III. Lectures and Training Session at Charitable Society "Angel of the Neva" (St. Petersburg)
IV. Announcing Subscriptions to "Environmental Monthly" of the Nizhni Novgorod Region
I. The Russian Ecological Congress is Created
The union of nonprofit organizations "The Russian Ecological Congress" has been created with the aim of uniting the forces of various ecological organizations and movements in the matter of preservation of the environment and the improvement of ecological conditions in Russia. Such social organizations as "Doctors of the World for Nuclear Disarmament," "Green Cross," the A. Yaroshinskaia Fund," the National Landscape Fund, and the Fund "Development of the Environment make up the Congress. United under the slogan "to live and develop together with the development of nature," these organizations, despite their various activities, adopted the principals that will long guide the work of the Congress: nonpartisanship, nonconfrontationalism, coordination of national programs with a policy of "small, concrete matters."
All organizations joining the Congress continue to work on their own programs, but they selected a number of priority programs on which work will be done together: "Liquidation of the ecological consequences of the arms race," "Environmental education," and several others. It is anticipated that these programs will be taken up at the Congress in the spring of 1997. It is also proposed to firm up the conception [of the Congress] and to discuss questions of contemporary Russian environmental problems (the consolidation of the social environmental movement in the country, seeking mutual understanding between peoples, social environmental organizations and power structures; drawing the attention of governmental organizations and the public to the most difficult ecological problems and development of a plan of practical actions to protect nature in Russia.
Specific information on the Congress may be obtained from the Russian Green Cross at: Moscow, Kuznetskii most, D. 6/3.
Contact telephone numbers: 923-7952, 927-8479; fax: 923-6833 (Valerii Ivanovich Pimenov, Tatiana Vasilevna Yakovlevskaia).
II. Economic and Social Stability in Russia are Unthinkable Without
Contemporary Education and Professional Training
On September 27 a round table took place in the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences titled "Cooperation of Business With Education and Professional Training in Contemporary Russia." It was organized by the English charitable organization "The Business Leaders Forum" under the auspices of the Prince of Wales ("PWBLF"), whose purpose is the assimilation of business, educational institutions, and the administrative structures of developing countries. In addition to the Minister of General and Professional Education of the Russian Federation V. G. Kinelev, the Director of the Department of Science and Education of the government of the Russian Federation M. R. Kirpichnikov, and the Director of the Association of Russian Experimental Schools A. G. Kaspachok, the international companies Coca-Cola, British Petroleum, Johnson & Johnson [and others] took part in the meeting.
In the opinion of the organizers of the round table, social and economic stability in Russia is unthinkable without addressing in a contemporary way the issue of education and professional training. This meeting should "assist in attracting new representatives of international organizations and educational institutions to a common effort that will permit programs of professional training to grow and increase in quality."
A press conference was held after the round table in which the chairman of the Forum, the Rector of the Moscow School, and professor of sociology at Manchester University Theodore Shapin took part. He said that today business people depend on Russian schools and students. One of the decisions of the meeting was to increase investment in education. A nominal stipend for Russians undertaking instruction in Moscow will be introduced.
The concept "investment" includes both short term and long term programs. Among the latter are the creation of school libraries equipped with operating information technologies (CD ROM, Internet) and equipment, publication of "professional guides"--various information about professions, the level of payment and the acquiring of the necessary skills, organization of an all-Russian competition of pupils and students at institutions of higher education in the area of [management of professional and practical training etc.],which will be coordinated by e mail, and the bringing together of graduating students for participation in the building of an international network of cooperation within the scope of PWBLF.
"Western companies are interested in capable specialists," says T. Shapin. "The insufficiency of specialists meeting Western needs leads to the luring of workers from one firm to another. Not only the amount of a specialist's knowledge but his capacity for systematic thinking is important to us. Russia represents a broad market of possibilities which it is necessary to master, and a proper educational policy can play a leading role in this."
Contact telephones: (095) 434-7282 (the Moscow School), (812) 325-8100 (PWBLF)
III. Lectures and Training Session at Charitable Society "Angel of the Neva" (St. Petersburg)
Courses will occur within the II annual seminar, which will be led by Susan Scribner (USA), a specialist in fundraising on the themes "Organizational Development of NGOs," "fundraising in NGOs," and "Volunteerism in NGO's."
There will also be individual consultations and distribution of Susan Scribner's books. Additional information may be obtained by telephone: (812) 312-1010.
IV. Announcing Subscriptions to "Environmental Monthly" of the Nizhni Novgorod Region
Every issue of "Environmental Monthly" will contain a detailed examination of environmental conditions in Nizhnii Novgorod and the cities of the region, the state of contamination of bodies of water in the Nizhnii Novgorod region, and materials on environmental trends, information on the results of investigations, and measures of natural preservation.
The Upper Volga Pollution Monitoring Center enlisted the help of the Oblast Environmental Protection Committee, the Nizhnii Novgorod Procurator of Natural Preservation, the Oblast Sanitation and Epidemiological Inspectorate and other agencies in the publication of the journal.
The following sections [of the journal] were opened in 1996: monitoring environmental pollution, ecology of the city, potable water, recreation areas, streams and reservoirs, protected areas, environmental education, radiation, the quality of food stuffs, and weather and climate.
Cost of one issue: 15,000 rubles. Send subscription applications to: 603600, Nizhnii Novgorod, ul. Beketova, D. 10.
Contact telephone: (8312) 65-9270, 65-6962
V. The Academy of National Economy of the Russian Federation is Ready to Accept Women for Study under Favorable Conditions
The Academy is currently taking applications for two week courses of study including "Family Domestic Business Helper" in the program "Development of Women's Independence." The courses offer computer training, basics of bookkeeping, market economics, law, aspects of individual employment activity, business ethics, and business tactics. The cost of the curse is one million rubles; 290,000 rubles for women in favored catagories (mothers with multiple children, women of pre-pension age, the unemployed, single, etc.).
Additional information may be obtained by telephone: 433-2485 (Zoia Eduardovna Molokova).
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