Dr. Agni Vlavianos-Arvanitis: Let me start with something that is said to be romantic.
“I wish to paint every flower
to sing with hymns sweet aims
to learn eve 17 mystery
every secret fold
I wish to love every distant star
every small ant found on earth
but weak, powerless, transient
I do not know how to star
but with a prayer.”
In a sense, the same may be said about our meeting. We are here out of love for people. We are concerned with the future and are willing to find dimensions which would help to continue life on the planet and provide a worthy future for our descendants. In order to comprehend a paradigm for the future, we should think first of all about a philosophy for the coming millennium. We have heard excellent speeches about moral and ethical values, about the necessity to create a corresponding social structure and legal base for developing a social model based on biocentric values. And we agreed that a joy for life, joy for the very fact of our living, and a joy for the fullness of life of all the living must be a basis for this philosophy. Putting human rights and the happiness of man on the top of the social pyramid, we have to treat the life around us with love and reverence.
Let me give you a small example.
A new manager came to a multinational corporation which used to produce a high amount of toxic waste. He invited all the personnel of several thousand people and said, “From now on, the goal of our corporation in zero waste. If you wish to advance in the company, if you are concerned with the progress of our company, you have to put the ecological factor as your first criterion.” The employees didn’t like such a determined attitude on the part of the manager, but he was not ready to change. Then the employees rushed in, every one with recommendations based on their own observations. And a branch company was formed with several thousand clean technology designs, with the goal of zero waste. This branch company, where employees could also benefit and have shares, grew into a company with many hundreds of millions of dollars of profit. The waste, of course, was not reduced to the zero point, but was reduced drastically.
This example illustrates a commonly-known maxim that every one of us can contribute towards a biocentric civilization. To wait for instructions from above is to merely lose precious time. Each of us has to do on our own what comes from our hearts. Only then we can solve the problem of employment and clean water and soil. If every one of us does their part, we can change the world.
Let me also remind you of one obvious thing: time is of the essence for us now. Once I worked with Mr. Dennis Medows, one of the founders of the Club of Rome back in the 60’s, at a conference. He asked me if I was an optimist, and I said that I always looked at the future with optimism. However, Dennis said that we had only 10 to 20 years left if we continued to ruin the planet with the same rate of destruction. If we want life to continue and mankind to have a future, it is very important to be sure that what we do is valuable. We must have confidence in our forces and believe that we can move mountains. And then everyone of us can contribute their small bit in this big common cause.
I think we have to draw attention to the problem of unemployment and to offer a number of potential working places. It must be concrete suggestions that could turn the city of Slavutich into a biopolis, a city of full-fledged life, a place of joy and creativity. I am sure that every one of us has something to offer. Let us do it for the sake of the future – and may the life of all people of Ukraine be brighter and richer, and gain new dimensions.
Vladimir Alexeyev: It is symbolic that our symposium takes place here, in Slavutich. The disaster which took place 11 years ago is a sort of prototype of what then happened with Ukraine. I believe that Ukraine will be reborn like the Phoenix, as happened with the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant which now is the safest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, though the world community insists on shutting it down. Since we scientists, public figures, and politicians are gathered here, we should think about overcoming the thorough crisis which had struck our society.
Dr. Sergey Krimsky: Let me give you two facts, so. that you can better understand what I am going to say.
1. There is a biological law that every biological species that weighs more than 10 kilograms consumes no more than one percent of the biological resources of their environment. There is no mammal that consumes more than one percent of its biological resources. On this account, the environment is constantly stabilized and life continues. Before the 19th century, man also consumed no more than one percent of biological resources. Starting from the 19th century, man’s consumption of biological resources has increased by a power of 10. Why? The norms of biological life support for man have not changed. It turned out that these are the expenses of civilization, but not for consumption. This means that our civilization is extremely expensive.
2. H is known that sometimes roosters lay eggs. In the Middle Ages such roosters were tried in court and sentenced to death for violating the norms of reason, because such things are impossible from the point of view of reason. Science could arise only in the regions where “rooster trials” took place. Such trials were impossible in China because there is a cult of nature in China, according to which all that is natural is justified by the very fact of its naturality. In Europe an opposite position predominated: “Nature must not violate the laws of reason.” This is the idea of trying nature by reason.
