The activities of the inaugural session of the Climate Change Conference "Green Universities' Agenda for Cop 27", organized by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Environmental Research at Ain Shams University Online, took place from 21 to 23 September 2022, within the framework of activating the vital role of universities to address society's problems, foremost of which is the problem of climate change. , under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Meteini, President of Ain Shams University, and Prof. Dr. Ayman Saleh, Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research, Prof. Dr. Ghada Farouk, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development, Prof. Dr. Noha Samir Donia, Dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Environmental Research and President of the Conference, and under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Reham Refaat Muhammad, Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, Prof. Dr. Alaa Sarhan, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development, and Dr. Huda Helal, director of the Green Transformation Unit at the college, and conference rapporteur.
Prof. Dr. Noha Samir Donia, in her speech during the opening session of the conference, said that many experts and specialists in the environmental field are participating in events to limit climate change, explaining that Ain Shams University has started environmental work 40 years ago.
It is the academic arm of the state, which provides support for sustainable development plans through three ways: providing education, raising awareness, supporting and developing research on the environmental issue, noting that Ain Shams University ranked eighth at the level of green universities.
She added that the university has taken care of the environmental changes file under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Meteini, President of the University, and his full support for the environment file, expressed her optimism for Egypt's reception of the Cop 27 conference in Sharm El Sheikh this year and its representation of the African continent.
Prof. Dr. Reham Refaat, Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and Research Affairs, defined the concept of green universities and the transition to green is based on green courses, and that the conference will take care of this concept through 6 sessions and 4 workshops.
During his speech, Prof. Dr. Alaa Sarhan, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development, said that today’s conference is being held at a different time, as Egypt will receive the Cop27 Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh next November with changes and the provision of infrastructure to meet these changes.
He stressed the importance of the issue of providing funding to take care of this issue in third world countries, as well as working with the international community to raise the quality of life in these countries and enhance their ability to adapt to the effects and repercussions more.
It is noteworthy that the activities of the first day include three sessions, the first session chaired by Dr. Noha Donia and lectured by Prof. Dr. Alaa Sarhan, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development, is entitled "Biodiversity and the carbon footprint of activities and facilities", while the second session is entitled "Environmental Education, Environmental Media and Climate Changes", and the third session presents techniques and technologies to mitigate and adapt to climate changes.
The conference activities aim to identify the social and psychological effects of climate changes and increase knowledge of the issues of these changes through formal and informal education institutions, in addition to devising new means and methods to mitigate and adapt to climate changes and analyze the relationship between the spread of some diseases and climate change.