ASU Rector Konstantin Markelov Proposes Declaring 2023 the Year of the Caspian Sea

Right now, Moscow is hosting the 2nd Caspian Economic Forum, which brought together official delegations from the Caspian countries, representatives of federal and regional authorities, and heads of leading companies. The rector of Astrakhan Tatishchev State University spoke at a practitioner-driven conference of mayors of cities and municipalities of the Caspian states.

In his report, Konstantin Markelov noted that in recent years ASU had acquired the status of a major center for implementing advanced areas of educational, scientific and youth policy, a point of connection between the interests of higher educational institutions in the Caspian region and Central Asia.

Konstantin Markelov initiated a number of proposals for inclusion in the final resolution of the 2nd Caspian Economic Forum:

• To give the forum Caspian Region: Sustainable Development Trajectories the status of an annual international Caspian event with the participation of business, the university community and the academies of sciences of the Caspian states;
• Based on this, to recommend that the public authorities of the Caspian countries develop and approve a project on creating a Caspian Scientific and Technological Platform, involving the Association of Universities and Research Centers of the Caspian Countries (Commission for Science, Research and Technology), which will allow scientists of the Caspian Sea to unite in international scientific teams on current topics and problems of the region. Astrakhan Tatishchev State University is ready coordinate its activities;
• In order to support youth innovative entrepreneurship, to include the Caspian Startup Festival, which is held at Astrakhan Tatishchev State University, in the plan of annual events of the Decade of Science and Technology in the Russian Federation; the festival identifies and unites active, ambitious young people and student teams of the Caspian states capable of producing new breakthrough ideas in the field of technological and social entrepreneurship;
• In order to exchange experience and build the potential of scientific and educational cooperation between the Caspian states, to hold an annual Caspian Robotics Festival in Astrakhan Region, including at Astrakhan Tatishchev State University, starting from 2023;
• In order to involve the general public, scientists and businesses in solving urgent problems of the Caspian development, to declare the next year of 2023 the Year of the Caspian Sea within the framework of the Decade of Science and Technology.

The heads of the Caspian cities (Astrakhan, Baku, Astana, and Tehran) agreed with these proposals.