On September 18-20, Petrozavodsk will host the second international conference “Regional cooperation within BRICS”. This is the first and so far the only regional platform in the country dedicated to the development of scientific and practical cooperation between the BRICS countries. The key topics for discussion this year will be modern problems of ecology and nature management.

– Ecology and nature management are among the key research areas for the Karelian Research Centre RAS. The conference is an opportunity for us to find potential partners and to present our own rich experience and scientific and technical developments in this sphere, – remarked KarRC RAS Acting Director General, RAS Corr. Academician Olga Bakhmet.

The first conference dedicated to BRICS regional cooperation was held at KarRC RAS in 2023. Besides the new topics, this year's forum has changed its scope: in addition to the main sessions, there will be side events for representatives of social and political sciences and non-governmental organizations, as well as a separate session for young scientists. In addition, the geography of participants has grown significantly due to the expansion of the interstate alliance: on January 1, 2024, Egypt, Iran, UAE, and Ethiopia joined BRICS.

The forum will gather about 200 participants from Russia and abroad. In particular, experts from Belarus, India, China and Ethiopia will attend the events in person, and scientists from Brazil, South Africa and Egypt are expected to confirm their participation. Russia will be represented at the conference by participants from more than 25 regions, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Volgograd Regions, Republic of Buryatia and other federation subjects.

The topics to be discussed at the sessions include global and regional climate change, carbon balance monitoring; study of water bodies and terrestrial ecosystems under global warming and human impact; topical issues of PA designation and nature protection; development of industrial ecology and green economy, as well as opportunities for cooperation and networking.

The conference is organized by the Karelian Research Centre RAS in collaboration with the Russian National Committee on BRICS Research under an active cooperation agreement, and supported by the RITM Carbon Consortium within the State-significance Key Innovative Project of National Importance “Unified National System for Monitoring Climate Active Substances”

Photo by Igor Georgievski