The educational ecological and industrial expedition "EcoGeneration-2023" was held in the national park "Krasnoyarsk pillars" from August 14 to 18. It was attended by 69 schoolchildren and their teachers from 11 cities and towns of Russia. The expedition was carried out for the second time as part of a joint project between the National Park and RUSAL. This was reported on the website of Krasnoyarsk Pillars.
“All participants are fond of ecology, biology, local history. To get on the expedition, the guys went through the qualifying stage and became winners of various environmental competitions and olympiads at the federal and regional levels,” the National Park noted.
During the week, delegations of schoolchildren lived on the territory of the scientific and educational complex "Narym", and the employees of the "Pillars" conducted eco-classes and excursions along tourist routes for them.
“The expedition members got acquainted with forestry, geology, ornithology, monitoring of biological diversity; listened to the lecture "Technology in the Wilderness" about modern information technologies and their implementation in practice, in order to effectively study nature. Teenagers were engaged in research activities, developed their own environmental projects and defended them upon completion of the program,” the report says.
According to Tatyana Yushkova, deputy director for environmental education and educational tourism at Krasnoyarsk Pillars, it is important for the national park that children become environmentally responsible, love nature and their land.
“Due to the lack of Internet in the protected area, books from our scientific library helped them work on projects, and this even aroused special interest among the children. When defending projects, the teams showed intellectual and creative abilities, which was highly appreciated by the jury members, ”Yushkova’s words are quoted on the website.
According to the national park, as part of the expedition, its participants also visited the industrial enterprises of RUSAL (Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant and Divnogorsk SKAD Plant).
“These excursions allowed the participants to understand how aluminum is born and what is produced from it. At KrAZ, schoolchildren were told what kind of global restructuring the plant is preparing for in order to significantly reduce the burden on the city's ecology,” the national park said.
Participants discussed the boundary between nature and ecotourism, whether mass visits to unique areas can remain safe, the responsibilities of investors, and how to prepare tourists for visiting specially protected natural areas.
The head of state expressed confidence that the Forum will be held at a high level, and that its results will contribute to the development of tourism in Russia and the expansion of humanitarian and business ties.