The St. Petersburg Committee on the Arctic and the city's scientific innovative center will launch the first joint online courses for mineral developing companies working in the Russian Arctic zone. The aim of the courses is to improve employees' skills in environment protection and ecological safety.

The project was initiated by the heads of several Yakutia's districts where hydrocarbons are extracted. The courses will be held online, divided into three programs: ensuring ecological safety in the Arctic, ensuring ecological safety of dangerous waste management in the Arctic as well as environmental protection. The courses last from 32 to 112 hours.

According to the press service, for the last two years the St. Petersburg Committee on the Arctic has been developing teaching programs for retraining and further training of specialists working in the Arctic zone. Today such courses are already included in the curriculum of the Russian Hydrometeorological University, the St. Petersburg Interregional Resource Center and also some of the other educational institutions in St. Petersburg. Last year, over 30 experts took part in these courses. As of today, the introduction of these Arctic programs to the curriculum of St. Petersburg State University is being discussed.