Dr. Nina Dagbaeva
"Environmental Education - Mechanisms, Strategies and Actions"

The issues I'm going to dwell upon are as following: what scientific and public authorities launch to preserve biodiversity of the lake and what tendencies of environmental education system development are given priorities in the Baikal region. Environmental education problems of the region turn out to be a mere reflection of many of the Russian environmental education problems. Nevertheless there exists some significant progress in many positions, in innovation models, development and practice-oriented forms in particular. The main problems of environmental education in the Baikal region are referred to as:
        Lack of elaborate standards in the field of environmental education;
        Insufficient development of biodiversity preservation in the functioning/existing curriculums;
        Lack of manuals and information, methodical literature of high quality;
        Insufficient orientation of environmental education towards local ecological problems and their solutions;
        Poor financing of environmental education activities (hardly anyone in this room can imagine a situation when teachers are not paid for months);
        Insufficient use and dissemination of rich national experience and traditions of local people concerning Lake Baikal nature treatment.

At the same time it is the environmental education system within which the richest and informal teachers' experience has been accumulated. Non-profit environmental groups' experience in coping with ecological problems is quite modest. It is possible, however, to evaluate NGO's work in this field taking into consideration the last 5-6 years. Making a generalized account of NGO's accomplishments in the system of environmental education their activities may be described as follows:

Main directions of NGO activities:
        Information-resource;
        Educational and methodical;
        Nature protection;
        Ethno-ecological;
        Ecological tourism.

Target groups:
        Children and the youth;
        Secondary school teachers;
        Leaders of children's ecological organizations;
        University students;
        Local people.

Activity partners:
        Ministries and education departments;
        Environmental governmental organizations and authorities;
        Museums;
        National parks and wildlife refuges;
        Mass media.

We consider information dissemination to be the most important and, thus the most strategic, priority guideline of Baikal Information Center "Gran'', which I represent here. It aims at providing residents with all sorts of information on environmental problems of the lake and the region on the whole. The strategy of the Center's environmental education activity is put in such a motto:
Information - Knowledge - Actions

Our Center has a big environmental databank, created in the last two years, which we try to apply to certain target groups and provide teachers, students with this material.

Much effort is given to the implementation of the strategic guideline of our organization's activity which mainly deals with the development of a steady information system between local governmental and non-governmental institutions working with children in the field of environmental education and establishment of practice-oriented information cooperation among the environmental groups of the Buryat Republic, the Chita and Irkutsk Oblasts. To achieve this goal we organize seminars, training groups and meetings.

Another direction we are working within the system of environmental education is the elaboration of guidebooks for teachers and leaders of children's ecological organizations. We provide a scientific guide and financial support for a kindergarten and two secondary schools.

Now I would like to list the most important educational measures and projects that we have undertaken since November last year:
        training seminar "Virtual ecology" for senior pupils ;
        creative laboratory "Adoption of Multi-Media and foreign Experience in Environmental education";
        creation and publication of an information bulletin, supported by Global Nature Fund, focusing on Lake Baikal problems and widely favoured among teachers;
        dissemination of popular scientific information on natural conditions of the Lake and the region through web-site and CD-ROM created by our Info Center and supported by the Environmental Fund of our Republic etc.

At present our priority projects are the DDT project and the forum for non-governmental environmental organizations of the Buryat Republic and the Irkutsk Oblast aiming at establishing exchange work in the field of environmental education. The forum is to be carried out in December. This grant was given by the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund. The forum schedule provides training seminars, literature exhibitions, round-table discussions.

In most of the countries of the world, non-governmental organizations have a longer history of existence than in Russia; they are financially independent and more experienced in involving volunteers and cooperating with the government. Their knowledge, experience, creative energy will be of great help in many ways to us. Far from perfect legislation in our country does not provide privileges to enterprises that want to support NGOs. But at the same time, we cannot rely on charity in time of struggle for survival.

Finally, I wish you would come to the next conference of the Living Lakes to see the deepest lake of our planet- Lake Baikal. Welcome to Baikal.