On March 19–20, 2026, the Primorsky Aquarium hosted the scientific and practical conference entitled “Strategies to Bridge Science, Education and Promotion of Environmental Literacy for Conservation of Ecosystem Biodiversity”. The conference brought together educators and representatives of scientific and conservation organizations from various regions of Russia and China.
More than 200 specialists came to Vladivostok to share their experiences and best practices in environmental education.
"Education and awareness raising represent a huge part of the Primorsky Aquarium's activities, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year," noted Olga Shevchenko, Director of the Primorsky Aquarium, in her welcoming speech. "We are proud of our achievements in this area: over the years of the scientific and educational complex's operation, tens of thousands of schoolchildren and students have been involved in our environmental education projects. And we are happy to share our original developments in working with children. We are always open to collaboration with colleagues from other regions."
The relevance of and high demand for the Open School as a communication platform is demonstrated by the annual expansion of the “geography” of its participants and growing interest not only from educational but also from scientific and public organizations. It was the first time that representatives from the Pacific Geographical Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Amur Tiger Center participated in the conference.
“This is a unique event in its own way, allowing us to directly interact with experts in conservation education from various regions," said one of the speakers, Sergei Aramilev, Director of the Amur Tiger Center. “Of course, each region is unique, but as one of the participants correctly noted, natural landscapes are different, animals are different, but the approach to working with children is the same everywhere. Today, new methods of working with young people are needed, and this platform allows us to combine our efforts to raise an environmentally conscious generation."
Experts from the Moscow and Leningrad Zoos, schools in Yakutia, and supplementary education organizations in Sakhalin, Bolshoy Kamen, Nakhodka, and many other cities shared their experience in education. In turn, specialists from the Primorsky Aquarium discussed various aspects of their scientific and educational activities, including the work of trainers, exhibit design advisors, and specialists from the education department and scientific laboratories.
The plenary and panel presentations covered various aspects of environmental and nature conservation, including public monitoring of river conditions and water pollution, the study of forest ecosystems, innovations in education, and many other pressing issues.
The conference program concluded with a traditional tour of the exhibits and laboratories of the scientific and educational complex and, of course, a meeting with the dolphinarium's “stars”. The main theses of the IX Open School will be included in a collection of materials that can be used by specialists in the field of environmental education.
