The CEO at the Lake Baikal Foundation Anastasia Tsvetkova took part in the first Baikal International Environmental Forum, which was held in Irkutsk from September 14 to 15, 2017.
On the first day of the Forum Anastasia Tsvetkova appeared as a member of the jury in the business game «Baikal towards the World Water Forum». The business game fully reproduced the meeting of the World Water Forum, but the issues of the discussions were related to the Baikal region. During the business game, young participants of the Forum, including members of the youth government of the Irkutsk region, representatives of universities and public organizations, proposed new solutions for environmental problems. The teams focused on finding practical ways; in particular, they presented the project of construction of pilot treatment facilities on Olkhon, developed eco-lessons for the local population, proposed formats for public-private partnerships for the protection of Lake Baikal.
On the second day of the Forum, the CEO at the Lake Baikal Foundation participated in a discussion session devoted to tourism in the face of environmental constraints. Anastasia Tsvetkova turned to the topic of the scientific tourism development in Lake Baikal and presented a model for the organization of routes that the Foundation plans to conduct jointly with research institutes and PAs. The model is based on the involvement of tourists groups in real expedition projects of scientists. This type of tourism creates a minimal environmental burden, allows popularizing science, and also contributes to the financing of meaningful research initiatives.
In total, six thematic sections were held within the framework of the Forum devoted to the issues of state regulation and international experience in the issues of preserving aquatic ecosystems, forming an ecological culture of the population, innovative technologies for water treatment and development of ecotourism. In addition to the discussion sessions, the Forum became a platform for signing a number of agreements: the Memorandum on the establishment of the Lake Districts Association on Environmental Safety, Innovation Technologies, Science, Art and Education; the Memorandum on cooperation between the non-governmental environmental V.I. Vernadsky Foundation and the Government of the Irkutsk Region for the purpose of carrying out joint environmental, educational and scientific activities; as well as the Water Standard agreement between the Federal State Educational Establishment «Limnological Institute of the SB RAS», the Federal Budget Institution «The State Regional Center for Standardization, Metrology and Testing in Irkutsk region» and the Association of Baikal Water Producers.
The event was organized by the Irkutsk Region Government, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Irkutsk Region supported by the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and brought together about 800 participants from Russia and 23 countries of the world – Mongolia, Poland, Korea, France, India, UK, Turkey, Kenya, Switzerland , Finland, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Sweden, USA, Austria, Italy, Papua New Guinea, Nigeria, Kenya, Latvia, China, Israel.