The city on the banks of the Neva River hosted the International Forum on Nature Management and Conservation of the World Natural Heritage, which brought together delegations from 70 countries. Representatives from Brazil, Peru, Cuba, South Africa and other countries are looking forward to a new stage of cooperation in the field of mining and higher education. The event was organised in cooperation with the International Competence Centre in Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO. Interaction always presupposes a two-way interest. What are Russia's partners prepared to offer?
Fernanda Bustamante is the head of the technological innovation department of Brazil's largest public university, the University of Minus Gerais. During the high-profile event, the scientist envisages the establishment of long-term ties, which in the long term will help to meet the challenges faced by the Republic.
"We are interested in raising the level of training for geo-environmental specialists. Unfortunately, we have seen the catastrophic consequences of irresponsible mining on more than one occasion and are prepared to take measures to prevent similar accidents in the future. However, we do not have enough experience in studying environmental changes caused by mining activities and ways to reduce anthropogenic impact on the environment - pollution of soil, rocks and water, development of hazardous techno-natural processes. The environment should be considered not only after a disaster has occurred, but before, during, and after mining operations. Apart from prevention, we are interested in elimination of possible consequences. If something does happen, we want to be prepared and know what specific actions to take," she stressed.
In November 2015, a tailings dam owned by Samarco collapsed in the state of Mariana. It destroyed the town of Mariana, killed 17 people and polluted the Rio Dosé River with toxic waste. The accident was the biggest disaster of its kind in the world in the last 100 years. In terms of the volume of waste released into the environment after ore washing (50-60 million cubic metres), the "mileage" of the mud flow (600 km) and the amount of damage ($5.2 billion) it was simply unparalleled. It seemed that the industry should have learnt this costly lesson... However, already in 2019 there was a dam failure, due to damage to the tailings dam at the iron ore mine in the town of Brumadinho. The industrial, humanitarian and environmental disaster resulted in 259 deaths and 11 disappearances.
The reasons for the accidents are cited as government oversight, human error and failure to comply with international best practices. Which explains Brazil's interest in qualified personnel and technology.
"We want to develop cooperation with Russia by conducting joint research in ecology, geology, mining and metallurgy, and in return we are ready to share our own know-how. Academic exchange between universities remains very important. Our students are mostly graduating with a Bachelor's degree in these fields, but this is not enough to train scientists, business executives and leading specialists. Ideally they should continue their studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in both online and offline programmes, in Russian or English," Fernanda Bustamante explains.
The numerous South African delegation during their visit to St. Petersburg were also interested in joint research opportunities and Russian educational programmes.
"Today in South Africa, the initiators of research work are industrial enterprises. Scientists have to focus on their specific needs. However, in my opinion, a different trend is more effective - when universities act as drivers of industry development, as it happens in the Russian Federation. They help consolidate the efforts of all the country's universities and research institutes to resolve not some short-term tasks, but rather to achieve a technological breakthrough for the entire mineral resource sector. And in this respect, the St Petersburg Mining University and its research centres are an example of the successful implementation of such a trend," says Professor Phumlani Zifo Ngcobo, coordinator of the Zululand University postgraduate programme.
On the educational front, the African university now offers programmes in electrical engineering, metallurgy and environmental science to its students, while the country is also home to a huge number of mining enterprises. South Africa is the world's largest producer of chromium, manganese, platinum, second largest producer of ilmenite, palladium and zirconium, and has significant reserves of gold, diamonds, phosphate and uranium.
However, South Africa's mining industry is often criticised for its poor safety record and high number of fatalities. Between 1984 and 2005 alone more than 11 000 miners died in the country. This has repeatedly led to widespread strikes by workers and subsequent safety audits of all operating mines by the authorities.
According to Mr Ngcobo, the University of Zululand sees a need to "get closer" to mining in order to be able to train high-skilled professionals for core companies through educational programmes developed in cooperation with Russia.
The international forum, organised with the support of the Competence Centre for Mining Education under the auspices of UNESCO, was an effective platform for sharing experiences and an opportunity to learn about the state-of-the-art science centres of Russian universities through the example of the Mining University.
"We visited a number of laboratories, and I can say that this is fantastic! We have our own University of Mining and Technology, but not a fraction of what we see here. Whereas a couple of years ago, 57 applicants were sent on a state-financed basis to Russian universities every year, today there are already 110. In the future we aim to increase the number of talented Ghanaians going to St. Petersburg through inclusive study and exchange programmes. We have a lot to learn from you," says Laurens Awuku-Boateng, President of the Ghana-Russia Business Development Council.
As part of the forum, Rectors Vladimir Litvinenko of St. Petersburg Mining University and Mohammad Moazeni of Shiraz University, one of Iran's most respected institutions of higher education, signed a framework agreement on strategic cooperation.
Among Latin American and African countries, the delegation from Cuba came closest to partnership: together with the leadership of Russia's oldest technical university, it is working on the latest details of framework agreements that involve the organisation of academic exchanges of students, postgraduates and teachers, the preparation of joint educational programmes and scientific publications.
"Moa University in Cuba was, in fact, founded by scientists from the Mining University. In the first years after it opened, there were 22 teachers from it. And today we are more interested than ever in returning to those partnerships. Despite the abundance of nickel deposits in Cuba, the country is not among the leaders in mining. We are outpaced by the states with a developed industrial complex, which is due to the peculiarities of processing the initial nickel-containing ore to obtain the metal in its pure form. Not long ago, a state programme for the development of Cuba's mining industry was adopted, in which 2030 is set as a deadline for demonstrating the results achieved. That is why the most urgent thing for us now is to train postgraduate students as future lecturers and online training for our staff in the areas of mining, materials science and energy resources," says Rector Jurisley Mariño of the University of Moa.
Bilateral relations always imply mutual interest, and representatives of major Latin American and African universities did not come "empty-handed".
For example, the University of Cuba is ready to transfer unique nickel ores to enrich the educational process and share its knowledge about working with them. The Central University of Ecuador has prepared a programme of summer schools where Mining students can visit the Republic to study volcanic geology and earthquakes. Local experts can share their experiences in how they build mines and develop in such hazardous conditions. A delegation from Peru has also prepared its own course of summer schools on high altitude mining.