On September 3rd CEO of The Lake Baikal Foundation, Anastasia Tsvetkova, gave a lecture as a part of a learning module for the All-Russian competition on the creation of tourist and recreational clusters for the development of ecotourism. The presentation was dedicated to waste management in specially protected national areas. The competition is organized by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI).
The competition is aimed at developing of effective mechanism to discover and support territories, that have the potential for ecotourism. At the end of the competition, 10 pilot territories will be chosen to develop ecotourism through the creation of tourist and recreational clusters within the framework of the integrated development of specially protected natural territories.
Besides the competitive mechanism, the project also implies a huge learning module – an acceleration programme. It includes a number of trainings and consultancy sessions with experts. Its target is advancing professional competencies among the participants to help them in creating a competitive product, business expansion and fundraising process.
Anastasia Tsvetkova participated in these trainings as an expert in the module ‘Models of waste management in the special natural area’. CEO of the Foundation shared her professional experience in an online lecture with a relevant topic. Anastasia shed light on the current regulations in the waste management sphere in the Russian Federation. Moreover, she dived into particular cases of effective environmental enlightenment to minimize ecological footprint in specially protected national areas abroad. Finally, Anastasia gave examples of successful projects in Russia, more in detail focusing on the project by Lake Baikal Foundation about separate waste collection in the Zaybaybalsky National Park. She paid particular attention to the Guidelines for waste handling in specially protected national areas initiated by ASI. These guidelines help those who want to explore methodological recommendations about the implementation of separate waste collection, principles of interaction with visitors and to find useful contacts in this sphere.
Acceleration programme takes place in support of relevant executive authorities, interested in the development of ecotourism, learning platforms and NGOs, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, the Federal Agency for Tourism, the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and others.