Thus, my thesis is that if one understands civilization as a trial over the environment then such a civilization is a negative phenomenon. What can we oppose to it? Culture — understood not as the sum of information, scientific and technological achievements, etc., but a culture that Sergey Borisovich Burago spoke about, that is a development of the inner world of man, his microcosm. This would bring a civilization of an absolutely different kind which would see its main task not in changing, but in preserving the environment. Then changing man himself would be a price and a fee for preserving nature. In other words, the question “What do I have to do?” must be complemented with the question “What do I have to be?” To avoid a misunderstanding, I have to mention that I am not a follower of Rousseau and I understand all the benefit and inevitability of the development of science and civilization. Moreover, in order to have a full-fledged return to harmony with nature on a new level, we need all the achievements of science and technology. But let me emphasize that the predominating vectors of that new type of biocentric civilization that we are talking about have to be opposite to the vectors of the development of civilization until now. As a sample of such a change of vectors in the sphere of scientific and philosophical knowledge, let me re mind you of Pilate’s question, “What is truth?” which always remains open in the sphere of philosophical questioning. But Jesus transposed it into the question “Who is the truth?” and answered that He Himself is the way and the truth and the life. It is a completely different understanding of the truth.
In conclusion, let me add one more practical remark. There is a concept, significant to our subject, of the ecology of a city. This is a problem not only of nature, but also of the artificial urban environment that man lives in, a problem of the ecology of man. Let me demonstrate with an example. The famous 18th-century navigator Cook described an episode when he put in to shore in Africa in order to stock on up water and fresh food. He invited a local king to his ship. The king came with his bodyguards, and while Cook talked with him in his cabin, the bodyguards stood watch over the roof of the cabin because, as they believed, there must be only the sky over one’s head, and no one had a right to put his feet over one’s head. The situation of multistoried houses where constantly not the sky, but many layers of different people are over man is extremely dangerous psychologically. Statistics say that in regions of multi-story houses the percent of suicide is higher, and children learn and develop worse. In a word, the problem of “storiedness” is a serious one. In this connection I have to say that I very much like the fact that in Slavutich multi-storied houses and cottages go together well. I hope that we will withdraw from multi-storied housing one day.
Mark Gress: I don’t believe that ecology is the world’s biggest problem. Ecological problems can be solved by means of science and technology. I think that the fact that our psychology has gradually turned into a psychology of buyer and seller is much more terrible. Contemporary man first evaluates himself from this point of view, and our wonderful Declaration of Human Rights actually is to the liking of such a consciousness. This Declaration gives maximum freedom not so much to a citizen of a moral society, not so much to a man of the Earth and the Universe, even less to a crown of God’s Creation, but namely to a buyer and a seller. And the more we follow this way the less we would control technology and material things, but technology and material things would control us.
Dr. Irina Beletskaya: In this connection, two names come to my mind. The first one is the name of our wonderful writer and philosopher Miroslav Marinovich, the author of two books, Ukraine on the Margins of the Scripture and Ukraine; the Road Through the Wilderness. Marinovich says that Ukraine has fallen behind contemporary civilization in at least two domains— first, the industrial and, second, the information. However, having found itself on a curb of the contemporary technological and information civilization, Ukraine has preserved such a high degree of patience, spirituality, and moral purity that it has every chance to be on the front row of future civilization if it would be oriented towards spirituality and morality.
But will the civilization of the 3rd millennium indeed have such a direction? A thought that mankind has no other option was substantiated in the works of the second contemporary thinker that I recalled, W. Hoestle. In his book Philosophy and Ecology, religious and national paradigms of the state systems of past civilizations are considered, and then the contemporary economic system with its social services provided by the state is evaluated. In order to satisfy the economic needs of their citizens and thereby keep social peace, contemporary states carry out a foreign policy of exploitation which has never been seen before in history. Objects to the most unconcealed exploitation are, on one hand, the “third-world” and all lesser countries and, on the other hand, nature, for it is undefended even by any imaginary law. An ecological crisis will force man to refuse the past paradigm. The 21st century has to be the century of defending the environment, and the economical paradigm will soon be replaced with an ecological one. One can clearly see that these ideas are very close to the ideas of Biopolitics of Dr. Agni Vlavianos.
