Recommendations of the Fifth International Scientific Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development

Under the patronage of Prof. Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Hassan Al-Ghabban, President of University of Technology, the Environment Research Center, in cooperation with Gaziantep University, organized the Fifth International Scientific Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development for the period from 1-2/6/2021, as follows:

First: Proceedings of the conference:

The scientific conference activities were divided into two days, with the opening session and fifteen scientific sessions, including three virtual scientific sessions and twelve in-person sessions in which 139 scientific papers were presented, which were accepted out of a total of 192 research papers submitted to participate in the conference.

The opening session was held on Tuesday, 1/6/2021, at Salah El-Din Hall in the Palestine International Hotel, in the presence of the President of University of Technology and many heads of public and private universities and colleges, as well as the parties involved in organizing and supporting the conference from scientific and academic institutions and relevant civil society organizations concerning the affairs of environment and sustainable development, the conference was opened by the President of University of Technology, who welcomed the attendees at the outset and then spoke about the importance of organizing the conference that is concerned with the affairs of the environment and sustainable development in our time. Then Prof. Dr. Mustafa Bayram, representative of Gaziantep University, spoke.

Then Prof. Dr. Mazen Al-Hassani, President of Wasit University, representing the participating parties in organizing and supporting the conference, then Prof. Dr. Abdul Hameed M. Jawad, Director of the Environment Research Center, delivered the speech of the organizing committee for the conference, in which the preparations for organizing the conference and what had been accomplished at the level of preparation as well as about the number of researches participating in the conference, which has completed the scientific evaluation stage and will be published in the (IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science) journal, which is within the Scopus.

The scientific session, chaired by Prof. Dr. Shakir Ahmed Salih and Prof. Dr. Riyad Hassan Al-Anbari, started, which included the opening lecture of Prof. Dr. Ali Abdel-Zahra Duaibel (Environmental Projects with a focus on Iraq) and a lecture by Prof. Deniz from a university in Turkey entitled (Reusing Food Processing Waste in Food Production value-added products).

Sixteen scientific sessions were held, in which (120) scientific research were presented and discussed in various axes of environment and sustainable development. Noting that the closing session was held on Wednesday, 2/6/2021, in the Green Hall at the Environment Research Center/ University of Technology.

Second: Recommendations

1. The executive plan for the implementation of the principles of sustainable development.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 goals, approved by all UN member states in September 2015, lay out a far-sighted road map and aim for sustainable prosperity and equality, while simultaneously striving to preserve natural resources. Hence, the importance of follow-up and reviewing the 2030 development plan effectively requires all state institutions, including higher education institutions, to strive to implement the goals and principles of sustainable development through executive plans and programs with the importance of follow-up to measure the goals achieved. And that this requires seeking to gather all concerned parties to clarify their vision in building operational plans and measuring what is achieved in light of the indicators related to the sustainable development goals.

 2. Environmental Legislation

1. Activate and introduce legislation for the protection and improvement of the environment in all work sectors and for all aspects of different life activities. Implementing legal procedures in a professional manner regarding environmental violations and monitoring them by the competent authorities, and granting the necessary powers for the work of the environmental police.
2. Create a functional degree with all its powers for the environmental judge and legislate that by law, provided that he holds a scientific degree in one of the disciplines related to the environment in addition to his judicial certificate, through the joint opinion of the academic and judicial authorities.
3. Consolidating the role of quality control, whether imported or locally produced, and coordinating the control of the mechanisms of entry of materials into Iraq and the consolidation of their origins, and evaluating their environmental effects as a result of trading in its various forms.
4. Obligating projects, whether governmental, mixed, or private, to submit an environmental impact report and for existing, under construction, or planned projects.
5. Full control of the issue of waste, and directing this by the Ministry of Health-Environment in coordination with the environmental departments in all ministries, and the legal authorities concerned with this, giving a role to civil society organizations in this regard, and establishing integrated waste management systems.

3. Environmental awareness and societal behavior

1. Transforming the culture of environmental awareness into behavioral principles for the different segments of society through approaches aimed at protecting, improving, and sustaining the environment and enhancing the spirit of citizenship.
2. Adopting environmental science curricula in accordance with the vision of sustainable development, from kindergarten up to the later educational stages, in a manner that establishes green growth.
3. Working on applied environmental awareness programs with the participation of civil society organizations and specialists, for different societal segments, for different age groups, and for both genders.

