sampling
- Goal 17 - Partnerships for the goals, because our teams aims to the propulsion of sustainable development not only by working autonomously, but also by collaborating with other iGEM teams towards this goal
Integrated Human Practices on SDGs
In terms of the three way Partnership, we organized with iGEM Aboa and iGEM TecCEM an online meeting with SDGs experts Karla Nayeli Munoz Rubio and Ana Gabriela Gonzalez Castillo, SDGs experts and activists. The main goal of the meeting was for all three teams to discuss with these experts about SDGs and the concept of sustainability, to better understand their importance. After the project presentations, there was a round table discussion around the goals of its project and the possible impact on the users of the final products.