SDG12 - oriented projects and Best Practices

Sustainable development is first and foremost  a matter of life style : any educational activity linked with waste disposal of non-recyclable material is supporting sustainable practices. Libraries and documentation centres may have great influence on people’s behaviours. Awareness should be raised on sustainable practices linked with circular economy, and misuse of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

An example of a library project meeting SD Goal 12, easily extendible to other libraries, is the one set up by the Yavorov Regional Library “The land is cleaner, we are more knowledgeable”: a 3D Printer is made available to every student in return of plastic bottles.

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) was a Citizen Science project taking place on the island Funen, Denmark within the Life Cycle Studies. The project aimed to engage citizens in research regarding electronic waste (phone, tv’s, vacuum cleaners etc. etc) in order to establish whether decommissioned products were recyclable with major involvement of citizens in new and more sustainable life cycles. The outcome of the project served as a basis for new local, national and European legislation. 1,500 citizens participated and handed over products, while interviews and surveys on social media, tv and on the Web reached out ca 130,000 citizens.

[The project was carried out in partnership between the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), TV/2 Funen (regional broadcaster), Refurb (a private company), four municipalities and 15 partners from the private sector and not least civil society (e.g. Repair Cafés), https://www.ecsite.eu/activities-and-services/ecsite-events/conferences/sessions/citizen-science-case-study-bring-your-own.]

• SDG12-oriented projects in Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland and France