Events

The international seminar "Strategies and Best Practices for Sustainable/Green Development of Cities and Regions" that took place in Petrozavodsk on June 13 - 15 gathered more than 50 specialists, united by the idea of elaborating and implementing strategies for sustainable development of cities and regions. Scientists and research students, representatives of authorities of different levels, business and international organizations got familiarized with the best Russian and foreign "green" development practices designed and implemented within international programs and projects.

The seminar also officially launched the international project "Eco-efficient tourism": the morning session of June 13th was given to the working kick-off meeting, where plans for the project implementation were discussed. The project is implemented in the framework of Karelia ENPI CBC Programme. The overall objective of the project is making Euregio Karelia more attractive for tourists through gradual leveling of the quality of services provided to tourists on the two sides of the border, and promoting introduction of eco-efficient technologies of recreational area management in active tourism destinations in Republic of Karelia (Lake Ladoga and Syamozero areas) in co-operation with adjacent Finnish areas. The project will contribute to making pilot areas more comfortable, safe and environmentally friendly, as well as widely known for these qualities. It will also promote cross-border tourism and regional development co-operation. The consortium headed by non-profit partnership "Centre for Problems of the North, Arctic and Cross-border Cooperation" includes the following partners.
Russian partners:
• Karelian Research Centre
• Karelian Energy Efficiency Center
• Petrozavodsk Municipal Utilities College
• Pryazhinsky National Municipal District Administration and Sortavalsky Municipal District Administration
Finnish partners:
• Ecofoster Group Oy,
• Finnish Environment Institute, Joensuu Division
• North Karelia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and Environment
• Metsähallitus, Natural Heritage Services, South Finland/North Karelia
• Ilomantsi Municipality
• Karelia Expert (Associate partner)

Furthermore, the seminar was held in the framework of another international project "Nordic-Russian Green Growth Arena" (the opening conference was held on April 17-20 in Malmö, Sweden) implemented under the aegis of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The main goal of the project is to introduce green growth and sustainable development principles in the economies of regions of North-West Russia relying on experience from North European countries.

The seminar served as a unique model of efficient network cooperation of authorities, scientific, international and educational institutions. It helped establish a solid platform for implementation of joint decisions and development of partnership links.

The seminar was organized by Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Information Office of the Nordic Council of Ministers in St. Petersburg, International Centre for Social and Economic Research "Leontief Centre", and non-profit partnership “Centre for Problems of the North, Arctic and Cross-border Cooperation” (North-Centre).

List of participants

Presentations

Photo-gallery