Thursday, October 24, 2002

Russia's Environment: Prospects and Possibilities

The Miami University Report

Alexsey Yablokov

        A symposium seeking to develop a better understanding of environmental conditions and issues in Russia will be held 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 25-26 in the Shriver Center multipurpose room. Symposium participants will also develop an action agenda for American universities to engage in research, education and action on Russia’s environmental issues.

        Keynote speakers on Oct. 25 include Alexsey Yablokov, former environmental adviser to Boris Yeltsin and currently president of the Center for Russian Environmental Policy in Moscow, who will speak at 9:45 a.m.; Vera Mischenko, president of Ecojuris, an organization of lawyers working on environmental issues through the Russian courts, and winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize, who will speak at 1 p.m.; and Alexei Yaroshenko, forest campaigner for Greenpeace Russia, who will speak at 10:30 a.m. Other invited speakers from Russia and the United States will speak on issues including land resources, mining, biodiversity and environmental security.

        The Miami community is invited to participate in all or part of the symposium. There is no registration fee for Miami students, faculty and emeriti. It is open to the general public: registration is $200, $50 for students, and does not include meals.

        The symposium is sponsored by Miami’s Institute of Environmental Sciences, the department of geography, the international studies program and the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies.

For more information, contact Gene Willeke or Sandra Woy-Hazleton, 9-5811, or Susan Crate, 9-8356. Or go to: oracle.cas.muohio.edu/ies/russia.htm.