On December 5-9, 2016 the VI International Forum «Arctic: Today and the Future», was held in St. Petersburg. The Forum is organized by Interregional Public Organization "Association of Polar Explorers" (ASPOL). In general, the Forum was attended by over 1,400 participants.
As it was noted in the address of Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Commission on the Development of the Arctic Dmitry Rogozin to the forum participants, the strategic importance of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation as a macro-region is growing and with it the Arctic agenda is expanding. Therefore, the Russian public authorities need the assistance of society and business in the area of improving the legislative framework and development of programs in the Arctic. The proposals developed during the Forum, will be integrated into the work of the State Commission on the Development of the Arctic and can become the basis for new legislation, concluded the Vice Premier. Chairman of the Council of Federation Valentina Matvienko, welcoming the participants of the Forum, stressed the necessity to make proposals that will allow to balance business interests and the preservation of the Arctic.
A key theme of the Forum in 2016 became the improvement of legislation of the Arctic.
Regional subject on the Forum was associated with the concept of the formation of supporting zones in the Arctic, which has become the embodiment of the project approach adopted in this year as a priority at the governmental level. As part of this concept the regional models were presented by the Deputy Governors of the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, Nenets and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Districts, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
During the sections of the Forum the participants discussed the most topical issues on various thematic areas concerning the Arctic zone. Among them there were the transport system and energy projects, Economics, human resources, Arctic engineering, preservation of the Arctic ecology, support of the peoples of the North and others.
At the Forum there were meetings of ASPOL Public Commissions on various areas, as well as a Congress of "Association of Polar Explorers", during which the president of the Association - Arthur Chilingarov, Deputy of the State Duma, special representative of the Russian President for international cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic - was re-elected for the next term. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his greetings to participants of the Congress, in which he expressed appreciation for the work of the Association of Polar Explorers on drawing attention to the polar thematic and protection of the interests of people who live and work in the Far North.
The signing of cooperation agreements were held on the Forum. IPO "Association of Polar Explorers" and the Fund "Public opinion" agreed to support the research projects and joint research work. International Telecommunications Academy and Forum «Arctic: Today and the Future» have signed a Memorandum on cooperation on the Arctic agenda. Forum Partner Norilsk Nickel JSC and the Government of the Omsk region have signed the Roadmap of the project, which provides the use of high-tech products of Omsk manufacturers on the enterprises of Norilsk Nickel. ANO "Strategic partnership "North-West" and the Russian Agency of support of small and medium business entered into an agreement.
"The first Arctic Consortium" gave a presentation of the single transport and logistics operator in the Arctic. Also, the presentation of the national public standard "Environmental Security in the Arctic", developed by the Ecological Public Commission of the IPO "Association of Polar Explorers" under the leadership of Director General of PJSC ROSSETI Oleg Budargin, took place at the Forum.
During the Exhibition there were presented the technologies that can be applied under harsh conditions.