This was an international interdiscipinary conference, at which historians, geographers, zoologists and specialists in other disciplines from various universities and academic institutions in Russia and foreign countries met to examine issues of environmental history, the history of the reception and construction of natural resources and landscapes, the history of the study of climate and its influence on the history of Russia and neighbouring countries over the course of several centuries. A special focus was made on the presentation of materials which shed light on the role of natural factors in the history of studying and developing peripheral regions with complex climatic conditions, such as Siberia and the Russian North. In this regard, it was very important that the conference was connected with the name of the outstanding Russian scholar, zoologist and geographer, Academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Alexander von Middendorf, who made an exceptional contribution to the study of Siberia and other outlying regions of the Russian Empire. The activities of Middendorff and his contemporaries demonstrated the importance of St. Petersburg as one of the centres of world science. Problems of studying and utilizing natural resources are listed among the most urgent for contemporary Russia. At the same time, the very understanding of natural resources is in need of conceptualization, including in a historical context. Understanding the historical implications of the “construction” of particular natural objects as resources, the peculiarities of the interrelationship between society and those resources, conceptions of how the significance of individual resources in the life of society changes in different periods, cannot be understood without historical research. The tasks of the conference were the following: studies of the historical bases and traditions of natural resource use in Russia; uncovering the roles of expert and local knowledge and the practices of natural resource use, destruction and changes in these traditions; analysis of the conceptualization of natural resources and natural forces of production in various historical periods of the functioning of the Russian state and among various social groups in Russian society; description and analysis of the circulation of knowledge about the environment of Russia in the Russian and international scientific space in various historical periods; revealing the features of the formation of images of nature in Russia and neighbouring territories; and also the perception of its landscapes, including urban landscapes; describing the contexts of how significant natural and cultural sites functioned in historical memory.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)