Liobov Sulayandziga discusses the issues between indigenous people of the Russian Arctic and extractive industries. She looks at the authentic communities in four Arctic regions: Komi Republic, Sakhalin, Sakha Republic and Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area She concludes that indigenous opinions are often ignored in areas where resource extraction is prioritized. The communities receive significant opposition from…
Category: environment
Idols and rabbits in the Urals – designing Arctic ecotourism
Researchers from Ural State University of Architecture and Art proposed an innovative approach for developing tourism in Russian Arctic destinations where holidaymakers commonly avoid travelling. Tough climate, remoteness and non-existing hospitality services make it a challenge to tempt any tourist. Attracted by wilderness, endangered fauna, melting icebergs and glaciers, vanishing indigenous cultures, endangered mega-fauna has…
Nothing goes to waste: sustainable practices of re-use among indigenous groups in the Russian North
Do the main inventions in current environmental sustainability practices always come from the metropolitan research centres? Could they also be of ‘non-Western’ origin? To answer and challenge these questions, Siragusa and Arzyutov explored waste practices among two indigenous communities in the Russian North – Nenets and Veps as part of ethnographic fieldwork since 2009. They highlight…
Human fatprints in the Arctic snow
Anthropogenic pollution of the Arctic atmosphere is of great interest due to the vulnerability of the Arctic ecosystems, as well as the processes of global transport and industries under cold climate conditions. Researchers from Lomonosov State University (Moscow) and Lomonosov Northern (Arctic) Federal University brought the first results on snow pollution in the least explored…
Distilling hard and soft water strategies in climate adaption policies
Despite Russia’s rich freshwater resources, it faces significant water problems, which arise from the country’s adaptation policy with low priority to climate action and less advanced risk management. Safonov from NRU HSE, Moscow outlines the key characteristic of water-related problems in the world’s biggest country. Firstly, Russia is one of the world’s leaders in its…
Shades of green or black for Russia’s energy prospecting?
In recent years, the Russian state and businesses have been supportive for the national renewable energy development, however, the future of the industry is not yet clear as indicated in Proskuryakova and Ermolenko’s paper. The goal was to foresee the future for the renewable energy sector in Russia, and to provide a scientific ground for…
Linking science and action – how to resolve water challenges in Central Asia
With its mixed continental climate, Central Asia faces unstable periods of draughts and rains. This has led to serious water shortages across the regions (Fig. 1) followed by escalating water-based conflicts between countries, increased hunger and threatened economics. However, despite the scientific progress and the continuous international effort, Central Asian water management institutes still rely on…
To see or not to see – climate change and climate skepticism in Russian and US science
Modern science is global, and we expect the standards of scientific research to be same around the world. Yet, twenty environmental scientists from different nations have dissimilar views. Dronin and Bychkova studied what these Russian and American scientists see as key environmental issues. After a series of interviews with prominent researchers, they found that the…
Are Russians eco-conscious?
Kurbanov and Prokhoda recently studied the level of climate change awareness among Russians. They analysed the relationship between ecological knowledge and attitudes towards environment with an ‘ecological behaviour model’. The model considers ecological knowledge as a basis for environmental friendly behaviour and active engagement in public action towards climate change. They explore the links between the awareness…
