Public lecture as part of the eco-forum at the electronic music festival “STIHIA”, May 6 – 8 in Muynak. It was our first experience of participating in such an event:
The main theme was “The Present and Future of the Aral Sea Territory”
SCA members acted as speakers in two sessions:
- Session 1: “The Present and Future of the Aral Sea Territory” (Elena Bykova)
- Session 2: “Anthropology and rural development” (Olga Esipova)
Lena and Olya talked about the biodiversity of the Aral Sea, discussed the development of Muynak, the preservation of the unique nature of the region and the prospects for the development of the tourism activities. As part of the eco-forum, we have prepared a kind of traveling exhibition with original photographs of animals and landscapes of Resurrection (Vozrozhdeniye) Island. In total, between 80-100 people participated in our sessions as active listeners. There were many questions, but the main ones came down to: “what can we do to help save the unique nature of the Aral Sea? Do you have volunteer programs?”
In general, we liked the format and the audience, it was a mixture of travelers from different countries and local residents.
Video about the festival: