On November 23, a meeting of the Academic Council of the Russian Geographical Society was held at the Moscow Headquarters of the Russian Geographical Society. The main goal of the working meeting, which took place in the in-person and remote format, was to discuss the received applications for grants of the Russian Geographical Society. Each of the standing commissions of the Society presented its projects. The meeting ended with a bright event – the Honorary Member of the Geographical Society of China awarded a certificate to the Honorary President of the Russian Geographical Society, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Kotlyakov.
Standing Environmental Commission
The report from the Standing Environmental Commission of the Russian Geographical Society, which received 13 applications for the implementation of projects within the framework of the grant competition, was made by the Vice-President of the Russian Geographical Society, Scientific Director of the Institute of Steppe of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Alexander Chibilev. As a result of expert analysis, the commission formed a list of three leaders.
The first place was taken by the project "Cross-border cooperation for the conservation of the snow leopard and its ecosystems in the Sailughem Mountains. Monitoring of the largest snow leopard habitat in Russia in the Altai Republic". The second, "Kuzhanovskie larches: Project to save a unique natural monument of the Urals." The third, "Protected landscapes of the North-Western Altai: From transformation to conservation". As a result of the discussion, the members of the Academic Council of the RGS decided to recommend these projects for approval by the Expert Commission of the Society.
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Commission on Territorial Organization and Planning
Professor Vladimir Razumovsky, Head of the Regional Economics and Environmental Management Research Department of St. Petersburg State University of Economics, delivered a report from the Commission on Territorial Organization and Planning of the Russian Geographical Society. He presented three projects: "Development of the atlas-handbook ‘Federal regulation of spatial development in Russia’”, "Interregional periphery: Features and problems of development", and "Conflictogenicity of the territory of the subject of the Russian Federation: Content, principles of assessment and mapping".
As a result of the discussion by the Academic Council of the RGS, it was decided to recommend the first two projects to the Expert Commission of the RGS. The project "Conflictogenicity of the territory of the subject of the Russian Federation: Content, principles of assessment and mapping", on which a number of questions have arisen, will be considered more carefully.
Commission on Geographical and Environmental Education
Kirill Chistyakov, Vice-President of the Russian Geographical Society, Director of the Institute of Earth Sciences of St. Petersburg State University, delivered a report from the Commission on Geographical and Environmental Education of the Russian Geographical Society. He introduced three leaders: "All-Russian professional competition ‘The best geography teacher’", "Geographical Festival ‘Region’", and "Conference ‘Geography teaching methods: From the past to the future. To the 175th anniversary of the birth of S. P. Mech’".
“Unfortunately, many did not contain the actual issues of education in their goals and objectives. Thus, we should think about how to improve the consultation on the submission of applications and the application forms themselves. In addition, most of the applications did not contain material that would allow them to be easily transformed into technical specifications and grant agreements. All this influenced the result of the voting of the members of the commission," Kirill Chistyakov commented on the received applications.
As a result of the discussion, the members of the Academic Council of the RGS decided to recommend all three projects to the Expert Commission of the RGS for approval.
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Tourism Development Commission
Academician Vladimir Kotlyakov, Honorary President of the RGS, Scientific Director of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, made a report from the RGS Tourism Development Commission, which received 33 applications for grants. He stressed that such a number of applications this year can be considered a very good result. As a result of the discussion, the experts identified three projects: "Study of the impact of the development of the Altai Republic tourism industry on the state of the environment of the territory", "Popular science, historical, and patriotic tourism on Baikal: Development, publication, and practical implementation", and "Peaks of Russia".
It is curious that the project "Study of the impact of the development of the Altai Republic tourism industry on the state of the environment of the territory" was prepared by Viktor Kakorin, a student at Gorno-Altaisk State University.
“A very honest project. We found it very interesting," Vladimir Kotlyakov stressed.
As a result of the discussion, the members of the Academic Council of the RGS decided to consider an additional fourth project "Development of the tourist route of the RGS ‘Great Caucasian Trail’". The panelists described it as "interesting and useful." Thus, three projects were recommended for approval by the Expert Commission of the Russian Geographical Society: "Study of the impact of the development of the Altai Republic tourism industry on the state of the environment of the territory", "Popular science, historical, and patriotic tourism on Baikal: Development, publication, and practical implementation" and "Development of the tourist route of the RGS ‘Great Caucasian Trail’”. It was decided to send the project "Peaks of Russia", which raised doubts, to the Expert Commission of the Russian Geographical Society with a request to consider it more carefully.
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Ethnographic Commission
The Scientific Director of the Miklouho-Maclay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Valery Tishkov, made a report on behalf of the Ethnographic Commission of the Russian Geographical Society. He presented three projects: "Expedition ‘Sea prisoner: Following in the footsteps of V. M. Golovnin and P. I. Ricord’", "Traditional culture of Russian villages of the Republic of Tatarstan", and "Youth Archaeological School on Lake Teletskoye".
As a result of the discussion, the members of the Academic Council of the RGS decided to recommend these projects to the Expert Commission of the RGS for approval.
Academic Council of the Russian Geographical Society
The report was delivered by the First Vice-President of the RGS, Chairman of the Academic Council of the RGS, Academician Nikolay Kasimov. He presented three projects: "RGS’S Steppe Expedition (Caspian and Azov-Black Sea stages) 2023/2024", "Medico-geographical Atlas of Russia ‘Cancer Risk Factors’", and (additionally) "Arctic Floating University", which was included in this list during the discussion.
Summing up the results of consideration of applications for grants of the Russian Geographical Society, Nikolay Kasimov noted that there were very few actual scientific projects among them.
“At the same time, we could support more research grants. Tourism projects are very good, but we are more focused on scientific activities, so we would like to support scientific projects," Kasimov stressed.
Nikolay Kasimov also proposed to hold an All-Russian Congress of Geography Teachers. According to him, the need for such a decision is indicated by the "titanic shifts" taking place in school education.
“Six years have passed since the last congress. Therefore, I believe that the need is long overdue, and it is necessary to include in our activity plan the holding of the All-Russian Congress of Geography Teachers in the fall of 2023," explained Nikolay Kasimov.
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At the meeting of the Academic Council of the Russian Geographical Society, the topic of the content of one of the oldest scientific publications in Russia – the journal "The Russian Geographical Society Herald" – was touched upon. Now it is headed by the Vice-President of the Russian Geographical Society Nikolay Kasimov.
“I have been appointed the editor-in-chief. I urge everyone to support the publication with good articles. I admit that the magazine is far from perfect now, but I see what can be done," Kasimov stressed.
Vladimir Kotlyakov is an Honorary Member of the Geographical Society of China
At the end of the meeting of the Academic Council of the Russian Geographical Society, an important ceremony took place – Honorary President of the Russian Geographical Society Vladimir Kotlyakov was solemnly awarded a certificate giving him the status of Honorary Member of the Geographical Society of China. This way, the Chinese colleagues recognized the scientist's contribution to the development of partnership and cooperation between the two countries in the field of geography, and also thanked him for his support in the international arena.
The decision to award Vladimir Kotlyakov the status of Honorary Member of the Geographical Society of China was made on May 15. However, the Russian scientist was only able to attend the ceremony, which took place on September 28 in China, in a remote format. Now, as part of the meeting of the Academic Council of the RGS, Nikolai Kasimov congratulated Vladimir Kotlyakov and awarded him a certificate handed over by the Chinese side.
“I have a deep connection with China, so I was very touched by this decision. This is a great honor! I have visited China several times and, by the way, being already at an advanced age, I climbed the Great Wall, beating all members of the Russian delegation," Vladimir Kotlyakov admitted in his acceptance speech.
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In 2014, the Russian Geographical Society and the Geographical Society of China signed a framework agreement on cooperation. On its basis, the parties carry out scientific and cultural interaction, conduct educational events, organize joint expeditions.
In 2016, a joint expedition was successfully conducted in two major regions of loess accumulation (a special type of rocks) – in the south of the East European Plain in Russia and in the central part of the Chinese Loess Plateau. In 2017, the Chinese partners became participants in the complex expedition of the RGS "Gogland", within which they conducted a survey of Sommers Island. In 2018, a group from Russia arrived in Northeast China, where they studied the natural, cultural, and ethnographic features of the region. Within the framework of the program, Ilya Gurov, First Deputy Executive Director of the Russian Geographical Society, also met with Fu Bojie, Executive Director of the Geographical Society of China. In 2019, young scientists from China became participants of the International Internship of the Russian Geographical Society in the Krasnodar Territory.
Vladimir Neskromniy, Alexander Zhirnov