If we compare the thoughts of the above-mentioned authors, there is hope for a wonderful future for Ukraine.
Grigory Rychagov: Let me direct your attention to something called information policy. What is the role of spreading of information for the development of society? Today it is not only the mass media, but also unlimited opportunities provided by the Internet and other computer networks. Official quarters and public figures are occupied with the problem of information, because information control can either open or close the way to whole political movements. There are methods to limit the flow of information and wide public access to it. For instance, in his speech Vadim Leontyevich Skuratovsky mentioned the Durnovo Memorandum, a document that did not reach its addressee, but, being rediscovered in our days. was the admiration of a narrow circle of researchers.
Dr. Vadim Skuratovsky: I must admit that though I cannot answer the question “What is Truth?” I firmly believe in information. I believe in the most free information which springs up in different situations and in various historical collisions. By no means must it be stopped, no matter how queer and eccentric it seems to be. A man has the right to absolute semiotic expression, it was said best by a head of the security service of an ex-President of the USA. When he was asked how he protected President Reagan, he said that when extremists were marching with anti-Reagan placards it was their own business. But if such a placard was being used to hit his chief, he would catch the hand.
In other words, there is a simple thing to be remembered in the end of this century: information is an absolute fact of our existence, and by no means must it be stopped. Now I am talking about the legal aspect of this problem, which is that we have not to hamper any kind of information in the modern world. Whatever an information source is, we have to treat it carefully. And it is true even for such a megalomaniac as my ex-student Marina who led the White Brotherhood. We will certainly extract something from such a source. For the time being our society finds itself under a latent censorship. We journalists are being constantly told “You wrote or said not what you were expected to, cross it out, stop it, weaken it, etc.” Though it is not being carried out legally yet, any minute it may be translated into clear legal and administrative language.
Let me give a short comment about the ideas of Marinovich and Hoestle. It seems to me that Ukraine is not late at all. Here in Chernobyl it even left the whole world behind, as if having been in its future. In regards to the direction of future civilization. I can say that we know many books written in this century which described a transition from one civilization or state paradigm to another, and the latter often was more positive. Several times in its history, mankind has lived through an abrupt change of such paradigms. But I think the coming revolution of this kind will be the most complicated one in the whole lifetime of mankind, starting from the late paleolithic period. For I don’t know how to separate modern man from his comfort that destroys the very world matter. Do it by means of totalitarianism? God forbid! By means of liberal democracy? It will not do, because, as it was said here, modern man has very many rights but no responsibilities.
However strange this may sound, fear can play here a very positive and reassuring part. Maybe it is the only thing that could happen in the present situation. I remember Nadezhda Mandelshtam saying in the early 60’s, “We have only one hope, that both our and their leadership want to live and are afraid.” Such a motivation can bring a positive result in a macrofluctuation, for big masses of people of the contemporary Euro-Atlantic bloc.
In any case, something must be done from an absolutely new perspective, and I think that Dr. Agni has already started this process.
Dr. Sergey Burago: The biggest problem of Slavutich is the future shutdown of the Chernobyl NPP which will happen sooner or later. But what if we try to open a university and scientific center in Slavutich? I think there are ideal conditions for this here, and it only takes finding an appropriate economic solution to this problem.
Such a suggestion is also topical for the following reason. A decision to shut the Chernobyl NPP down – which is very expensive even for the world community – has been made, I would say, on the basis of a mythological nature of our conscience. That is, no matter whether the Plant is now dangerous or not, it must be shut down because we have bad associations with it. This kind of mythological nature of conscience is absolutely real and is to some extent true. A myth is not just an invention, it is rather a symbol of spiritual reality. In this connection, a decision to found a scientific research or educational center in Slavutich would be also based on a mythological nature of conscience. A brilliant future for Slavutich could become a turning point for the civilization process of the 2Ist century towards man and towards the values that we are talking about here. If this is to be presented in such a way, a concrete project of such a character could draw sufficient financial support from international funds, because it is also based upon the same axioms of the mythological nature of man’s conscience which, let me repeat myself, is to some extent true.
