NPO LAB: SOCIAL IMPACT LOUNGE

12 September 2018

NPO LAB: SOCIAL IMPACT LOUNGE

Human Capital: Attracting and Retaining It

KEY CONCLUSIONS

The development of the Far East is sustained by creating the new quality of life

“New economic policy should be accompanied by the new quality of life. We’re facing two tasks here. The first is supporting those who live in the Far East. The second is attracting the people to the wealth of new projects in the region,” Grigory Smolyak, Head of Department, Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East.

PROBLEMS

Population outflow

“The Far East population declined by 2 million people over 25 years. That means the region lost a quarter of its population. We need to understand how to draw people back,” Igor Poletaev, TV presenter, NTV.

Underdevelopment of social entrepreneurship in the region

“We have very few cases of social entrepreneurship in the Far East,” Evgenia Telitsyna, Executive Director, Reach for Change Foundation Supporting Social Initiatives for Children.

The number of abortions in the Far East exceeds the Russian average

“Too many abortions in the Far Eastern regions: in Magadan there is one abortion per one birth. It is the highest rate in Russia,” Ivan Yefimov, Director, Migration and Demographic Policy Development Unit, Agency for the Development of Human Capital in the Far East.

SOLUTIONS

Creating a comfortable living environment

“We’ve set an ambitious task: to form the territory of our presence. We are trying to create logistics centres so that people feel comfortable, so that education, health and sports facilities are within walking distance. Territories are becoming competitive in comparison with large cities. We need to revert to the success story of a small town person,” Anna Shabarova, Vice President for Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility, Russian Copper Company.

Development of human capital through joint efforts of the state, business and NGOs

“Comfort, good salary and infrastructure are not enough. A man needs to take in the era through culture and art as they form the human capital,” Asya Gabysheva, Director, National Art Museum of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

“We host Dobry Gorod festival, an open platform for anyone to do a good deed. The project unites the efforts of business, government, media and NGOs,” Raisa Ivanchak, Project Manager, Tatyanin Den (Tatiana’s Day) Foundation Supporting Youth Initiatives.

Specialists’ field training

“We must train competent specialists worthy of the leading Russian companies. We want ASEZ residents to identify their needs for specialists so we could train them,” Igor Osipov, President, FEFU Foundation.

Project based education

“We develop loyalty to the region through projects with high schools and university students. Through personal contact with the mentors, we spark the desire to stay in the community,” Varvara Chuikova, Executive Director of Endowment Fund "Future Leaders."

Advancing indigenous peoples and studying their experience

“Socially responsible businesses should invest in the development of human resources in the regions of their presence,” Natalia Gonchar, Director of Social Activity, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd.

“The Far East is not all about cities and towns. It is villages thousands of miles away from the cities. All these territories and their natural resources were traditionally used by the indigenous peoples of the North. We must understand how they have preserved this land in such a beautiful state,” Valery Kripa, Public and Government Affairs Advisor, Exxon Neftegas Limited.

Forward-looking education as a tool of successful demographic policy

KEY CONCLUSIONS

Graduates of Russian universities are in demand

“Today, 4.3 million students attend Russian universities. Their studies are based on the programmes that were partially developed with the participation of industrial partners. It is wrong to say that we do not have trained specialists. The quality is high, as well as the demand,” Marina Borovskaya, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education.

Cooperation with regional government and business is a factor of success for education

“The success of a region depends on the partnership with universities, as well as with regional companies,” Marina Borovskaya, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education.

“The employers’ say is essential. It is for them we are preparing a human resource. The university today is a place where young people shape their future. We can build up digital age competencies only in cooperation with business,” Victoria Panova, Vice-Rector for International Relations, FEFU.

ISSUES

Education lags behind the technological development

“The main issue is the rapidly developing technologies and the education lagging behind,” Igor Poletaev, TV presenter, NTV.

“For a digital economy to happen, we need an infinite number of engineers capable of programming in a distributed environment. We do not have such academic modules! Even though Russian speakers created three-quarters of companies in the block chain economy, there are not enough new specialists,” Alexander Borodich, Founder, Universa Blockchain.

Young people are unaware of the Far East development prospects

“In 2016 we gathered students in Khabarovsk Territory to talk about their request for education. Young people are unaware of the Far East development prospects,” Alexander Tyurchev, Head of the Russian Union of Youth Khabarovsk Regional Organization.

SOLUTIONS

Link education to the practice and needs of the new economy

“To maintain leadership, we need to approach the educational process differently: practitioners should do teaching, and teaching should be tied to real projects implemented in companies,” Alexander Borodich, Founder, Universa Blockchain.

