IATP News

Tajikistan Experts Find New Ways to Study, Monitor Weather Developments

Six employees of the Khorog Hydrometeorological Observatory (KHO) are using their enhanced ICT skills, the product of February IATP center in Khorog, Tajikistan, to access, edit, and incorporate relevant online sites in climate trend analysis in the Pamir region.

This interest in climate and ecology is more than a purely academic inquiry. According to KHO Meteorological Specialist Kishvar Navruzshoev, “The territory of Tajikistan and its population are subject to influences from various natural processes which can lead to natural disasters. Every year more than 100 natural phenomena occur in Tajikistan that influence the national economy.”

With humanitarian and economic issues at stake, Navruzshoev and his colleagues are using IATP training to “find meteorological maps that can ease our work in analyzing climatic events in Central Asia and especially in Pamir region.” KHO staff study environmental change prompted by both natural and anthropogenic factors. They then provide information to state bodies, the general population, and organizations interested in current environmental and climate conditions.

Citizens Discuss Environmental Issues Online, Learn How They Can Act Offline

From December 22-26, 2008, the director of the NGO Civil Initiative Support Fund, Muazamma Burkhanova moderated an online discussion on “The Natural Condition of Tajikistan’s Environment” for university and middle school teachers, entrepreneurs, representatives of NGOs, and students at five IATP centers throughout Tajikistan. The virtual discussion focused on the ecological challenges facing the country, challenges that are exacerbated by the national and global lack of unanimity on environmental issues. The discussion participants also shared thoughts on measures taken by both governmental and non-governmental institutions in addressing these problems.

To begin the online discussion, Burhanova described how pollutants are causing the rapid disappearance of flora and fauna around the country. “For the last decade, the area of forests and of valuable natural ecosystems has been reduced, and the degradation of soil and thawing of glaciers with all their negative consequences have been taking place.”

Dushanbe entrepreneur Shavkat Azimbaev asked, “Is there any attempt to develop national parks in Tajikistan? What happened to the famous national park Tiger Reserve?” Burhanova answered, “The ecological condition of [Tajikistan’s] national parks…basically depends on [domestic] financial resources. In addition, their level of protection is based on how local populations use those resources.” She added, “For a long time, the protection of the Tiger Reserve has been provided by the international organization World Wide Fund for Nature.”

Second-year university student Zevar Shabozova asked, “The main ecological problem in our city is trash-burning. After five p.m., it is difficult to breathe. Are there any efforts [being made] regarding this issue?” Burhanova replied, “Debris contains a lot of dangerous and unhealthy ingredients and burning it, besides causing soil and air pollution, affects people’s health. In Dushanbe, the issue was submitted to local municipality’s legislature two years ago, which ended with the adoption of a regulation prohibiting burning of debris.” She continued, “[Trash] burning is still continuing, however. The violators do receive fines if caught by authorities.”

This online event enabled participants to acquire knowledge about legal tools for environmental protection, ways of promoting compliance in their communities, and current environmental trends and conditions in Tajikistan and around the globe. The participants also acquainted themselves with non-governmental and state organizations that work towards environmental protection.

Local Residents Learn about Environmental Sustainability in Chisinau, Moldova

On August 14, the IATP Training Laboratory in Chisinau, Moldova, sponsored a seminar on environmental sustainability led by Elena Solohin (UGRAD 07) for six representatives of local environmental NGOs and local residents.

The Role of NGOs in Environmental Protection: Foreign and Ukrainian Experience

On August 20, the IATP center in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, sponsored a seminar entitled, “The Role of NGOs in Environmental Protection: Foreign and Ukrainian Experience” for eight local NGO employees, journalists, and other interested citizens. IATP Site Administrator Yuriy Seliverstov and IATP Trainer Mykyta Shaleny explained to participants how NGOs can influence public opinion by organizing a media campaign and community drives for environment protection. The trainers also described the role of information technologies in spreading information on problems faced by communities and consolidating efforts to solve problems. The attendees defined the most urgent environmental problems of the city and started developing programs to address them.

On August 21, the IATP center in Sevastopol, Ukraine, hosted a seminar entitled, “Unique Nature of Crimea: Environmental Problems of the Region and Ways to Solve Them” for 20 local ECA alumni, students, and employees of local libraries. Tetiana Osadcha, a staff member of the Department of Sea Sanitary Hydrobiology of the Institute of Biology of the South Seas, informed the attendees that the bays of Sevastopol are polluted by petroleum and heavy metals. She also presented a comparative analysis of the city bays’ condition for the last 30 years and stated that over nine tons of heavy metals are released into the water annually, which leads to mutations in fish and other marine organisms. The attendees discovered that mussels can ameliorate the problem of pollution, acting as natural filters. Valentyn Shestak, deputy head of the Sevastopol branch of the Ukrainian Society of Environmental Protection, gave an overview of other environmental problems of the city, in particular, deforesation, and waste disposal. He emphasized that citizens can influence local authorities by creating citizens’ action groups for environmental protection. The attendees also explored websites on the topic, including http://cave-town.iatp.org.ua/, website dedicated to the cave towns of the peninsula. After the seminar, the participants visited Sevastopol Nature House. As a result of the seminar, the librarians suggested organizing a regular seminar on environment issues for local schoolchildren to encourage them to protect the unique environment of Crimea. Local television stations covered the event.

 

NGO Website Brings Together Sportsmen across Europe

Yuriy and Aleksanrd Ushakovy from Sevastopol, Ukraine, managed to increase five times the number of participants of the traditional Crimean Orienteering competitions thanks to their web-site http://orient-crimea.narod.ru/, which won the first prize among ten sites at the July Anniversary Competitions “Forest Routes-2008” in Crimea.

As web-site administrators, the brothers Ushakovy were awarded the Commemorative Medal, produced by the National Bank of Ukraine in honor of the World Championship on Orienteering held in Kyiv in August 2007. Their site covered the events of the sport and facilitates their successful implementation.

The brothers are active users of IATP services since 2004, and energetic members of the NGO “Crimean Federation of Orienteering.” Having little IT skills, Ushakovy started ICT training courses at IATP, eventually developing their NGO’s website and involving more peers not only from Ukraine, but also from other countries like Russia, Moldova, Belarus, Norway, in this exciting and fast-developing sport. Assisted by IATP center staff, Ushakovy launched the site in February 2005 after completing a web design course. Lacking special knowledge to upgrade their web-site, Ushakovy successfully graduated the DL courses on Photoshop and PHP at IATP site.

The regularly updated and upgraded web-site helps to expand the list of NGO members, but it also serves as an information center for people interested in sport orienteering, where they can find the latest news, see the calendar of events, held by the Federation, and join in competitions. Statistics show that they have around 700 visitors monthly and Yuriy Ushakov communicates with many of them via e-mail, posted at the web-site.

Since their first day at the IATP center, the Ushakovs visited not only IATP-sponsored training courses, but also workshops on fundraising, green tourism, and online events on international sports. Yuriy Ushakov commented, “the main thing we realized from IATP training is how to learn with pleasure at any age.”

In the last year, more than 150 NGO representatives gained ICT skills at IATP-sponsored courses in Ukraine. IATP in Ukraine has hosted over 800 NGO websites, developed and designed mainly by active IATP users with assistance of IATP staff. These web-sites help to increase the number of interested people, to inform communities about certain problems, to attract and involve the community members into NGO’s activities.