Vera Barinova and Stepan Zemtsov Participate in the Discussion of Sustainable Regional Development Strategies
On 23 October, Head of the Innovation Economics Department Vera Barinova and Senior Researcher of that department Stepan Zemtsov took part in a discussion on sustainable regional development strategies which was held in St Petersburg within the framework of the XVIIth All-Russia Forum ‘Strategic Planning in the Regions and Cities of Russia: Stakeholders of the Future’.
Stepan Zemtsov was moderator for the Round Table ‘Sustainable Regional Development Strategies: The Experience of Development and Implementation’. He pointed out that as far as discussions on sustainable development were concerned, most of their participants mistakenly assumed that they should be focused on purely ecological issues. At the same time, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (adopted in 2015) encompass the entire spectrum of existing socioeconomic development issues.
The Sustainable Development Goals are strategic planning tools that rely on the UN recommendations and offer a new outlook for regional and urban development. While previously economic growth was expected to be achieved through overexploitation of the environment and increasing social disproportions, today it primarily relies on human-oriented approach.
The main goal to be addressed by sustainable development strategies, according to Stepan Zemtsov, is growth of people’s wellbeing, living environment improvement, and higher happiness level.
Vera Barinova, in her presentation titled ‘Sustainable Development: International Experience’, discussed the interpretations of the term, emphasized the unity of the economic, social and environmental components of sustainable development, and described the implementation of sustainable development goals in foreign countries and the problems that arised in Russia in this connection. She pointed out that it was necessary to follow international standards when selecting sustainable development indices, and in particular to rely on the UN Statistical Commission’s recommendations, and described the joint experience of Russian institutions engaged in sustainable development studies (SDSN, RANEPA).
The presentation by Vera Barinova can be viewed here
