ICWIP Impressions

Stiina's still life

• There is a lot of demagogy about sustainable development. I agree with Prof. László Ervin that "sustainability starts at home", but most people, at least in Russia, haven't satisfied their basic needs to think of such high materials.


• Africans don't like when Europeans are talking about Africa. They get offended when we think it's just a poor continent. Some of them suppose that we deliberately keep Africa poor in order to control it and that Africa needs to be left alone to develop. But I agree with them that we should tread Africa as one entity, its countries are so different.


• It's not clear whether the climate changed is a result of people's behavior or just a natural cycle. Dr. Ferenc Miskolczi had tried to convience us it was the latter, but his presentation was too scientific to get through to our minds. He has left NASA as a protest, as they didn't agree to publish his reseach.
  
• Recycling is an exciting business. During a visit to a waste separating enterpise, we learned they were profitable, every week they find an ID card in the waste, they sign agreements with companies to keep private information found the waste, local students separate waste to earn money in summer, blocks of cans really cost a lot, etc. I wouldn't mind being a PR manager of such an enterprise one time.
  
• Every party is a phenomena of human relations. There are hunters, victims, outsiders, etc. Everyone tries to find his/her own place with success or failure, and I'm not an exception. At first I'm very active trying different roles, but by about 3am I start thinking to much about my life and get a bit depressed. Alcohol doesn't help.


• Patriotism is not something bad, but Russians have many complexes about that. While abroad, they prefer not to mix with other Russians. But this has been another case. Katya and I have been an excellent delegation represented our country. We proudly marched through Pecs in national wear. On the Country Show we sang "Oy da ne vecher, da ne vecher" and danced with "Chastushki Babki-Yozhki" music.
  
• Environmental education should strart from the kindergarden. I was surprised, when our international discussion showed, that my school activities in Turkmenistan were the most advanced. So, we had courses from an NGO on responsible water consumption, we had competitions on creative usage of plastic bottles, we celeberaded "A drop of water is a grain of gold" Holiday.
  
• I've moved to Moscow from Turkmenistan, but I'm proud to represent Russia on such events, as this country has given me many opportunities. During the festival we went to the concert of Deti Picasso, band from Moscow. The performance was fantastic, and we greeted them with a Russian flag, but by the end they took away an Armenian flag. Yes, they were born in Yerevan, but they should have used two flags, as Moscow has given them the chance to live.

Hello!

I cant’ believe that just this morning I was in the office sitting in front of the computer. Now I’m sitting in a train heading from Budapest to Pecs. The trip from Moscow has been an entire adventure itself, so that I would like to share some of my impressions with you, starting from yesterday:

It seems that CSR is everywhere! Yesterday I went to cinema with another CSR Consultant, from EY. The movie started with a presentation for a pharmaceutical company’s management board. A PR Consultant was trying to convince them to distribute medicine free of charge “to change the world for the future”. This morning I bought GEO Magazine in Okhotny Ryad. And what do you think? It’s devoted to alternative energy sources. On the plane I was thinking about CSR in airlines, when I saw a video about what IATA thinks of CO2 emissions. Today airlines produce 2% of global CO2 emissions, but their goal is to reduce it to 0% by enhancing energy efficiency.

Hungary is so familiar! I’ve been surprised to see ailanthus, acacia, weeping willow and other trees that also grow in Ashgabat, my home town. Another surprise happened when I saw that cars in the Budapest Metro are made in Mytishi, Russia. They look exactly the same like in Moscow, but the stations are not so gorgeous, of course. When I went to Arena Plaza, the biggest shopping centre in Budapest to buy a local SIM card, I didn’t find much difference with Okhotny Ryad and other Moscow shops. Mexx, Zara, Springfield, etc. I even found the same pants I had bought in Moscow! What is the point of going abroad then? And when I was eating my chicken in a café, the people next to me were speaking Russian. Moreover, now on the train I’m sitting next to four Ukrainians going for the same conference.

People are happy! You might know that the Hungarians and the Estonians have common roots – they are Finno-Ugric nations. So, I expected that locals would be as quite and reserved as Estonians, but actually they are completely the opposite. There are so many smiling faces on the streets! Women are discussing something emotionally, children are laughing, and couples are kissing. It’s so great to see that people are satisfied with their lives! Even today I saw an Azerbaijani family with about 7 children. One of them was mentally handicapped and had to use a wheelchair, but the parents carried him smiling. In the Budapest subway I saw a couple of mature people. He was blind, but they were walking arm-in-arm smiling.

Hugs, Sasha