Studies on the Problems of Sustainable Development and School Ecological Monitoring of Water Reservoirs

In order to realize the strategy of the world community in the field of education for sustainable development, the D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia and non-profit organization Love Russia (Great Britain) organized for schoolchildren the teaching of the fundamentals of sustainable development problems and of river water and air quality ecological monitoring. The pupils of more than 50 schools, boarding schools and social rehabilitation centers for minors were involved in practical ecological monitoring within 2004-2007, who have monitored water in the Kasimov, Shilovo, Spassk Districts of the Ryazan Region and investigated more than 150 objects within a 200 km wide corridor lengthways the Oka River. The results obtained in the investigation were considered as a part of ecological audit and discussed from the standpoint of a practical example of the social responsibility of humans for the processes occurring in the biosphere. A positive experience of the lessons concerning the studies on the problems of sustainable development and carrying out ecological monitoring of wild nature allows the authors to propose these courses as a compulsory regional component of the school education process.