Aberdeen University students to host major
environment and industry conference
Students from throughout Europe and North America will take part in a major European environmental and industrial conference to be hosted by the University of Aberdeen in April.
Up to 150 environmental science and environmental engineering students from throughout Europe, Russia and Canada are expected to converge on the city in April for the Born in Born: Environment and Industry conference, which will include a week of seminars, workshops and discussions.
The students will be given a comprehensive insight into the main industries of Scotland which have the greatest environmental impact, including energy production, tourism, agriculture and forestry. They will also share experiences from their own countries.
One of the main focuses of the conference will be the energy industry. During the course of the week-long event there will be talks on the subject from leading experts in the field, and the event will culminate in a debate on the benefits and disadvantages of the various energy sources used in Scotland.
Michael Gleeson, a third year student of Countryside and Environmental Management, said the aim of the conference is to bring together environmental students from Europe in order to create an interactive learning environment, where delegates can exchange ideas, techniques and philosophies for environmental management.
“These principles create a unique atmosphere of open-minded learning and create trans-national links, which maintain themselves well into the future. As the conference moves to a new location each year, it affords the host nations the opportunity to showcase their own specific environmental issues and its approaches to them.
“We have had to raise all the funds ourselves and we have still got quite a way to go. We have approached a number of local and national businesses to request their support and we would like to thank Walkers shortbread for their contribution, and hope other businesses will follow their generous example.”
Kirsty Leitch, a research assistant in the Department of Agriculture, is also one of the conference organisers.
“We are really proud to have been elected to host this event. A 74-vote majority nominated us at the 2000 conference in Moscow. We only hope we can equal the standard set by the Russian conference.”
The Organisation Committee can be contacted at the Department of Agriculture & Forestry at the University of Aberdeen and by email at bib2001@abdn.ac.uk, interested parties can also visit the conference web site at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~agf029
Further information: Alison Ramsay, University Press Officer on (01224) 273778
Note to Editors: The Born in Born conference is an annual event organised for and by third level students of environmental science and related topics throughout Europe. The first meeting was held in Rostock in 1994. The series has been running for the past six years since its conception at the next meeting in the Baltic coast town of Born in North-eastern Germany in 1995. Previous host countries have included Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal and Russia last year.
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.