Dr. Yuri Pavlenko: I believe that the authorities of Slavutich are doing the right thing by attracting the attention of scientists and religious organizations to the fife of the city. And the more frequently conferences are held here and people of different views and directions of thought come here, the more the world will respond and money from charity organizations would come. All problems can be solved if there are respectable and talented people on the one hand and assets on the other hand. I believe there are enough respectable and talented people in the city. As to assets, this is a problem of Ukraine as a whole and of every single city in particular.
Dr. Alexander Serdyuk: Though the problems that Slavutich must solve are a result of a tragic coincidence, they are not news, and mankind has already accumulated experience in how to solve them. In order to draw investments into this area, it is expedient to create here a free economic zone, to open off-shore business and to develop banking and insurance structures. Privatization is an important factor of market reforms (particularly, privatization of real estate, the organization of condominiums and their maintenance infrastructure). The Kharkov Management Institute jointly with an American company has worked out theoretical and practical recommendations for this, and we are ready to share them with you. The idea of creating a branch of the International University for the Bio-Environment in Slavutich sounds very interesting to us, and we are ready to closely participate in this project.
Dr. Nadezhda Panchenko: This scientific center must necessarily include a structure that would be involved in medical and ecological research and could provide people with medical help. Our medical and ecological center for Chernobyl problems fits this purpose in the best possible way. This center, with laboratories in Kiev and Chernobyl, deals with the problem of cytological) monitoring of the homeostasis of the human organism under conditions of the factors of the Chernobyl zone. We also have methods for early detection of pathological processes in the human organism which allows us to judge their development long before their clinical display. For this purpose, our center is working out new biological indexes of the influence of small doses of radiation. Actually this is a new direction in cytodiagnostics [cytological diagnostics] for diseases (compared with our method, standard hematological methods give little information and cannot achieve our results). Using our indexes, we examined more than 3,000 people who had participated in the liquidation of the Chernobyl disaster consequences.
Yakov Lishansky: We have to build cities proceeding not only from what is on the surface of the earth, but also from what is under the ground, because there are deep fault zones which influence the subconscious of man. A city must be founded in an area favorable from the point of view of geoecology, and not in a place chosen by a major-general, as was the case for Slavutich. If Slavutich wants to be a city of the future, it must meet not only ecological, but geoecological requirements as well.
In this connection let me also remind you about the problem of burying nuclear waste from the point of view of geoecology. In the Soviet Union, Ukraine could bury its nuclear waste in the Urals. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Chelyabinsk-65, the main organization for burying and recycling of nuclear waste, is not available to Ukraine anymore. When our government had to work out a program for burying nuclear waste, they chose the Poltava region which remained clean only by a miracle. Considering our great experience in polluting nature, we can give the Poltava region up for lost. Another variant is a place in the area of Chernobyl where there is already more then enough waste. We geoecologists have propositions about optimum places for burying, but this problem is of global scope and must be solved not on a state level, but on the world level.
Concerning the problem of shutting the Chernobyl NPP down, let me remind you that Slavutich is not the first city which is solving it. In Chelyabinsk-65, unemployment started much earlier. They solved this problem by starting to produce VCR’s at a factory which used to produce completely different things. Today Germany, Korea, and all Far Eastern countries are willing to enter our market. For instance, why don’t we found a branch of Daewoo or a different, maybe not such a prestigious, company which would produce technical things, especially as specialists working at the Plant have enough experience to work out new technologies to be applied here.
Dr. Yuri Brobyshev: Mr. Mayor said that in case of shutting the Chernobyl NPP down some other industries would grow here, for instance, the laser industry. I think that, firstly, it is better for Slavutich to develop science-related industries which don’t require large amounts of materials and much energy. And, secondly, the unique nature of the situation in this city allows us to dream about creating an international medical and ecological research center in this spot. Many specialists in science and technology would be happy to work here where they can make observations of the Chernobyl zone which will be a source of radiation for a long time.
