OSCE Office in Yerevan supports book on ecological awareness

YEREVAN, 19 January 2006 - Educating the public about ecological awareness is the aim of a new publication, supported by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Aarhus public environmental information Centre.

Written by professors Vostanik Marukhyan and Armen Hovsepyan, the book is the first such publication in Armenia. It analyzes global ecological problems and explains that their solution depends on the culture of a society and its interaction with nature on both national and worldwide scale.

"The success of environment protection depends heavily on environmental education and the awareness of the population," said Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, Head of the OSCE Office. "Environmental factors have a growing impact on prosperity, stability and security."

The First Deputy Minister of Science and Education, Ara Avetissyan, added that the publication was a valuable contribution to the development of ecological awareness and civil society in Armenia.

The book is recommended by the Ministry of Science and Education as a manual for students and lecturers, and will also be useful for policy-makers and legislators. It also received a positive review from the Georgian Academy of Ecological Sciences, which intends to translate it into Georgian.