Within the framework of the All–Russian Conference on Environmental Education, organized by the V.I. Vernadsky Nongovernmental Ecological Foundation under the auspices of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, a specialized section “Protected Areas: Territory of Environmental Education and Enlightenment” was held. Its moderators set the tone for the entire discussion, highlighting the unique role of protected areas.
Veronika Leshchinskaya, Head of the Division of Additional Environmental Education at the “State Environmental Center” of the Department of Natural Resources Management and Environmental Protection of Moscow, PhD, Associate Professor, succinctly formulated the mission of the participants in her introductory speech: “Environmental education specialists have accumulated extensive experience in involving the population in the practice of nature protection. These close ties with educational and cultural institutions already have such methodological baggage that needs to be shared and developed.”
This thesis became the leitmotif of the entire subsequent conversation, in which representatives of the nature reserve system from different parts of Russia showed exactly how they are shaping “a new worldview paradigm of the future homo ecologicus (eco-friendly person).”
From systematic work on a federal scale to the personal input of every citizen:
The logic of the section ranged from the general to the particular. Yulia Tolkacheva, Head of the Environmental Education Department at the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, was the first to talk about a systematic approach to the development of environmental education at the federal level. She cited impressive figures demonstrating the scale of this work: “The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment currently manages 243 specially protected natural areas. Every year we record an increase in population coverage rates. In 2024, this figure was more than 5.8 million people.”
However, the system does not exist on its own. Its ultimate goal is to change the consciousness and behavior of each person. This idea was developed in her speech by Elena Zharkova, Head of the Department of Environmental Education and Enlightenment of “The State Environmental Protection Center” of the Department of Environmental Management and Environmental Protection of the City of Moscow. She suggested considering education as a tool for achieving personal environmental well-being: “We have defined environmental well-being as ensuring the contribution of citizens. Why do we need our environmental awareness and education? And so that everyone can have an impact and make a positive contribution.”
Practices of Specially Protected Natural Areas: how to involve, explain, and engage in practice
The following block of presentations became a vivid illustration of how theory is translated into practice. Colleagues from nature reserves and national parks shared specific cases.
Irina Pushkova, Chief Specialist in Environmental Education at the Prioksko-Terrasny State Nature Reserve, told about how to create an “immersion effect” in protected nature. She described the original format of the tour: “We conduct silent tours. That is, when children go on an excursion, it is necessary to make sure that they carefully listen to the guide, memorize the information they receive, and then share this information at home, with friends, and with their parents.” This approach allows you not only to transfer knowledge, but also to form a deep personal experience of encountering nature.
A completely different, but no less effective way has been chosen by the Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park, which is facing an unprecedented recreational load. Vyacheslav Shcherbakov, Director of the Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park, explained: “We have long exceeded the target of one million visitors per year, and this is a very high anthropogenic load... Some of these visitors use our national park as an urban park of culture and recreation.” The answer was to create an entire system of continuous environmental education through the formation of an environmental education cluster. “We are probably a basic mini-“Sirius”, I would say, an ecological and geographical class. That is, starting from the eighth grade, students are recruited here who will enroll in specialized specialties in the future,” he said.
If the key challenge for the Moscow Region and Krasnoyarsk is recreational activity, then for the Far East it is the need to mitigate the conflict between humans and large predators. Anton Fetisov, Head of the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Nature Reserve, the Khabarovsk Territory, found an unconventional approach to this: “We combined the reserve and the theater, made an ecological performance. It had such a response that the day after our event, my phone was bursting.”
The intertwining of environmental and cultural tasks gives special complexity and depth to work in protected areas. Daria Dashirabdanova, an environmental education specialist at the Alkhanai National Park, told about this in her online speech. “Alkhanai is a sacred center for the Buryat people. The park does not just inform about nature, it spreads the traditional attitudes of the Buryat people towards the environment, based on deep reverence, thrift and the desire for harmony.”
Innovation and Urbanism: a New Generation's Perspective
The final block of the section clearly demonstrated how environmental education overcomes the boundaries of protected areas, mastering fundamentally new formats and audiences. A striking example of innovation was the presentation of the author’s board game “The Secret Inhabitant of Protected Areas”, which was presented by Marina Nikolaeva and Eva Spitsyna, scholarship holders of the Vernadsky Foundation. “An effective tool is the use of interactive game mechanisms. It is this principle that we have laid the foundation for our project. This is a bridge of knowledge in action,” explained Marina Nikolaeva. Alina Khramova, also a Foundation scholarship holder, spoke about how volunteer initiatives help develop ecotourism and explore ecological paths. “Hospitality volunteers play a key role in raising the level of environmental awareness of citizens and make a significant contribution to the implementation of capital initiatives.”
The logical conclusion was a report by Svetlana Morozova, Deputy Director for Environmental Education at the “GorZelenStroy” Municipal public enterprise located in the city of Perm in the Urals. Svetlana Morozova showed how the principles of environmental education were implemented in the urban environment. The “Green Ring of Perm” project clearly demonstrates that the formation of an ecological culture is relevant not only for wildlife, but also for millions of citizens. The section became a clear demonstration of the fact that the specially protected natural territories of Russia are a powerful and dynamic network of "living laboratories" for the education of ecological culture. From federal strategies to local volunteer actions, from school lessons to theater productions, all these are links in the same chain leading to the achievement of the national goal of environmental well–being, where everyone is aware of their role and is able to make a concrete contribution.
