A very unusual event took place the other day in Dana Mall, Belarus' largest shopping and entertainment center. The central atrium with the Christmas tree hosted an hour-long public discussion on an important and burning topic – the impact of the climate change on our planet. Everyone could take part in the conversation with scholars of the Sakharov International State Environmental Institute at Belarusian State University.
Dana Mall is particularly crowded in the run-up to the New Year holidays. Children are attracted by, perhaps, the city's most beautiful Christmas tree and a lot of entertainment, and adults by the opportunity to do Christmas shopping. You need to try hard to find a vacant spot in the outdoor parking lot at the shopping mall!
“Every year we think of new ways how to make our youngest shoppers happy during the Christmas time. Adults are not bored either. We have brought the most famous brands to Minsk to satisfy the needs of increasingly demanding Belarusian customers. We are happy to see more and more foreigners in our shopping center - Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, customers, from other countries. Dana Mall's monthly traffic is over 1.5 million visitors. Minsk residents no longer need to go abroad for shopping! We do everything to make people happy, to deliver the best New Year customer experience, no different from Paris's Galeries Lafayette or London's Harrods. In Minsk, Christmas sales are arranged with the same professionalism!” said Vibor Mulic, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dana Holdings.
This year New Year's festivities and events in the Dana Mall shopping mall are dedicated to the topic of global warming - the most pressing environmental problem on the planet. Even the design of the mall is centered around this theme, which attracts everyone's attention.
Dana Holdings decided to contribute to raising awareness of climate change, first of all, among children. In fact, these are children whowill face the consequences of the ongoing processes when they will grow up. The responsible attitude to environment should be cultivated from a very young age. Children should be fully aware of the dangers of uncontrollable exploitation of natural resources.
The company launched the Polar Station educational project for children. Every day young shoppers are invited to the Palchiki children's art ground on the third floor of the mall to learn more about global warning and the things everyone of us can do to mitigate its aftermath.
Experienced teachers also offer lessons in various types of art, including modeling, painting, drawing and handicrafts. The Polar Station will stay open till 8 January. This is a great opportunity to get your child involved in a relevant and important matter and spend time in an interesting and useful way.
It should be noted that children can easily sense the lie. It is not easy to persuade them that deforestation and emission of harmful substances can be justified by economic needs. This is why environmental conservation strikes a chord in children's heart. Children have sent thousands of letters with their suggestions how to save the planet from global warming to the Father Frost in Belovezhskaya Pushcha through the New Year mail service that was open in the shopping mall till mid-December.
The country's chief Father Frost has read all these messages and came to Minsk, to Dana Mall, to take part in a grand show, thank children for their involvement and wish them Happy New Year.
However, adults should also get involved in the climate change discussion! Melting glaciers and rising sea levels are universal issues and these issues should bother not only the Netherlands or Iceland. This is why the Dana Mall shopping and entertainment center hosted the first public discussion about climate change.
Vladimir Kopitsya, Candidate of Science (Biology), gave a very easy-to-understand explanation of why this matter is important for Belarus: “The contrast of climate is changing in Belarus. The summer season is becoming dryer. For instance, June has been very dry for several years in a row. We incur huge economic losses because entire areas dry up. They have light-textured soils and limited water intake, which primarily depends on precipitation.
Standard winter temperatures are changing as well.
“Before mid-January we have either borderline temperatures or temperatures slightly above zero followed by a cold snap after that. Meanwhile, the life cycle of our crops relies on the fact that they fall asleep in autumn. If the beginning of winter is warm, many plants, for instance, cherry trees or plum trees, wake up and fall an easy prey to winter frost,” Vladimir Kopitsya explained. “Once again the situation results in economic losses and great risks to fruit farming. The situation is the same in arable farming: winter crops suffer and yet it makes no business sense to switch agriculture to spring crops only.”
The same problem affects forest husbandry and fish farming. This is why, the scientist believes, Belarus cannot stay away from efforts to resolve the problem of climate change.
Irina Rovenskaya, Candidate of Science (Biology), also took part in the public discussion. She described this form of interaction with the public as very useful.
She believes: “Many of us are unaware of these facts. People live their own lives and have their own problems to deal with. They don't even understand what they can do for the good of all. However even small things that you can do will help the planet. They could be very significant for the country and the entire world on a global scale.”
According to another participant of the discussion, Candidate of Science (Agriculture) Victoria Misyuchenko, the conversation happened to wander into rather unexpected matters for the general public.
“The conversation touched upon not only long-standing problems like separate waste collection or the development of electric transport but plant diseases and plant cutting in urban areas, the functioning and the role of green areas in housing construction. The city is promoting waste sorting practices. Many, however, do not understand the importance of this work. To some extent, people were even surprised by such questions. I believe that the conversation was very useful for everyone, especially for children, both school and university students, who were present in large numbers at Dana Mall today. This environmental event was very educational,” Victoria Misyuchenko said.
Dana Holdings is committed to raising awareness of environmental issues. It is not a one-time event, but a long-standing policy, Vibor Mulic said.
“We build urban homes of the future. We believe that living space should be as friendly and comfortable for people as possible, including from the environmental point of view. The Minsk World multi-purpose compound envisages green zones in every block. A large urban park will occupy the central part of the compound. It will be laid and equipped by the end of the construction project. In the near future, a large-scale landscaping project will be implemented in the Minsk Lighthouse compound. More than 250 trees will be planted. Full-cycle separate waste collection has also been launched here, which is international practice,” said Vibor Mulic.
People all over the world are concerned about environmental issues. As an international company that runs a socially responsible business, Dana Holdings believes it is necessary to support efforts to protect the environment.
“It is important to educate children and young people to be responsible and take care of nature. We have chosen public debate on climate change as one of such efforts. Anyone can become part of it,” says Vibor Mulic.
Eco-meetings with specialists and scholars at Dana Mall will continue. At least four debates are scheduled for December and January. You are welcome to come, listen, ask questions, and speak out. The health of the Earth deserves our most serious attitude!
Dana Mall address: Vostok metro station, 11 Mstislavtsa Street, Minsk.
Working hours: 10.00-23.00 all days
Info line: +375 29 201 02 19
For more information about the acquisition of housing and commercial property in Minsk's modern compounds, please contact the Dana Holdings sales department: 9 Mstislavtsa Street (Dana Center, 1st floor).
Phones: 7675,
+375 17 269 32 90
+375 17 393 94 65