Dr. Mikhail Beletsky: Let me continue the idea of creating a medical and ecological center which has just been put forward. The helpfulness of such a project is not only in its research side, but also involves preserving and strengthening the health of the inhabitants of the city which could become an example for the whole of Ukraine. The experience and methods of Dr. Nadezhda Alexeyevna Panchenko should be used here to the maximum possible extent, especially as her researches are being carried out under conditions of diseases caused by radiation. They are scientifically new and, besides of this, have deep moral and ethical grounds. That is why I would recommend that the leadership of the city use the experience of Nadezhda Alexeyevna and our geoecologists Yakov Lishansky and Tatyana Kuznetsova to the maximum.
Talking about the problems of Slavutich, we for some reason forgot to mention a very significant function to be fulfilled by this city. The matter is that if the Chernobyl NPP is to be shut down (which will probably happen) then the objective “Cover” still remains. And restraining this nuclear monster is the most important duty of people working here before Ukraine and mankind. Let me also add that shutting the Chernobyl NPP down is a big mistake of the world community, because it creates the danger of destroying a collective which could solve a task important for all mankind. That is why I think that it is necessary to draw the attention of the authorities of Ukraine and the world community to the fact that it is of crucial importance to preserve the present collective so that the works held on the objective “Cover” could in no way be weakened.
Igor Agapov: I think that one of the reasons for the existence of society is love. And it is very important for family relationships to be stable because they are a foundation for society. That is why I think that we need an institution that would not only educate, but bring up as well. It is absolutely necessary to bring up in both parents and children those absolute features that both Sergey Borisoviches, Krimsky and Burago, talked about. For this purpose we need to have religious and public organizations involved. As Jesus Christ said, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Special attention should be paid to problematic families because family conflicts significantly increase conflict in society.
Dr. Stanislav Sokolenko: Since Chernobyl is a unique phenomenon, it is the concept of a free ecological and economic zone (which is known to the world, but, unfortunately, is foreign to Ukraine) that should be ratified by Presidential order and used here in full measure. Such a scheme has already helped many countries to improve their economy, culture and education through regional or spot centers. Such a zone should have a preferential tax-credit regime and financial help from international organizations. With such unique conditions, available enterprises capable of producing ecologically clean products would come here and provide working places. Slavutich and Chernobyl should become an ecological Mecca for everyone who would like to see where the first earthly tragedy of peaceful atomic energy took place. I am sure that it is possible to find grants and raise finances from the World Bank, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development or the Program of Technical Assistance to the CIS (TACIS) for such a famous place on earth in order to develop small business there. (I know one story about a Ukrainian woman who went to Canada and couldn’t leave it for a year because the block she lived in wouldn’t let her go: for the first time in their lives Canadians found out that Ukrainian galushki are very delicious, so she would make them every day fulfilling orders until she started missing Ukraine and came back.) But small business needs to be taught, and for this we need financial means that can be drawn through international grants.
A problem of such a high level as the destiny of the Chernobyl NPP should be decided not by a clerk from the government but by a commerce consortium which is much more flexible and knows how to solve tasks like that. Today such big events as the Olympics in Atlanta or the world’s biggest exposition center are held on a commercial basis. Experience has shown that a commercial approach brings much more profit than mere budget financing which is always insufficient.
Of course, creating unique conditions for attracting international and national capital here is the Parliament’s prerogative. For this we need actions not only on the part of Parliament but on our part as well: we should inform the world community about the present economic status of Chernobyl and Slavutich which the reverend mayor talked about, and lobby the government to extend the economic rights of Slavutich as a free economic zone.
In conclusion 1 would like to say one more time that Slavutich is a unique place, it impressed me strongly. One may say that the project for development of Slavutich is an effort to solve a problem of world significance. The aforementioned idea of creating a University center here is of significant interest, and it should be backed up at the highest level.
Vladimir Udovichenko: Almost everything said before coincides with our vision for the future of Slavutich. Especially I would like to mention the notes of Mikhail Ivanovich Beletsky because that was practically the same thing I said at the Supreme Soviet. Really, works that will have to be done while closing the station (bringing exploitation of the Chernobyl NPP to an end, working over and burying radioactive waste received as a result of working of the Plant, establishing a secure ecological condition of the “Cover”) can be executed most efficiently by the Chernobyl power station staff.
