Gaidar Forum 2020

Students of Master's programme "Population and Development" of the Higher School of Economics partook in the just concluded Gaidar Forum 2020 which was co-organized by the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, and the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) between 15th-16th January 2019, with the theme: "Russia and the World: Challenges of the New Decade".

On the first day of the forum some of our first year students, including Goodnews Israel Oshiogbele and Dorothy Nkiruka Nnajiego, participated in an expert discussion session on "Best Practices to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)". Amongst the experts who shared their insights on the subject included Viktor Danilov-Danilyan (Scientific Director, Water Problems Institute, Russian Academy of Science), Ralph Gonsalves (Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), and Sergey Semenov (Director of the Research and Educational Center of Sustainable Development, Institute of Finance and Sustainable Development, RANEPA).

Some of their recommended best practices to achieve the SDGs include:
- that governments should invest more in the energy sector by shifting attention to renewable energy sources (like solar, wind and water) rather than coal which adversely affects the ecosystem (through global warming and climate change).
- that governments and private sector should invest more in waste management as an alternative way of dealing with climate change.
- that governments should employ professionals in all public offices to instill good governance, improve policy making, develop strategic planning and foresight.
- that governments and businesses should train their staff on the SDGs.
- that businesses should incorporate the SDGs in their Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.