The International Youth School and Conference “Seas, Lakes and Transboundary Catchments of Russia, Finland and Estonia” took place in Petrozavodsk on November 11-13, 2014.Organizers:
Chairs of the Organizing Committee – D.A. Subetto, DSc[, Director of NWPI KarRC RAS, and N.N. Filatov, RAS Corr. Academician, Head of Geography and Geology Laboratory, NWPI KarRC RAS, Professor at Petrozavodsk State University./i]
The conference was supported by the Russian Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations (FANO).
The challenge of harmonizing approaches towards the study, assessment, joint use and conservation of transboundary waters and their catchments in Russia and EU states (Finland, Estonia) is of high relevance. Lakes Ladoga, Onego, Pskov-Chudskoe (Peipus) and other lakes at the border in the Baltic and White Sea catchments play an essential role in the economies of the countries. It is important to work out joint approaches towards cross-calibration of the techniques for assessing the quality of surface- and groundwater, monitoring and forecasting methods, conservation of transboundary aquatic and terrestrial systems in conformance with Russian law (Water Code) and EU Water Framework Directive (FWD).
The International School and Conference “Seas, Lakes and Transboundary Catchments of Russia, Finland and Estonia” devoted to the issues stated above took place in Petrozavodsk on November 11-13, 2014, gathering representatives from scientific and educational institutions of the Republic of Karelia, such as NWPI KarRC RAS and Research and Education Centre of NWPI KarRC RAS “Waters of Karelia and Methods for Their Study”, Institute of Geology KarRC RAS, Petrozavodsk State University (PetrSU), as well as leading scientific and educational organizations of Russia: Moscow State University, Russian State Hydrometeorological University, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, RAS Water Problems Institute, RAS Limnology Institute, RAS Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, together with colleagues from neighbouring European countries representing the University of Helsinki, Finland and the University of Tartu, Estonia.
The International School and Conference “Seas, Lakes and Transboundary Catchments of Russia, Finland and Estonia” is a continuation of long-lasting activities implemented at NWPI KarRC RAS in 2007-2013.
In 2014 the event was organized with support from the Russian Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations (FANO) and a project under PetrSU Strategic Development Programme, as well as in the framework of the Russian Science Foundation projects “Lakes of Russia – diagnosing and predicting ecosystem condition under climatic and human impacts” and “Lake Onego and its catchment: geological development history, human interventions and present-day state”.
The objective of the School and Conference is to prepare talented youth for a career in science and education through close collaboration with domestic and foreign higher education and scientific institutions.
Around 100 people took part in the event, including 70 graduate and post-graduate students, early career scientists, lecturers, professors and research associates.
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International participation took the form of both personal attendance by colleagues from Estonia, and a Skype-powered virtual presentation by professor from the University of Helsinki.
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The programme included two large theoretical sections : day I – PRESENT-DAY PROBLEMS IN LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOLOGY and day II – PALAEOLIMNOLOGY, PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY, HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, with 7-8 keynote lectures and 7-8 presentations by PhD students and young scientists in each.
There were 2 sessions of the ‘Science club’ format featuring free discussions around specific themes: session 1 “Young scientists – challenges and prospects” (defending graduation papers and PhD theses, preparation of publications) and session 2 “Friendship between science and higher education” (practical training sessions and preparation of textbooks and learning aids).
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The programme was completed with a day of SCIENTIFIC EXCURSIONS of choice:
All the excursions produced a valuable educational effect and had career guidance implications for PetrSU graduates.
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NWPI KarRC RAS acknowledges the contribution of the Petrozavodsk Communal Systems company, Karelian Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Centre (branch of the Northwestern Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Administration) and the Institute of Applied Mathematical Research KarRC RAS who helped the School and Conference by organizing the excursions.
Proceedings of the School and Conference “Seas, Lakes and Transboundary Catchments of Russia, Finland and Estonia” will be published as “Lectures by researchers, educators and young scientists for higher educational institutions”, which will be of use for university education, pre-application guidance for high school students, as well as for general learning.
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