The Festival “Arctic Days in Moscow” was organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment with support by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia, Moscow Government, Russian Geographical Society, Lomonosov Moscow State University and Russian Academy of Sciences. It took place on 20-22 November and combined three major events: International Scientific Conference “The Open Arctic”, the 3rd International Festival of Nonfiction Films “The Arctic” and Photo exhibition “The Arctic – Day and Night Area”.

The main goal of the festival was to highlight active work in the Russian northern region, popularise the image of the Arctic and develop concrete proposals for the federal and local governments.

The Plenary session of the International Scientific Conference that took place on 22 November gathered over 150 participants. The Plenary Panel was composed of Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergey Donskoy, academician Arthur Chilingarov (Advisor to the President on Arctic matters and guru of Arctic issues in Russia), Terry Callaghan (2007 - Nobel Peace Prize winner as one of the lead authors of the IPCC, Distinguished Research Professor, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Professor of Arctic Ecology in the University of Sheffield and Professor of Botany at Tomsk State University in Russia), a representative of the independent natural gas company Novatec and Jan Dusik, Director UNEP Regional Office for Europe who, in his speech, presented ongoing and planned UNEP activities in the Russian Arctic. During a panel discussion the question of the creation of the Ministry of the Arctic and Northern Territories Affairs in Russia was raised.

More information: http://arctic-days.ru/en/