The image of the future of the North Caucasus was discussed at KBSU

A round table entitled “Image of the Future: Sustainable Energy, Food, and Digital” was held at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh.M. Berbekov (KBSU). The initiative, implemented by the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (CFDP), brought together experts, officials, and young scientists to discuss strategies for the development of the North Caucasus in the context of global challenges.

The round table was opened by acting rector of KBSU Yuri Altudov, who emphasized the importance of the key topics of the discussion – energy, food security, and digitalization.

The list of topics that we plan to discuss today is very broad: international relations, public policy, business, and climate. We are confident that sustainable development of the district is possible only through the synthesis of innovations, preservation of natural heritage, and active involvement of young people in the transformation processes.

Leonid Grigoriev, academic director of the Department of World Economy and Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, revealed the prospects for global energy. Despite the dominance of hydrocarbons, he predicts a qualitative transformation of the industry due to artificial intelligence and energy system management.

KBR minister of Economic Development Boris Rakhaev spoke about successful local solutions and shared plans for the development of hydropower.

The region was 99% gasified back in the early 1990s, while the forest was preserved. We plan to cover the growing demand for electricity using the republic’s hydro potential. There are 8 hydroelectric power plants in Kabardino-Balkaria, further reasonable placement of hydroelectric power plants, according to experts, will allow producing from 15 to 19 billion kilowatt-hours, which is tens of times more than the energy consumed at the moment,

— Boris Rakhaev emphasized, referring to the republic’s development strategy until 2040.

KBSU research teacher Timur Aramisov presented a report on nature-like technologies that reproduce natural energy generation and distribution systems. The speaker highlighted Russian achievements in this area, including developments in bioenergy, nuclear, hydrogen and additive technologies.

Russia can become a leader in creating new generation energy systems that combine technological progress with the principles of sustainable development,

— said Aramisov, noting KBSU’s developments in additive technologies and advanced materials.

Zurab Berelidze, director of the KBSU Center for Sustainable Development, focused on water well-being, noting that competent resource management will solve the problems of water shortage in Eurasia.

Kabardino-Balkaria is located inside the global water shortage belt, and competent exploitation of resources along with the development of drinking water production will have a comprehensive impact on both the sustainable development of the region and on solving water shortage issues in the territories of central, southern and eastern Eurasia,

— the expert is confident.

Elena Mashukova, director of the Institute of Law, Economics and Finance of KBSU, linked the future with human capital:

Staff must be ahead of events, they must be progressive thinkers, have high-quality knowledge, and, naturally, generate all the processes taking place in Russia. The University is involved in all the main vector processes in the system of higher education and regional policy and trains specialists who are capable of generating breakthrough ideas.

The experts also discussed the «green» image of the KBR. Emma Abanokova, scientific consultant of the Center for Sustainable Development, recalled that the republic is among the top ecological regions of Russia, and Madina Alikaeva, professor of the Department of Economics and Accounting, Analytical and Information Systems of the IPEF KBSU, spoke about the promotion of cultural heritage through tourism. Zalina Shogentsukova, deputy director of the IPEF for Science and Innovation, spoke about decarbonization in horticulture.

Summing up, Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy and Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs magazine, noted that he believes that the result of the round table was the audience’s involvement in the discussion process.

We are engaged in large international processes. It often happens that people do not fully identify with them. I believe that the main task is to show that these global processes affect our lives on a daily basis. Everything in the world is interconnected now. In our discussion, we managed to combine and intertwine what is related to large-scale geopolitics and economics, and what is happening specifically here, in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University. I attribute this success to the fact that there is a very high intellectual and educational level here,

— Fyodor Lukyanov summed up.

The round table was held as part of the project «Image of the Future for Young Russians: Prospects for the Development of Russian Regions», with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund.