The overall timeline of our Human Practice, Education & SDG events

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDGs are a series of 17 international Development Goals proposed by the United Nations in 2015. In our project, we are calling to action addressing global environmental, social challenges, etc.
We target 4 sustainable development goals:
a) goal 2-zero hunger
b) goal 4-quality education
c) goal 11-sustainable cities and communities
d) goal 12-responsible consumption and production.

	Goal 2	Goal 4	Goal 11	Goal 12
Writing newspaper articles		✓
Detergent Workshop	✓	✓	✓
Biological courses and zoom talks		✓
Food Waste Collection Programme	✓	✓	✓	✓
Macau FW Challenge	✓	✓	✓	✓
MIPT_MSU, RUBochum (Sharing data)	✓		✓	✓
University of Saint Joseph (Meeting)	✓	✓	✓	✓
Society of Food & Environmental Health Macao (Talk)	✓	✓	✓
DSEJ (educational department)		✓
DSPA, Macau Refuse Incineration Plant (environmental protection bureau) (visit)	✓		✓	✓
Wynn Macau (meeting)	✓		✓	✓
Bluepha lab (meeting)			✓	✓

Goal 2 Zero Hunger:

There is a large number of people who are suffering from hunger. One of the main reasons for this is that lots of food is wasted, and that the distribution of food is not balanced. In our project, we are going to improve on food waste treatment and food distribution.

To kick off our project, we are considering converting food waste into biofuel, bioplastics or other biomaterials. We believe bioplastic is a good choice because it is cheap and useful in many cases. For instance, it is essential to the car business because it weighs less compared with metal, and plastic is important for food packaging and preserving food quality and freshness too. Therefore, plastic is significant in our lives.

However, we have noticed that in many developed countries, fresh food like corn are used to produce biomaterials. In our project, bioplastics are produced by food waste instead of fresh food. In this way, we are trying to tackle the food waste issue and help with plastic pollution by redistributing food usage. Through providing a cheaper method to manufacture biodegradable plastic, people might move on and not use the good fresh food to generate bioplastics. Thus, more fresh food can be ‘saved’ for those suffering from hunger.

To do more on food distribution, we would like to reduce food waste generation, reducing waste at source. To achieve this, we held the food waste collection programme. Hence, to raise social awareness, we have been promoting on online social media and through offline activities. Moreover, we have collaborated with local organizations and international experts, like other iGEM teams and local stakeholders.

For further information, please consider visiting the Collaboration Section and the Human Practice Section on our website.

Goal 4 Quality Education:

Education opportunity is one of the most important topics in our world today. In our project, we have been doing a lot in spreading awareness and promoting the significance of equal education opportunity. To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, we are doing a lot in planning with local organizations and providing teaching material to teaching organisations in Macau.

We held a variety of events targeting various groups of the public. Starting from local, we held a range of events targeting students at different stages, including primary to university students. Apart from holding these activities, we have also posted materials and information relating to these events to different social media platforms, and these materials were shared online being available for other teachers. Besides, we invited professional experts working from various places, having lectures to share teaching materials and methods not only with students, but also with teachers. Other than this, our Macau FW challenge was opened to the society. We are so glad to know that not only students, but also adults, elderlies had taken part in the activity.

Collaborating with local organizations’ stakeholders, we came into deep cooperation with Ms Ruby O, the founder of the Society of Food & Environmental Health (Macao). We had also contacted the local education department, DSEJ, and arranged a meeting. However, due to the sudden Covid-19 outbreak in Macau, we were suffering from a lockdown and the meeting was postponed. Despite this, we still communicated with them through email. Moreover, our team has been collaborating with the Macau Artificial Intelligence Education Center, and a local television company filmed a video of us introducing the iGEM competitions and our previous projects to the public.

For further information, please consider visiting the Education Section and the Human Practice Section on our website

Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities:

Due to the increasingly rapid urbanization happening in Macau, Macau has already become the most densely populated city in the world, resulting in a number of environmental problems popping up. It is getting more urgent and paramount to make Macau a more sustainable city.

We noticed that food waste is one of the most serious problems affecting Macau’s environment and natural habitat. The current way of treating food waste in Macau causes negative impacts and pollutes the natural environment. Therefore, we would like to develop an alternative solution, treating food waste in a more environmentally friendly way to mitigate the environmental impact of Macau caused by food waste treatment. This includes lowering carbon emissions and reducing water pollution. Hence, we are doing more on improving existing food waste treatment methods, that increase resource efficiency by making our food waste treatment system more effective.

It is not enough to reach the goal without any help, and we are glad about help provided by local government departments, providing precious feedback to our project. We have contacted DSPA, the local government department in charge of environmental protection, and arranged a meeting.

This is not to mention arousing attention towards sustainable development in Macau about the food system, and supporting positive economics in environmental planning with the help of our stakeholders. Through meetings with Wynn Macau, a local hotel conglomerate, positive economics in environmental planning is supported through collaborations with local stakeholders. We have also contacted local restaurants and stores, collecting food waste from them for experiment use, to develop our project.

For further information, please consider visiting the Human Practice Section on our website

Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production:

The natural environment and resources have been suffering from destructive impacts since the last few decades. Since then, changes in our consumption and production patterns are needed to make a more sustainable future.

In our project, we are trying to reduce food waste generation through the reduction and upcycling of food waste. Food waste is treated in a more environmentally friendly way, lowering the impact on the environment, and increasing resource efficiency to make the consumption and production pattern more sustainable.

To begin with, we would like to promote and raise awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature. We held the Macau FW challenge, and a talk given by Miss Ruby O as mentioned.