On February 3, 2022, the Deputy British Ambassador to the Russian Federation Julia Crouch, paid a working visit to St. Petersburg Mining University.
Ms. Crouch toured the Mining Museum, classrooms, and research laboratories of the university. At the meeting with the Rector of the Mining University Vladimir Litvinenko, the parties discussed cooperation in the most important areas of the mineral resource agenda. Particularly, they talked over problems in the hydrogen power engineering, and about the project of an unified international system of mining engineers' competencies, developed by the International Competence Center for Mining Engineering Education, under the auspices of UNESCO, and with the direct participation of Mining University and the 5th Russo-British Raw Materials International Forum.
The Deputy Ambassador also met with graduate and postgraduate students of the University and answered their questions. The "miners" were interested in the prospects of scientific contacts between the countries against the background of the difficult international situation, the position of the UK on carbon neutrality matters, and the current situation with the coronavirus in the British Isles.
Ms. Crouch shared her impressions of what she had seen at Mining University, calling it a leading university of mineral resources, and noted the outstanding role of the university’s international activities, in particular efforts to organize a Raw Materials Dialogue and international programs with British partners such as the British Engineering Council and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3). According to the diplomat, cooperation between scientists working together in the interests of all mankind can unite countries regardless of the current political situation. In regards of energy generation matters, the Deputy Ambassador said that despite Britain’s commitment to moving exclusively to clean generation, there is an understanding that such indicators cannot be achieved by wind and solar energy alone; especially taking into account the projected 50 percent growth in electricity consumption. Therefore, the UK does not intend to abandon nuclear power completely, considering it even quite environmentally friendly, and also pays serious attention to the possibility of CO2 capture.
Julia Crouch’s views on distance learning during the pandemic turned out to be entirely consistent with those of the Mining University administration. During a period of COVID restrictions, she and her son, a sophomore at the University of Birmingham, were very concerned about the lack of access to laboratory practice and reinforced the view that it was difficult to do science remotely.
