Altai Ecological Forum “Thread of Nature”

The importance of environmental policy in the strategy of sustainable development of the Altai Republic and Russian regions. How to make environmental protection the locomotive of regional development? How has the ESG agenda changed in Russia? How to use the international experience of environmental policy in Russian realities? What are the environmental policy management practices in the regions?

The main issues of the session are related to how the environmental policy should be built in the regions — environmental leaders.

Mountain Altai is the only subject of the Russian Federation, in the Strategy of socio-economic development of which there is a Mission of noospheric development. What is the noospheric development of Altai, how is its spatial model seen? How can the pilot model of the noospheric development of the region be scaled to the country and the world as a whole? What priorities of noospheric development will be chosen?

This session will focus on the opportunities for sustainable development in the Altai — on the problems of development, on alternative energy technologies, on those initiatives that are already being implemented in the Republic and will continue to be implemented.

The relationship between natural and social and the cyclic nature of the interactions of these layers of human existence has become a commonplace of ecological philosophy. Ecological thinking is permeated with several cross-cutting plots. Taking care of the environment is taking care of yourself, and it is impossible to take care of yourself prudently and long-term without thinking greenly — after all, we are how we live.

Thinking green means respecting the home we live in and thinking about the consequences of our actions, taking responsibility for them.

Thinking green means thinking strategically, thinking about long-term consequences and systemic effects, dosing intervention, but not giving up efforts.

A discussion about the foundations of life on the territory of Altai, about the ecosystem and what different specialists understand by this term — geologists, geographers, climate change experts, biologists, social psychologists, economists and educators.

The word “ecology” has the same root as the word “economy”. Their common root — the ancient Greek word Oikos — closely corresponds in meaning to the Russian word “house”: it is both the closest living space (the place where we live, “our place”), and the family (since it is also our living space), and the point of origin is a place with which we are inextricably linked and which we are able to leave in a spatial sense, but not capable in a genetic sense.

What should a person visiting Altai expect, find and learn? How should he return from Altai? How can the energy and spirituality of Altai be effectively used for understanding (“Ecology of thinking”) and purification (“Purity of thoughts”) of a person? What “Threads of Nature” will connect a person and the untouched world around him (the Altai Republic belongs to 3% of the world’s undisturbed territories suitable for life), how will he behave further? From what elements to create and by what methods to promote the chain of Altai values? What ecosystem of interaction with a tourist / traveler needs to be created?

The pristine nature of the Republic of Altai, the attractiveness of landscapes, the abundance of interesting natural objects for learning, as well as the originality of flora and fauna allow us to admit that Altai is one of the few large regions of the planet that are most promising for promoting health tourism. It is necessary to create conditions for the development of ecotourism, to develop and scale the agenda of bringing together communities of like-minded people who share the values of a healthy lifestyle, love for nature and spiritual enrichment. Will the promotion of ecotourism be able to form a health-saving agenda in Russia and increase the attractiveness of a healthy lifestyle?

State support measures for the industry through the Federal Tourism Agency and the individual development program of the Altai Republic contributed to the growth of tourist flow over the past two years by more than 40%. Mountain Altai in 2021 entered the top three most popular destinations among Russian tourists, more than 2.2 million people came to get acquainted with these unique territories. The lack of quality infrastructure in popular tourist places, the increase in the flow of tourists lead to an increase in anthropogenic pressure, so right now it is very important to take care of preserving the fragile ecosystem of the Altai Mountains. Agree on the rules. To convey to the guests the values, traditions and features of these lands. What needs to be done to do this will be discussed in this session.