PrArcHeritage

The grand opening of the department took place with the participation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov and the Governor of the Arkhangelsk region Alexander Tsybulsky. Maxim Preminin, Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in Arkhangelsk, Director of the Representative Office of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat in Russia, Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Norway in Arkhangelsk Andrey Shalev, Advisor to the Rector for International Cooperation, Vice President of the University of the Arctic for Interregional Cooperation also congratulated on the opening of the Department of the Lomonosov Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NARFU). Marina Kalinina, Head of the Europe and North America Department of the UNESCO World Heritage Center Isabel Anatole-Gabriel.

The head of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Valery Falkov noted the significant role of the new department in the development of interregional relations between universities. "The opening of the UNESCO Chair is important in connection with the Ministry's course aimed at the development of "big science" in universities. The work of this department involves serious work of universities aimed at interacting with scientific institutes of the Arkhangelsk region and other regions, conducting research activities, fruitful exchange of ideas with educational purposes - a story about the unique Russian culture and the original culture of the Russian North," Valery Falkov emphasized. The Governor of the Arkhangelsk region Alexander Tsybulsky said that the opening of the UNESCO chair is the first step on a long way to preserve and popularize the culture of the Russian North: "There are a lot of UNESCO cultural heritage sites in the North and we are able to work with them: on the one hand, preserving them in their original form without causing damage, and, on the other hand, presenting them in modern realities, in a rapidly changing world. Therefore, we are ready to share our experience with colleagues and believe that such an exchange will be effective." Rector of NARFU Elena Kudryashova told about the tasks facing the new department of the university. "The UNESCO Chair faces several interrelated tasks: preservation and development of cultural traditions of peoples living in the Arctic region, including indigenous peoples; preservation and development of unique architecture, including wooden architecture; preservation and development of folk crafts. The department is interuniversity, it is part of a large network structure. We cooperate with all UNESCO departments opened in other universities in Russia, with the international network university UArctic, which unites more than 200 universities and scientific organizations of Arctic countries, with universities of the Barents Euro-Arctic region and, of course, with UNESCO," said Elena Kudryashova, Rector of NARFU.

As part of the opening of the UNESCO Chair, the Rector of NARFU Elena Kudryashova, the director of the Kenozersky National Park Elena Shatkovskaya and the director of the Russian Arctic National Park signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of conservation, study and popularization of natural and historical and cultural heritage of the Arctic territories. During his visit to NARFU, Valery Falkov also visited the geological museum of the Academician Nikolay Laverov University, where he got acquainted with the exposition and educational opportunities of the site. The Minister was also presented with a project on the synthesis of single crystals of diamond and the manufacture of diamond plates. During the implementation of the project, it is planned to produce large (up to 10 carats) single crystals of diamond with an annual volume of up to 10 thousand carats, and subsequently manufacture single crystal diamond plates for various technological purposes on their basis. The diamond plates produced can be used to create a diamond nozzle necessary for dismantling nuclear reactors or repairing oil wells, microsurgical scalpels with a diamond blade used in ophthalmic operations, plastic, microvascular surgery, as well as neurosurgery, in X-ray optics and other fields.