Papers on Soviet Environmental History during the Cold War at the Aleksanteri Conference.

Elena Kochetkova, senior lecturer of the department of history and reearch fellow of the LETH, and Viktor Pál, postdoctoral researcher of the LEHT, took part in the 18th Aleksanteri Conference of the University of Helsinki held in October, 24-26.

Elena Kochetkova, senior lecturer of the department of history and reearch fellow of the LETH, and Viktor Pál, postdoctoral researcher of the LEHT, took part in the 18th Aleksanteri Conference of the University of Helsinki held in October, 24-26. Viktor organized a panel on Soviet environmental developments "Environmental Values and Ethics in the Soviet Union". The panel discussed the history and role of environmental values and ethics in the Soviet Union, focusing in particular on construction and engineering, history of consumer recycling, nuclear energy as basis for social identity, and literary and as well as cultural reflections on Soviet Promethean projects as a way of challenging the mainstream ideology.  Elena Kochetkova`s paper "Soviet Environment and Engineers, 1945-1980s: Views and Values" discussed the views and values shared by Soviet engineers and the way they perceived the interplay between nature and industrial production. The presentation was based on the history of the construction on Lake Baikal and industrial enterprises of Leningrad and Leningrad region. Viktor`s paper "Consumer Recycling in the USSR. Ethics and Values" explored environmental values and ethics behind the USSR’s consumer recycling programs. Namely, the Soviet Union developed and operated an extensive consumer recycling system under the Cold War, which included the extensive recycling of paper and cardboard, metal scrap and beverage containers (макулату́ра, металлолом, стеклотара).