A high level group from Sakhalin Island, Russia, visits the University of Aberdeen today (Wednesday, May 16) as part of efforts to encourage collaboration with the institution. They will meet with representatives from the Shetland Oil Terminal Environmental Advisory Group (SOTEAG), the St Fergus Coastal Environment Committee and the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Forum, as well as senior management and staff from the University’s College of Physical Sciences, who are hosting the day’s visit.
The delegation from the Sakhalin State University will be accompanied by representatives from the Living Earth Foundation (a UK-based NGO - charity - that promotes sustainable development) and they will use the visit to Scotland as part of efforts to encourage collaboration between the organisations. The group includes Vice Rectors of Sakhalin State University, lecturers, a member of the Council of Representatives of Sakhalin Indigenous Minorities, local government officers and NGO representatives.
Professor Albert Rodger, Vice Principal and Head of the College of Physical Sciences, will welcome the visitors. Speaking ahead of the event, he said: "We are delighted to welcome the delegation from Sakhalin Island to the University of Aberdeen. The purpose of today's visit is to evaluate good practice and sustainable environmental management. We will be engaged in discussions and dialogue with them on how we can collaborate together and we will also showcase what we might be able to do."
Leader of the Sakhalin Programme for the Living Earth Foundation, Edgardo Garcia Llaralde, will be part of the delegation and said: "Living Earth Foundation has been working in partnership with Sakhalin Site University for three years to promote sustainable development in Sakhalin. This trip gives us the opportunity to share experience with groups and institutions in Scotland regarding the activities and impact of the oil and gas industry during the past three decades. We believe there are many valuable lessons here."
The University of Sakhalin, which has a Department of Sustainable Development, is interested in seeing how an academic institution can play a role in promoting sustainable development on a strategic and practical level, and the experiences and activities within the University are of considerable interest. One of the leaders from the Sakhalin delegation, Victor Korsunov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Sakhalin State University, said: "We are glad that the idea of a learning visit to Scotland is being realised, because the sustainable development of Sakhalin is widely discussed in Russia."
One of the other leaders, Elena Lisizina, Vice-Rector, Head of the Department of Sustainable Development, is also looking forward to the visit and said: "Due to oil and gas projects, we face some of the same problems you had to solve about 40 years ago. That's why Scotland's experience for us is valuable and will be used in Sakhalin for the benefit of the community, indigenous people, and business."
The Living Earth Foundation has been working in Sakhalin for almost three years and signed a partnership agreement with Sakhalin State University in February 2006.