Ecological Civilization

Alexei Balashov. Exclusively to VK

The Forum of the Azerbaijani Youth Association in Russia "AMOR - Uniting Hearts" took place last weekend at the Holiday Inn hotel in Sokolniki in Moscow. On the first programmed day, Leyla Aliyev was re-elected president of the organization and handed out excellence awards to outstanding Azerbaijani students studying in Russia. The day was also marked by speeches of famous guests. Among the VIPs who gave their speeches at the forum were the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, chairman of the State Duma of International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, the Sports Minister of Azerbaijan, Azad Rahimov and others.

The second day of the forum was dedicated to the discussion of current issues in Russia, the Caucasus and worldwide. Guests of the forum were gathered at three sessions of the forum devoted to problems of youth and the Internet, multiculturalism today as well as ecology and the preservation of nature. The last panel, entitled "Responsibility for the Future", attracted most interest among experts, speakers and young  guests of the forum. It is no accident that it lasted for more than three hours.

The "Responsibility for the Future" session was opened by the rector of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Azerbaijan, academician Urkhan Alekperov. Alekperov is the author of the well-known concept of ecological civilization. He talked about the importance of preservation of nature for our future development and the transition of humankind to a new level of thinking. Alekperov stressed that the future lies with the youth, while the future of humanity is dependent on nature and the available resources. He added that the current world crisis is systemic, not only economic, and it requires systemic measures. The concept of ecological civilization was introduced by Alekperov 20 years ago as a way of coping with changes in the world. The core meaning of the concept lies in  the propagation of a culture of moderate, reasonable consumption and green technologies. Later, in an exclusive interview with VK, Urkhan Alekperov talked about initiatives related to the concept of ecological civilization in Azerbaijan. "Azerbaijan has mainly educational programs... aimed at raising public awareness. At the same time, there are significant environmental works undertaken in the country, which, of course, also contribute to the transition to an ecological civilization. This will take time," the scientist said.

Urkhan Alekperov also said that many joint Russian-Azerbaijani projects serve the purpose of facilitating the transition to the new concept of civilization. "You see, we are either going to live under new conditions of civilization, or we will struggle," the scientist concluded. Talking about problems in the way of a progressive development, Urkhan Alekperov noted the importance of engineering, which would exclude the possibility of any environmental problems and therefore of knowledge.

Speaking at the forum, the director of environmental policy of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Russia described the work of the Fund in the North Caucasus. He noted the importance of protecting the ecology of the North Caucasus, which has unique natural conditions and which is home to many endemic species. He also listed concrete results of the fund's work in the protection of leopards and bisons. He added that the restoration of the saiga population and the creation of new centers for breeding leopards, bisons and rare species of deer are in the plans of the fund. The next speaker was a prominent Azerbaijani ecologist, head of the socio-environmental center "Ecosphere" Firouz Sultanzade. The Center actively engages youth in its projects and promotes traditional Azerbaijani crafts.

The last speaker was Reza Deghati, a photographer of the National Geographic, an ethnic Azerbaijani, born in Tabriz in Iran. He said that from a young boy from the Azerbaijani city of Tabriz he developed into a world famous photographer and organizer of environmental projects.

Degati said that 25% of the world population is to be blamed for the plight of our planet. He said that their unrestrained consumption is destroying the earth. He also spoke about his environmental programs and initiatives, particularly about his work with children. Degati noted the photo contest "Children's eyes on Earth" and spoke about collaboration with IDEA and its head Leyla Aliyeva.

The dean of the Faculty of Applied Economics and Commerce at MGIMO, Alex Svishchev, gave an exclusive interview to VK on joint Russian-Azerbaijani ecological projects. Svischev mentioned a forum  organized by the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan visited by Moscow scientists. "It was fairly representative, as it was an international forum and we discussed various joint initiatives," Svischev said. He added that his faculty and Baku State University are discussing the creation of joint master's and post-graduate programs. MGIMO is also considering a number of volunteer programs with the participation of students of MGIMO, which will be held in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

Svischev also stressed that since oil and gas are basis of the economies of both Azerbaijan and Russia, the problems these countries are facing are identical. The forum showed that Azerbaijani youth is genuinely interested in the ecology of Russia as well as of our whole world. Perhaps, with such youth we can hope to attain the level of ecological civilization that Alekperov is longing for.