On October 10, KarSC RAS Director General Olga Bakhmet acted as a panelist at the 19th strategic dialogue session “Cooperation between Regions of Russia and the Republic of Belarus: Partnership and Resources for Sustainable Development”. The session discussed key issues of increasing the regions' contribution to the integrative sustainable development agenda of the Union State in creating a common economic space, scientific and technological base and social convergence.
Corresponding Academician Olga Bakhmet is a member of the InterAcademy Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Answering the question about moving towards closer scientific and practical cooperation between the two countries, she remarked that the main challenge for continuing cooperation is the lack of a concrete financial mechanism that scientific organizations could use to implement their joint initiatives.
– We believe that this should be a program with specific financial instruments that would support applied initiatives important for the implementation of the practical tasks of import substitution and ensuring the technological sovereignty of our countries, – stressed Olga Bakhmet.
She cited the Roadmap of Cooperation between organizations of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Karelian Research Center RAS 2023-2025 as an example. It was developed relying on the experience of participation in Russia-EU cross-border cooperation programs and Interreg: Baltic Sea Region program, where implementers were initially specified for each initiative. According to KarRC RAS Director General, further joint work cannot be effective to the most without a joint program for funding scientific research, primarily targeting applied tasks.
On October 11, Olga Bakhmet took part in the panel session “Green Investments, Public-Private Partnership for Sustainable Development of Cities and Regions”. Experts discussed topical issues of strategic planning for sustainable development and enhancing the resilience of cities and regions in the context of modern challenges. The main emphasis was placed on strengthening interactions between authorities, business and society for efficient fulfillment of environmental, social and governance goals (ESG agenda) at the municipal and regional levels. The experience of the Ruskeala Mining Park, which in 2022 received an international award in the field of sustainable development Green Mobility Award, was presented at the panel session by Anton Yushko, Chairman of the Commission for Eco-efficient Tourism of the Leningrad Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society, Leading Specialist of the Department for Multidisciplinary Research KarRC RAS. Olga Bakhmet, in turn, commented on the collaboration with the Mining Park on the development of the territory.
In particular, within this collaboration KarRC RAS and Ruskeala have managed to implement large international projects concerning underground spaces and marketing: “The Baltic Sea Underground Innovation Network” (BSUIN) and “Empowering Underground Laboratories network usage” (EUL). They involved geophysical studies, including safety issues, and the development of theoretical investment proposals. Water bodies and biodiversity of underground spaces in the Park were studied. In 2021, scientists from KarRC RAS planted a Curly Birch Alley in the Ruskeala Mining Park.
In addition to the above sessions, Olga Bakhmet took part in a working meeting on the practical aspects of developing cooperation between Russia and Belarus, as well as in discussions on Russia's cooperation with China and African countries.
