Viktoria Ivanova and Associate Professor at the Department of Architectural Design Fedor Perov

The SPbGASU Rector Evgeny Rybnov, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy Irina Lugovskaia, Associate Professor at the Department of Architectural Design Aleksandra Eremeeva, students of the Faculty of Architecture Viktoria Ivanova, Olga Kucher and Ksenia Pletneva received letters of gratitude from the St Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov for their active participation in organizing and holding the I Youth Arctic Forum "Arctic: the new generation".

“The forum has become an important event in the life of our city and country, a platform for bringing together ambitious young people who are ready to prove themselves in the implementation of the state strategy for the development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.

Created as a result of the forum, the Arctic Youth Movement "Icebreaker" will undoubtedly become a large-scale resource in integrating young students into the state Arctic agenda and promoting the Arctic competencies of St Petersburg,” the text of the messages says.

The letters of gratitute were presented by Andrey Anokhin, Deputy Chairman of the St Petersburg Committee for Arctic Affairs, who emphasized that the city government has big plans for the development of the Arctic, and students will be involved in this work. It is necessary to intensify Arctic tourism, conduct scientific research, popularize the Arctic agenda in the media space, and create a personnel reserve. In February 2024, it is planned to hold the II Youth Arctic Forum "Arctic: the new generation", this time at the All-Russian level. The next step will be the adoption of the charter of the Arctic Youth Movement "Icebreaker".

Members of the "Icebreaker" movement suggested organizing a collaboration between SPbGASU and St Petersburg University of Civil Aviation. The goal of cooperation will be the design of standard modular sections for airports in the Arctic zone. Collaboration can be organized at the level of a quick project, followed by a deep study of architectural and technological solutions within the framework of graduation design.

Aleksandra Eremeeva spoke about the development of the Arctic direction at our university. She said: “SPbGASU is a member of the scientific and educational consortium “The Future of Arctic Architecture and Climate Dynamics”, conducts research and development for the Arctic zone of Russia. The theme of modern design and construction in arctic conditions is annually offered for course and diploma design, and is included in the program of summer architectural schools. Projects of tourist complexes and public spaces for the Murmansk region, residential and public buildings for Vorkuta have been developed, design is underway for new areas of Salekhard. In June 2023, about 30 projects devoted to the Arctic will be defended at the Department of Architectural Design. SPbGASU representatives regularly take part in conferences and project seminars of the All-Russian and international level dedicated to the study and development of the Far North.

During the last academic year, teachers and students attended conferences in Murmansk and Norilsk, became participants and co-organizers of an educational and practical seminar in Salekhard. The university cooperates with the chief architect of Salekhard, it is planned to develop cooperation with the administrations of the cities of Norilsk and Yakutsk.

Another initiative is the international summer school "Architecture of Ecotourism Complexes", during which tourist complexes are being designed for the northern territories. This year it will be held for the third time, more than 30 students from Russia and foreign countries will become its participants,” concluded the teacher.