UNESCO Center

The regional cooperation as one of the key topics discussed at at the XII Russian-German Raw Materials Dialogue.

There is an enormous amount of waste rock dumps left by the companies after extraction. Neither officials nor business people are interested in doing anything about the open dumps, although development of waste materials could earn them reasonable profits

The network of foreign partner universities of Russian scientific community is set to increase further.

This autumn, the Russia-Africa Summit took place in Sochi, one of the most southern Russian cities. Over the course of two days the event lasted, a number of significant agreements were achieved.

This year, green energy sources is one of the hottest topics. Bold statements made by activists, globally held large-scale campaigns and numerous discussions are shaping the world today, with UK not being an exception. The country is moving swiftly towards closure of coal-fire plants, and the London Stock Exchange now expects companies listed on the LSE to adhere to new principles of environmental safety and encourages them to adopt green and sustainable business models.

At the end of October, a closing ceremony of the Russian-British Raw Materials Dialogue was held in St. Petersburg. During the course of the event, Ian Bowbrick, Director of Membership and Professional Standards at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, awarded 12 experts of the Russian National Association of Mining Engineers with certificates granting them power to accredit mining specialists on behalf of the Institute one of the most prestigious professional bodies in the world.

Out of the many challenges that mining industry is facing nowadays, the Dialogue’s participants placed specific attention to whittling down deficit of skilled engineers through competency assessment and development.

A delegation from the UK, who came to St. Petersburg to participate in the Russian-British Raw Materials Dialogue, aims to destroy the negative buzz surrounding Russia that builds up in the Western media.

One of the main advantages of meetings held in the forum format is in the opportunity to establish real contacts between the scientific and business communities of two countries, achieved by switching from exchange of opinions and theoretical discussions to more practical concerns.

There is an initiative to establish an award, which would be granted annually to two researchers for exceptional scientific achievements or inventions contributing to the further development of the mining industry.