Location: Petrozavodsk - Petrozavodsk
Category: NRF Calendar

Harmony of the North: Man and Nature - Youth View

November 25-26, 2010, Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia

Conference objective and themes:

The main scientific problem the conference shall focus on is finding solutions for sustainable development of Northern regions, and making them more attractive for the youth to live in. Such solutions should be based on the interdisciplinary approach and efficient utilization of human creative potential.
The conference shall reveal the demand for professional self-actualization among creative youth and for stimulation of young scientists' involvement in basic and ap-plied research, as well as encourage formation of international and interregional youth research groups and teams. The conference also aims to promote awareness of scientific findings and initiatives among the youth, to raise the appeal of science and creative industries to the youth as the basis for generation of an attractive living environment in the North.

Provisional results of the conference:

The main outputs of the conference shall be the proposals and developments by young scientists, youth NGOs and creative groups concerned with making Northern regions more attractive as a living and self-actualization environment, and with efficient utilization of the intellectual, natural resource and cultural potential of the North. An important practical result would be international and interregional scientific networks of young researchers from scientific, educational and civil organizations, as well as the possibility to make arrangements for joint research projects.
The conference shall be organized as a discussion forum where solutions can be worked out by combining theoretical and practical aspects of socio-economic, cultural and environmental problems. The conference shall produce a resolution and a letter to state authorities representing the young scientists' view on the problem of harmony between Man and Nature in the North, and proposals on making the North a territory where the youth would want to live and self-actualize.

Proceedings of the Conference will be published.

The sessions are going to be arranged according to the following topics and issues:

Northern Economy: Structural Change and New Opportunities

• Distinctive features of economic development, and competitive capacity of northern regions and remote cities;
• Postindustrial transformation and modernization of the economy of the North;
• New opportunities for Northern countries and regions in the knowledge economy;
• Local communities, and intellectual potential of Northern regions;
• Settlement system, and new forms of spatial organization in the North;

Environment and Sustainable Nature Use in the North

• "Green Belt of Fennoscandia" – a modern model for sustainable development of northern natural complexes, and establishment of the integrated social-environmental-economic space that would best conserve northern nature and facilitate comprehensive development of border areas with regard to their historical, ethnocultural and economic peculiarities;
• Regulation of interconnections between economic development and nature conservation as a key factor for optimization of nature use;
• Rroblems of utilization, management and restoration of natural resources in the North;
• Northern water objects – unique characteristics, and conservation with view to environment friendliness and human environmental safety;
• Working out of environmentally justified regional development strategies and concepts for development of the urban infrastructure and recreational areas;
• Modern architecture, design, landscape planning in northern settings.

Cultural and Natural Heritage in the North

• Raising the living standard in the North and making it more attractive for settle-ment through harmonious development of people in their native cultural and natural surroundings;
• Studies of the cultural, historical and natural heritage of border areas in the North with view to involving them in the economy;
• Ethnic communities of the North, and their cultural potential;
• Promotion of the creative potential of the youth and adults to facilitate their self-actualization in the North.

Human Health in the North

• Problems of maintaining the health of people living in the North in relation to exposure to extreme climatic, geophysical and anthropoecological conditions in high latitudes;
• Development prospects of circumpolar medicine, application of its expertise in dealing with life extension issues, prevention and treatment of human diseases, maintenance of psychological health;
• Possibilities to influence demographic processes in northern regions;
• Harmonious development of the man amidst the northern nature;
• Environmental education and awareness-building, shaping environmental culture in people, finding ways for the society to support sustainable development and environmental safety ideas.

 

The Conference Organizing Committee would welcome your proposals on potential formats and topics of the conference.

Working languages: Russian and English.

Further information and application form

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