“Two major oil and gas projects are being implemented on Sakhalin, and all the leaders of the global industry are present here. They implement unique projects. At that, there was no engineering education on the island. In 2011, we initiated a dialogue with the leadership of the region on founding a university to train engineering personnel. We established a Technical Oil and Gas Institute as part of Sakhalin State University,” Margarita Tsoy, Vice President, Exxon Neftegas Limited.

Human capital starts in childhood

“We need early childhood specialists. New methods allow us to socialise 4-5-year-old children and introduce them to the school on better grounds,” Marina Borovskaya, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

“Mass school education needs a qualitative breakthrough for the development of human capital,” Alena Markovich, President, Noviy Uchitel (New Teacher) Charitable Foundation.

Environment and innovation. Preserving the natural ecosystems of the Russian Far East

KEY CONCLUSIONS

The social development of the country closely tied to the environmental protection

“Social development, corporate social development, sustainable social development nowadays, especially in our country, are integral to the issues of environmental safety, environmental protection, the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the society,” Nikolay Krivozertsev, General Director, EcoStandard Group.

“Conservation of biodiversity, environmental protection is an integral part of CSR in general and most notably one of the social investment trends,” Natalia Gonchar, Director of Social Activity, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd.

Creation of a comfortable environment for people’s lives requires a comprehensive approach

“We have a common task: to enable Russian citizens to live in a comfortable environment. We can address it comprehensively, relying on the strategic goals of ensuring environmental safety, scientific and technological progress and environmental accountability of each of us,” Altair Tyumenev, Pacific Marine Directorate of Rosprirodnadzor.

PROBLEMS

The environmental pollution adversely affects human health

“The 21st century is the age of allergic diseases because we introduce too many unknown substances to the environment. <…> Allergies, bronchial asthmas, <…> oncological diseases with growing mortality rates, and cardiovascular diseases are all of the environmental origin,” Kirill Golokhvast, Vice President for Research, FEFU.

Incomplete measures to combat violations of environmental legislation

“Both the forestry and water resources are not mapped, and owners of land plots adjacent these resources regularly violate the terms of their use,” Alexander Borodich, Founder, Universa Blockchain.

“Poaching is a social phenomenon, and to solve it, two sets of measures are required. The first is the government ‘whip’, that is, our primary task is to help the state to create an efficient system for the protection of fauna. The second is to change the environmental awareness of people,” Sergey Aramilev, Director General, Amur Tiger Centre.

SOLUTIONS

Laying out an action plan for the preservation of the environment

“The action plan for the conservation of biodiversity <…> is not just an element of local bio-environmental monitoring. It is also a set of specific actions aimed at reducing the negative impact,” Andrey Samatov, Head of the Environmental Division, Sakhalin Energy.

“We need to re-equip production, set up a modern waste recycling industry and ensure the conservation of biological diversity,” Altair Tyumenev, Pacific Marine Directorate of Rosprirodnadzor.

Enhancing cooperation of the state, business and citizens on matters of environmental protection

“The issues of ecosystems and biodiversity conservation cannot be solved by a single company, because the impact – although we have the Trans-Sakhalin pipeline – remains local. Whereas flora and fauna are much more extensive and therefore require the efforts of many parties,” Andrey Samatov, Head of the Environmental Division, Sakhalin Energy.

“Our main goal and task are to unite the efforts of both state and public organizations in preserving the tiger. The tiger is the indicator for nature and the whole region status. We cannot protect just the tiger: it feeds on ungulates, so we must preserve them also. Animals live in the forest, whereas timber and non-timber forest products, ungulate meat, are the main resource for the population of rural areas and taiga. <…> Our strategic goal is to reach harmony and balance between the population and the tigers. If there is a tiger in the forest, then everything is fine with nature,” Sergey Aramilev, Director General, Amur Tiger Centre.

“Everyone expects that the state or major business will do something, but many stories, like, for example, waste sorting are virtually impossible without everyone’s involvement. <…> People want to help, but they need simple modern formats,” Georgy Konnov, Director for Development of B2B Products for E-Commerce, QIWI.

Transition to technologies that advance environmental protection

“Container railway shipping is an innovative environmental solution for our transport industry. <…> Forty per cent of toxic emissions come from commercial vehicles. Roads: cargo vehicles cause the ultimate wear and tear, and, of course, injuries and deaths on the road,” Roman Vdovin, Managing Partner, First Federal Intermodal Freight Operator JSC.

“Digital certification of goods and certificates of conformity is something that is to combat poaching in the region directly. <…> The employee can reliably check whether the certificate is true or false, estimate the catch of fish, assess where the fish was caught, and continue the digital chain to the counter,” Alexander Borodich, Founder, Universa Blockchain.