4. Water harvesting and its sustainability

1. Urging the government institution in all its formations (and each according to its tasks, specialization, and its primary or supportive role), to actively participate or contribute to the planning of strategies for scientific and research activities in various fields and types of water, and to activate its outputs in a field and applied form in the reality of the situation, in a way that enhances and preserves this resource.
2. Instructing the executive authorities to cooperate with the Iraqi university research and academic institutions, to benefit from the research and studies related to the water resource in terms of proper management and all ways of treating it, evaluating its pollution, and limiting its losses to ensure its sustainability. Made the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, their tributaries and their branches among the priorities of these works.
3. Forming an effective national committee for the indicators required for Iraqi water of all kinds, from specialists and supporters, to access the digital guide to Iraqi water with all its uses.
4. Considering the Shatt al-Arab issue as one of the basic and strategic matters in the development of Iraq's resources, and working on a proactive workshop from all relevant parties, to be attached to a national symposium or conference, or both, in sequence, and to benefit from that and for all directions.
5. The binding study with the concerned parties on the issue of the Bakhme Dam in northern Iraq, to provide additional raw water for the Iraqi reservoir and river system.
6. Giving the placement of charging groundwater on the one hand, and earth dams, on the other hand, is one of the priority responsibilities of the concerned and supporting authorities. Taking into consideration the Thirthar and Hauran depressions, the Habbaniyah lakes, Sawa, Al-Razzaza, and Najaf depressions, as well as the marshes of Iraq in general and its low lands. And the establishment of proactive workshops and then exclusive scientific symposia on these basic resources, who are in charge of them from the competent ministerial institutions and from local governments and universities.
7. Develop a field operational plan for the treatment and desalination plants of sewage and wastewater through the concerned government agencies, the executive and the chock, as well as the Iraqi university institution, and the adoption of the public estuary water and the marshes as the starting line for this work, which must include monitoring and environmental monitoring, taking into account all the precautionary conditions, and after activating all Infrastructure requirements for them, especially after the latter's annexation to the World Heritage areas, which will improve all the multiple, desirable and profitable benefits from them.

5. Sustainable neighborhood and urban planning

1. Given the importance of the “sustainable neighborhood project” in achieving community well-being and deepening cooperation between society and executive institutions in support of development and in meeting the conditions for its sustainability at the regional level, we recommend forming a “working team” of specialists to provide an in-depth and comprehensive study of the project that includes the views of all team members with their scientific specializations and the capabilities of their institutions concerned, academic and executive, to support and activate the project, and to benefit from previous experience in this regard.
2. Changing legislation, instructions, and controls that contradict and intersect with the concept of a sustainable neighborhood, in a way that affects and enhances the sustainability of urban and regional planning outputs, towards the perspective of clean cities (Clean Eco-City) according to a scientific program enhanced by architectural and civil engineering expertise and other disciplines, provided that this does not exceed municipal and urban planning.
3. The use of maintenance methods that depend on sensors concerning the infrastructure of the sustainable neighborhood and what is related to it, and then the establishment of sustainable vertical housing and the inventory of services in line with the trends of sustainable development.
4. Increasing green spaces within cities to be an enhanced aspect of protecting, improving, and sustaining the environment in general, and paving the way for the establishment of sustainable neighborhoods. This will contribute to the strength, safety, and welfare of the community system.

6. Research projects and graduate students

1. Adopting topics: sustainable development, alternative and renewable energies (solar, wind, water, biomass), groundwater, soil heat, clay minerals, thermal insulation, dual fuels, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), waste management, environmental pollution, water treatments management of natural resources (soil, water, air, natural vegetation, biodiversity, rocks, mining... etc.), and others in the projects of graduate students and research centers and scientific departments in the service of society.
2. Government moral and material support for researches working on the subject of the environment, its protection, and improvement, and the development of laboratories working in this direction with the introduction of modern field technical methods in field examination (examination kit), the adoption of modern laboratory equipment, and the establishment of service laboratories and central laboratories at the sectoral or local government level, or as comprehensive and more general.
3. Sustainable interaction between universities on the one hand, and between them and official institutions with different tasks on the other hand, for example, but not limited to: The Industrial Research and Development Authority, the Petroleum Research and Development Center, the Agricultural Research Authority, the central laboratories in the Ministry of Health, the research centers of the Ministry of Science and Technology. and other related institutions. And through this, it seeks to build pioneering systems and devise designs based on the engineering and technical expertise necessary for this, in a manner that serves the community as a whole and its diverse life activity.