Development of the Arctic — a new milestone in the development of national science and innovation

On the 3rd—6th of December 2014 the Scientific Conference “Development of the Arctic — a new milestone in the development of national science and innovation” was held in Salekhard (YaNAD). It was attended by over 100 leading scientists from Russia, whose research interests lie in the field of high latitudes studies. Among them: Deputy Director of the Institute of Oil and Gas Problems RAS, corr. of the RAS V.I. Epiphany; Chairman of the Presidium of the Tyumen Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician V.P. Melnikov; Director, Center for Economics of the North and the Arctic Council for Study of Productive Forces, Doctor of Geographical Sciences A.N. Pilyasov; Professor of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Economics, V.I. Smorchkova and etc. Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov was represented by Director of the Arctic Centre for Strategic Studies, K.S. Zaykov and the expert of the Center— V.P. Zhuravel.

The conference was devoted to the current problems of the managerial staff for the modern integrated development of the Arctic territories; risks of a crisis natural phenomena in areas with the industrial objects in the Arctic, including the emergence of so-called “Yamal funnel”; issues of food and environmental security, preservation of cultural and historical heritage of indigenous peoples; prospects of research cooperation between scientific and educational institutions of Russia in the Arctic on the basis of the Scientific Center for the Study of the Arctic in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District.

Director of the Center of the Economy of the North and the Arctic Council for Study of Productive Forces Alexander Pilyasov allocated the Autonomous Region as an increasingly important area for scientific debates, noting that Russia has not so much interdisciplinary areas , where highly qualified scientists could communicate. In recent years Yamal has become a place where experts meet regularly to discuss various complex problems of the Circumpolar region.

Director of the Earth Cryosphere Institute, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Drozdov said that in many sectors of the Russian science there was not possible to obtain new materials and information for research and on the Yamal Peninsula, they had found support and had been welcomed with their scientific ideas and offered a comprehensive assistance in exchanging the results of scientific research.

Picture 1.Conference meeting in Salekhard, December 2014

The conference emphasized the importance of training of highly qualified personnel able to be effective in organizational-administrative professional work in the regions of the North and the Arctic. So much was said about the need to define the food and environmental security in the Arctic as one of the priorities of research.

In addition, it was proposed to continue the work actively to identify, to study, to preserve and to promote the historical and cultural heritage of the indigenous people of Yamal. This would keep the traditional culture and management of indigenous peoples a factor of sustainable development of the Russian Arctic.

Staff of the Arctic Centre for Strategic Studies, NArFU named after M.V. Lomonosov got acquainted with the work of the Scientific Center for the Study of the Arctic and the Department of Science and Education of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, discussed the prospects of scientific and educational cooperation. During the meeting with the Director of the Scientific Center for the Study of Arctic Vladimir Pushkarev, Director of the Arctic Centre for Strategic Studies

Konstantin Zaykov got a special gift he carried back home and gave to the library of the NArFU named after M.V. Lomonosov — scientific literature on the study of demographic processes and the indigenous population of Western Siberia. Speaking at the conference, K.S. Zaykov proposed the establishment of a national Russian scientific and educational portal, which could be an effective platform for accumulation and coordination of research and educational activities in the Russian Arctic.

The Final Resolution of the Conference contains the proposals for the establishment of the Russian Center for Arctic exploration platform aimed at interaction between scientists from the Arctic regions of Russia and the Polar Regions, creating a network of partner organizations. It was suggested to continue working on the establishment of the scientific infrastructure, in particular, and to create a network of research stations, seismic stations and research polygons in Yamal. The establishment of Salekhard as a scientific center in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation was discussed as well. It was proposed to continue to work on identification, research, preservation and promotion of historical and cultural heritage of the indigenous people of Yamal. This will keep the traditional culture and management of indigenous peoples a factor of sustainable development of the Russian Arctic.

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