The University Law Dialogue-2021 International Science-to-Practice Conference is a traditional event, which is held by the Institute of Law of South Ural State University every spring. Annually, the organisers choose a special topic of the event. This time it is dedicated to Law and Ecology.
“We live in a region, where the issues of ecology are truly burning,” says Deputy Director for Research of the Institute of Law and conference moderator Tikhon Podshivalov. “Our university is one of the centres of ecological research development. Representatives of the authorities, the public and the academic community take part in the conference. All the ideas that will be presented within the framework of the plenary session and round tables will form the basis of the collection of reports that we will publish wrapping up the event.”
According to the Director of the Institute of Law Elena Titova, the role of science is to respond to the challenges of time and propose ways to solve problems that humans are facing. Today the SUSU Institute of Law plays an important role in establishing regional legislation in the field of ecology.
“We have won a grant, and our specialists decided to write a law on environmental protection, which would allow to implement the Governor’s initiatives on introducing an environmental standard and to put the obligations of industrial enterprises into the legal framework,” said Elena Titova.
On the first day a plenary session was held, in which Chairman of State Duma Committee for Ecology and Environment Protection of the Russian Federation Vladimir Burmatov took part. He spoke on the state and prospects of legislative work in the field of ecology and environmental protection.
“Nowadays, the subject of legal regulation in the field of ecology is in demand, including in the State Duma. Over the past three years, so many environmental initiatives have been implemented as have not been adopted in the six previous convocations in the State Duma,” the expert emphasized. “This suggests that the green trend has become dominant. At the same time, it is extremely important to hold such conferences so that decisions in the field of environmental law would be professionally justified. We are closely working with SUSU, and I supported the idea of creating environmental direction in the work of the university, which today has become one of the main ones.”
Photo: Vladimir Burmatov
According to the deputy, the difficult ecological situation appeared in the Chelyabinsk Region, on the one hand, due to objective factors (industrial past), and on the other hand, due to subjective factors.
“Subjective factors are related to the fact that enterprises did nothing to improve the ecology. If we started dealing with these issues 20 years ago, we would be living in a city with a normal ecology. Over the recent years we have done a lot, including the fact that together with the Governor of the region, we have implemented a number of initiatives that can improve the quality of life in Chelyabinsk. This is the reclamation of the landfill, and the conclusion of contracts with polluting enterprises for the greening of production. The industry can change if it is brought to these changes,” noted Vladimir Burmatov.
The representatives of the Ministry of Ecology, Rosprirodnadzor, scientists of South Ural State University, as well as invited guests – employees of higher educational institutions from Belarus, Tyumen, Khanty-Mansiysk, Moscow, Poland, and Slovenia – presented their reports on the topic. Professor of the Department of State Municipal Management of the University of Tyumen Elena Gladun spoke on the current trends in the “green” transformation of regional development.
“The topic of legal regulation of environmental relations is relevant, many problems speak about it - in particular, climate change. One of the trends today is precisely the responses to climate change, for example, reducing the carbon footprint on the environment, and waste management. New sectors of the economy, such as ecological tourism and production of agricultural ecological products, are also developing,” says Elena Gladun.
On the second day within the frameworks of the conference, the work of sections and round tables is organised. Among the issues under consideration are: the powers of state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the regulation of environmental relations, the law enforcement activities to ensure environmental safety, the role of social and humanitarian disciplines in the formation of environmental culture and outlook of students, and more.