Project
Number: 2006-043-3-050
Title: The Social Responsibility of Chemists: Responsible Stewardship
Task Group
Chairman: Natalia
P. Tarasova
Members: Alastair
Hay, Peter Mahaffy,
D.C. Neckers, Oleg
M. Nefedov, O.P. Sharma,
and Gennady A. Yagodin
Completion Date: 2008 - project completed
Objective:
This project is aimed to disseminate new educational means in the field
of the chemistry education for sustainable development and education
for responsible stewardship, and to promote all aspects of chemistry,
not just among the members of the profession, but increasingly to the
worldwide community. Chemical education can be effectively used for
this purpose because chemistry as a fundamental science and as a scientific
basis for a variety of technologies in different branches of industry
is deeply involved in the progress of modern civilization.
Description:
An earlier project dealt mainly with the problem of multiple use of
chemicals (see project #2005-028-1-050).
The disseminated materials included the outlines of two lectures (chemicals
with possibilities of multiple use and the OPCW Convention on Chemical
Weapons; history of development of codes of conducts for chemists).
The audience of the final workshop consisted of chemistry educators
and graduate students. The survey made showed the great interest of
the audience. The materials are now available at the Green Chemistry
Clearing House web-site (in Russian) supported by the Mendeleyev University
of Chemical Technology of Russia (MUCTR).
This project is aimed at the wider community (including the leading
researchers, people from chemical industry and decision makers). As
the official environmental monitoring data show, the economic and industrial
recovery of Russia and former Soviet republics is resulting now in the
deterioration of the quality of the environment, due to old technologies
used and little attention paid by the industry and policy decision makers
to the rational use of energy and natural resources. The other emerging
problem is the danger of chemical and biochemical terrorism. Recently
in Russia and other countries of CIS, the cases of explosions (in which
students of chemistry departments had been involved) have been investigated.
Urgent measures are to be taken by the chemistry community (scientists,
educators and the practitioners).
This project will culminate as the Symposium "The Social Responsibility
of Chemists: Green Chemistry" during the XVIII
Mendeleyev Congress on General and Applied Chemistry to be held
in Moscow, 23-28 Sept 2007. The Mendeleyev Congresses are regularly
held every 3-4 years, with about 1000 participants from Russia and abroad
and are considered to be the most important event for chemists and chemistry
educators from Russia and CIS (www.chemend.ru).
The Symposium (about 200 participants) will make a contribution to the
facilitation of the exchange of scientific information and expertise
between educators and researchers working in the field of green chemistry,
multiple use of chemicals, education for sustainable development. It
will also make a contribution to promoting awareness about the Chemistry
Weapons Convention (CWC) and its implementation in the scientific community
and provide additional impetus to developing a culture of responsibility
and compliance within the scientific community with international norms,
including the CWC. This project pertains to the chemical aspects of
important issues of international concern including the issue of global
climate change, transboundary pollution, and terrorism.
The Green Chemistry concept, theory and practice, will be the other
topic of the Symposium. Green Chemistry concept is one of the brightest
practical manifestations of social responsibility of chemists, as well
as CWC. The Symposium will help develop the scientific basis for practices
and procedures that protect society and encourage responsible and sustainable
development. It will promote the service of chemistry to society in
both developed and developing countries and will help foster green chemistry
in developing countries and in countries in transition.
The questions related to the public reaction to the problems of destruction
of chemical weapons and risk assessments in chemical industry will be
dealt with in the presentations submitted. This project utilizes global
perspective of IUPAC to contribute toward the enhancement of education
in chemistry and to advance the public understanding of chemistry and
the scientific method.
Progress:
> Symposium Program [pdf file
- 13KB] (section 13, pp. 44-45 extracted from <http://www.chemend.ru/docs/english/section.pdf>)
> report published in Chem
Int
Mar-Apr 2008, pp. 23-25
project completed
Last update: 29 May 2008
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