Results of the Third Russian-Chinese Arctic School

The school was the product of close cooperation between St. Petersburg State University, PetrSU and the Ocean University of China, within which the highest pool of expertise and research potential in the field of high latitude issues was demonstrated.

The event was attended by more than 40 undergraduates, graduate students and young researchers from St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg, Russia), PetrSU (Petrozavodsk, Russia), Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (St. Petersburg, Russia), Murmansk Arctic University ( Murmansk, Russia) and OUС (Qingdao, China). Senior students from the Institute of History, Political and Social Sciences and the Institute of Biology, Ecology and Agricultural Technologies showed interest in exchanging expert knowledge with their Chinese peers.

During the week, Russian and Chinese participants attended lectures, participated in discussions and master classes, prepared project proposals and initiatives that addressed the development of green energy in the Arctic, rational environmental management and socio-economic development of the northern territories, raised issues of international logistics and transportation of goods with the participation of Chinese companies, ensuring environmental safety using methods and technologies for reclamation of Arctic lands and water areas.

The event can rightfully be considered a platform for testing a number of provisions and research results, in particular theses, which are at the preparation stage. At the conference, participants assessed the pros and cons of the transition to environmentally friendly transport in the Arctic and the prospects for stimulating cooperation with the Russian side in this area, the potential for the development of hydrogen energy and the development of green hydrogen certification standards, and practices for generating electricity based on solar energy were presented. Thus, despite the harsh climatic conditions and the lack of sunlight in the Far North, one of the ready-made solutions for Russian companies could be Chinese low-carbon technologies adapted to work at temperatures down to -45 ℃.

During an introductory visit to the Aquaculture Research Center, the parties discussed the most promising areas of research by the research teams of PetrSU and OUC, issues of applying the results of scientific activities in production, and the possibility of holding bilateral meetings to exchange experiences and practices.

The program, developed taking into account the best traditions of holding PetrSU schools, included a visit to the Engineering Center for Fire Robotics "EFER". A tour of the production facility for the Chinese delegation was conducted by General Director of EFER LLC S.G. Nemchinov. During the visit, participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with the work of the foundry, production areas for coating, assembling finished products, and testing them under high pressure without human presence. According to S.G. Nemchinov, over the past 3 years the number of engineers at the enterprise has doubled due to young specialists. During the excursion, questions of the use of artificial intelligence at individual stages of the production of firefighting robots aroused particular interest.

A field trip to the Ruskeala mountain park, organized on the last day of the school, gave participants the opportunity to plunge into the realities of the eco-tourism sector of Karelia and study in practice the approaches to the economic development of the northern territories that contribute to the formation of an environmental culture of the population.

During the event, proposals were made for the further development of scientific, technical and business ties between Russia and China in high latitudes. First of all, it seems important to deepen and expand bilateral cooperation in the field of green energy at the level of research groups; priority today is given to the analysis of the operational capacities of wind energy, small hydropower, and, in the foreseeable future, hydrogen energy.

“Small hydropower is always profitable. Russian legislation allows small stations to operate on the wholesale market, that is, to sell energy to the general network and on the retail market to a specific consumer by concluding a direct contract, so the only question is the payback period, and investments - be they credit funds or private investments - are always profitable,

– noted Honorary Doctor of PetrSU, Honored Power Engineer of Russia V.N. Semenov in response to a question about the profitability of the construction and use of small hydroelectric power plants in the Arctic territories.

According to the Chinese side, attracting new investments in green energy development projects in the Arctic depends on the presence of a favorable business environment and investor protection mechanisms in Russian regions. In the current geopolitical conditions, prospects are opening up for the development of this area of cooperation at the level of universities in the two countries, an integral component of which should be the participation of entrepreneurs to develop individual, thoughtful, effective solutions.

“Universities in Russia and China can jointly train talented specialists in the field of science, technology and engineering. The majors in demand among many Chinese students are natural sciences and engineering. More than 60 million engineers work in China,

– Professor Guo Peiqing noted in his speech.

According to Associate Professor of the Department of World Politics at St. Petersburg State University N.K. Kharlampieva, the developed program of the Third Russian-Chinese Arctic School contributed to the transition from classical approaches to the education of a future diplomat to the preparation of a modern professional diplomat of a new type, who applies in his activities competencies based on a synthesis of technical, natural science and social and humanitarian disciplines.

Arctic Center of PetrSU