SciFest 2018 – My Sustainable Future
Jordie Eskes & Sini-Tuuli Saaristo
The SECURE -project took part in the SciFest event at Joensuu Areena on the 17th and the 18th of May 2018. SciFest is an international festival where schoolkids, high school students, and teachers can discover new experiences and learn about science, technology and the environment. The key element of the event is workshops, where pupils and students can experiment and try things out for themselves. This year around 9000 people and a wide variety of nationalities visited the two-day-event.
Jordie Eskes explaining the function of an anaerobic digester
Two Karelia UAS’s international trainees Jordie Eskes and Rick Zuure from HAS University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands, organized the ‘My sustainable future’ workshop in the name of the SECURE project. With subjects like sustainability, alternative energy sources and innovation, all wrapped in a tight package, the workshop aimed to have something for visitors of all ages.
The main attraction of this workshop was a practical setup showing the intricacies of anaerobic digestion as an alternative to traditional waste management and energy production. While conditions were far from perfect, the setup still demonstrated the biogas production capacities of different types of kitchen waste. Visitors were also asked to guess why some products produced more gas than others did.
One group of people who seemed particularly interested in the setup was the different teachers and professors. Some noted that they would like to build a similar setup for their students in their home countries, while others wanted to know more about the implications of combined waste management and energy production.
Children taking part in the contest to design the accommodation of the future.
Other activities at the SECURE workshop included a contest where children could compete to design the accommodation of the future. Children brought some very surprising and clever ideas forward. The ideas ranged from renewable energy sources to in-house water purification installations. Passers-by were also asked to write down what they thought were some of the most important issues needed to be solved in the future. People enthusiastically shared their concerns and discussed them with the team.
The stand offered information on the status of renewable energy worldwide and in Finland specifically, the pros and cons of different alternative fuel sources as opposed to fossil fuels, the differences between the long and short carbon cycle and the basics of carbon foot printing. Overall, the workshop was a success with lots of interest and discussions.
Jordie Eskes, international trainee
Sini-Tuuli Saaristo, project coordinator
Karelia University of Applied Sciences