I am deeply grateful to all those present, and I would be even more grateful if our conversation became a reality. For this we need to reach the international fellowship with everything we talked about here, for example through a resolution or memorandum about the results of our symposium.
Dr. Agni Vlavianos-Arvanitis: Let me summarize the aforesaid propositions.
A suggestion was made to create a special university center in this beautiful place. Here we also have to take into consideration geological conditions, radiation in the ground and minerals, and health conditions so as to try to ensure that we would be providing the very best to future generations.
With 26,000 people in this site, the economy and culture can blend together. Also, the medical issues become of primary importance. As it was suggested, Slavutich could serve as a model for studies in medicine and ecology. Top scientists of the world could be meeting here.
This site as a university campus could be a very special university campus of the world where environmental and bioenvironmental issues would provide a vision for the future. A university campus here not only would provide employment, but it could also provide solutions to existing problems and a vision for what is needed in the future. Researches on technology for water purification and fish cultivation in order to supply people with food could be conducted in the offered research center. This center could also be studying samples of water taken indifferent regions of the country, and be looking for better purification methods.
It is important to stress the moral and ethical issues as well as a philosophical framework for this university center. It could provide not only jobs, but also guidelines, and indicate for the whole country its new role in the world.
It was also suggested that we create a special fund to support this university and scientific center.
Chernobyl children need premises for inner development, if they have problems from within. It was felt that children need to be given very special care. Since we can look at it as at a future city, we need to think of the possible dimensions in every way.
While developing an economic structure and laying a philosophical
foundation, we also must not forget that love, family relations, and bringing up children are of great importance. It is necessary to create preconditions for the inner development of Chernobyl children. These are namely children to whom special care is to be given.
The recommendation about creating a free zone really was the most helpful idea for future dimensions. Being ecologically clean, this zone could draw a lot of international support and attract tourists. The city could become a model biopolis and show that lessons from the past are useful and positive. In spite of all these enormous negative repercussions, these lessons could bring a positive charge to models for the future.
Innumerable small professions could solve the problem of employment for 20,000 people. For instance, this could be small cooking centers for 4-5 homes. Though such an activity would give only minimal profit, it would be sufficient to create places of employment. I already saw that you had small shops and beauty parlors.
The environment plays a significant part in your beautiful city. It becomes evident right away that you do pay a lot of attention to athletics. We representatives of Biopolitics would like to see very much how at the time of the Olympics people contributing to saving the environment would receive special rewards. Your city could be an ideal place to draw together the efforts of people from different sectors of society in this direction.
For Slavutich this could mean mobilizing people of the arts and other spheres of society to create a new stream of joy and hope for every individual of your city which would build a spirit for the new millennium. While most of society considers as profit their money in the bank, people of your city can play a special role here. They can value their profit as a commitment to save the bios on our planet, to assure that quality of life and culture and other dimensions (like medicine or a search for new values of society) will be measured as part of the concept of profit.
This is what is meant by biocentric values. Your beautiful country, with its rich culture and traditions, being in a location that is the crossroads between East and West, and North and South, is really an essential part of Europe. But precisely this place of ecological disaster and suffering should be a source for a new biocentric approach to solving social and political problems for the whole country and the whole planet. Let the world forget the word “problem,” and let us fill ourselves with joy for the strongest possession we have which is bios. And let us hope that a biocentric model of a city like Slavutich can become a model for the whole world.
On behalf of all of us present here, let me express our appreciation and thanks to the organizers of this conference, to this beautiful city and to you Mr. Mayor, and especially to you Dr. Irina Beletskaya for your hard work in organizing the symposium, and to you Mr. Valery Idelson for the opportunity to meet here.
Dr. Irina Beletskaya: Our discussion reached a level higher than one could have hoped for. The theoretical reports of the first day which were necessary to understand the global situation on the planet then were like a laser ray concentrated on the problem of Slavutich. The symbol of our Overcoming Association now can be extended with the words: “Overcoming starts in Slavutich.”
