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News, June 2012

The latest results of the Responsible Management of Water Resources for Sustainable Development Program were presented at the II International Conference “Water - Invaluable Legacy”

Plenary meeting of the II International Conference “Water - Invaluable Legacy”, 14.06.12

S.Simak, provost of Samara State Oblast Academy and E. Bondarchuk, FSD projects manager

On June 14, 2012, in St.Petersburg, Elena Bondarchuk, manager of the Responsible Management of Water Resources for Sustainable Development Program carried out by the Fund for Sustainable Development and the Alcoa Foundation, presented its results at the II International Conference “Water – Invaluable Legacy”.

The conference was attended by over 150 representatives of federal and regional state and legislative authorities, environmental organizations from St. Petersburg and Leningradskaya Oblast, the Environmental Council at the Governor of Leningradskaya Oblast, local government, communal services coordination and development services, NGOs, scientific institutes, universities and organizations – water users from St. Petersburg, Leningradskaya Oblast, Moscow, Moscow Oblast, Baltiisk, Volkhov, Pskov, Kirovsk, etc.

One of the goals of the conference was to identify social technologies aimed at increasing the level of civic responsibility for the use of water resources; and the coordination of the joint efforts of the public, government and business to protect water bodies. In this respect, the presentation about the Program was quite timely and informative and has contributed to achieving the goals of the conference.

Workshop 3 titled “Common water resources – common opportunities. Water strategy as viewed by civil society”

was devoted to the results and progress of a  partnership program that is being fulfilled in Samara Oblast and Moscow jointly by FSD and the Institute of Water Problems at the Russian Academy of Sciences, instructors and students of the State Governance Department at Moscow State University, the Training Center for Ecology and Safety and instructors and students of the Industrial Ecology Department at Samara State Technological University.

The key strategy of the Program is the establishment of partnerships with public and academic organizations to ensure broader communication and an improvement of mechanisms of the responsible water resources management system. The versatility of activities aimed at addressing issues is the second feature of this initiative that has determined the following priority areas of the Program:

1. research in the field of optimizing water resources management on a federal, regional and local level;
2. student research of oily waste phyto cleaning;
3. modernization of courses for students and training for industrial ecologists and decision-makers;
4. increasing public awareness about socially responsible water management in Russia, including sociological surveys and the active use of information and communications technologies;
5. conservation activities with the participation of Alcoa-SMZ volunteers at nature monuments in Samara Oblast.