All Russian residents can take a survey on the country’s environmental situation

Photo by: Vladimir Zapletin / iStock 

The Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) together with the ECA movement has launched a nationwide Ecological Survey. The aim of this survey is to understand the current needs of residents to improve the environmental situation, identify the most acute local environmental problems and select appropriate solutions in each particular region.

“Even in the new times, the state of the environment remains one of the key factors in the quality of life of each of us. That is why we consider it important to learn the opinion of regional residents on how they assess the environmental situation in their locality, what environmental problems they consider the most acute and what tools they would suggest to solve this or that problem. The analytics obtained will enable us, together with the regional teams, to form practical solutions and projects in response to the problems identified,” explained Maxim Yevdokimov, Director of the ASI Environment Division.

But the task is not only to identify difficult environmental situations, but also to involve people in practical actions to reduce their ecological footprint and conserve nature, said Tatiana Chestina, Chairman of the Board of the ECA movement.

“In order to plan and implement systematic projects and effective work in which people will want to participate, it is important to ask them what environmental problems they really care about, what they are already doing for a good environment, what they are willing to do. After all, it is impossible to solve any serious environmental problem without taking into account people’s opinions and participation. The survey is one of the tools that will help to do this,” said Tatiana Chestina.

Everyone can take the poll online until 20 December 2022. A total of 14 questions will need to be answered, which will take no more than seven minutes. The results of the survey with the most urgent problems that require prompt solutions will be transmitted to the relevant regional authorities.

According to a survey conducted last year by VCIOM, the environmental situation in Russia and around the world received mostly average scores from respondents. The situation in Russia was given a score of three out of five by 44% of respondents, with 23% giving a good assessment and 26% giving a bad one.

Russians told us what the main obstacles are to improving the environmental situation in the country: the low level of environmental responsibility of people themselves (47%), the lack of interest of the authorities in improving the environmental situation, the absence of a comprehensive state policy in the sphere of ecology (34%), the lack of control over the environment and compliance with environmental standards (27%), and the low level of environmental responsibility of companies and their lack of development in general, including obsolete equipment (26% each).

Yet another VCIOM poll showed that more than half of Russians (58%) declare that they or their family members have done something about environmental issues in the last year, while 38% do not.

Cover photo: Maksim Safaniuk / iStock