Marine reserves and marine protected areas. How can the seas surrounding the Russian Far East and the world’s oceans be safeguarded against human interference?

KEY CONCLUSIONS

The resources of the world’s ocean are limited

“The ocean is boundless, but not bottomless, its resources are huge, but they are finite. The ocean is 97% of water resources,” Elena Zharkova, Representative of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC).

PROBLEMS

Anthropogenic activity disrupts the balance of the ocean

“Everyone talks about plastic waste, chemical waste, but there is still such a factor as noise pollution. <…> Whales and other mammals get off the route due to the hum of the engines of large liners and cargo carriers. <…> Only 1% of the world’s ocean is protected from anthropogenic activity. <…> Only 13% of the world’s water is pristine,” Elena Zharkova, Representative of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC).

“Even nature reserves of Primorye Territory have four landfills of marine soils,” Vladimir Rakov, Marine Biologist.

There are no specialized educational programmes on environmental protection

“Why are there not enough of them – educational programmes? The economy enters the picture, because in words the heads of TV companies say “Yes, yes, yes, of course, we all need this very much, this is very interesting,” but in deeds, when it comes to some expenses on the production of such programmes, you can see it for yourself, that the cheapest operator equipment is not going to cut it here, and you need divers,” Vladimir Oshchenko, Associate Professor, FEFU.

SOLUTIONS

Mandatory environmental audit certify projects, goods and services

“We primarily have an environmental audit at the heart of certification. Only after we go through all the port documentation and all the processes and an audit report has been prepared, only after this we can say how environmentally friendly the port it, how it fulfils the requirements of environmental legislation for the bulk materials handling,” Olga Kharkova, Project Group Leader, Clean Seas International Environmental Foundation.

“In any case, such serious projects under construction or already operating, must undergo a very thorough state environmental expertise, not only in Moscow, which is often done by project design bureaus, because they know that Moscow is far away and they do not see the actual situation here, it is easier to get the approval,” Vladimir Rakov, Marine Biologist.

Environmental education at all levels

“There is no environmental education through lectures, classes in school, television programmes. Everything begins in the family,” Vladimir Oshchenko, Associate Professor, FEFU.

Public initiatives as an integral part of regional development

KEY CONCLUSIONS

The role of society in solving social and environmental issues is growing

“We bear an enormous responsibility to be a vehicle for sustainable solutions of environmental protection, including social aspect, and work on social inclusion,” Anastasia Tsvetkova, CEO, Lake Baikal Foundation.

“The purpose and objectives are precisely this: to replicate practices and try to develop some universal methodology for companies, to develop the culture of volunteering,” Dmitry Sharkov, Siberia and Far East Corporate Governance Manager, Philip Morris Sales and Marketing.

A clean environment is a stimulus for investment in medicinal herbs and herbal medicine

“Export of medicinal herbs can be compared with the export of hydrocarbons. <…> It is very promising for business. The medicinal herbs annual turnover in China is more than USD 100 billion, and every five to six years this figure doubles,” Natalia Nazarenko, President, Pharmaceutical Commonwealth Association.

PROBLEMS

Insufficient support of public initiatives

“With the implementation of any project, we always come across the fact that there are many unpredictable difficulties and obstacles on the way from a beautiful idea to its practical implementation,” Anastasia Tsvetkova, CEO, Lake Baikal Foundation.

“We need the executive agencies’ support to avoid administrative barriers and limitations,” Natalia Nazarenko, President, Pharmaceutical Commonwealth Association.

Lack of scientific research to substantiate environmental issues

“Data on marine mammals are of interest to people and are very useful to science. <…> Many existing issues cannot be raised without scientific evidence,” Valentina Mezentseva, Chairperson, Council of the Sakhalin Region Boomerang Club.

Lack of public service advertising on environmental issues

“Public service advertising is an issue in Russia,” Anna Noskova, Member of the Environmental Committee, Primorsky Territory Youth Government.

SOLUTIONS

Motivate people to participate in environmental initiatives

“We have special coaches who motivated children to address environmental issues and do research. We often took nature hikes, and there we learned that nature should be preserved and protected,” Nadezhda Belkova, Chairperson of the Board, Pilgrim Interregional Public Organization of People with Disabilities.

“When you work with volunteers, you should understand that many people come to try. They will try and realize this is not for them. You are to invest 6–12 months in those who, perhaps, will become just literate residents,” Valentina Mezentseva, Chairperson, Council of the Sakhalin Region Boomerang Club.

Improvement of environmental education

“An environmental engineer and a HSE specialist are critical, essential and in-demand modern job,” Vera Kuzubov, Head, Zelenaya Kistochka (Green Brush) Nationwide Project.

NPO LAB: SOCIAL IMPACT LOUNGE

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