The International Association of Lake Regions (IAOR) is Russia's only leading public organization in the field of environmentally sustainable and innovative development of the lake regions of Russia and Eurasia. It was established in 2017. The founders and partners of the Association were the Governments of the Eurasian regions. Its creation was caused by the need to combine the efforts of government agencies, public organizations, educational and research institutes, business circles and cultural and educational organizations to draw attention to the problems of the lake regions and work together to solve them. Its members and partners include regions of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Belarus, Italy and Switzerland, public organizations, research institutes and universities, as well as business circles of these countries.

     The main goal of the association is to mobilize the efforts of a wide range of participants in Russia and Eurasia in the urgent development and implementation of measures for the restoration, rational use and protection of lake water resources, as well as for the environmentally sustainable and innovative development of lake regions adjacent to them. The International Association of Lake Regions bases its activities on the national legislation of the Russian Federation, the member regions of the association and international agreements on water resources. The Association is actively working and has received recognition from many national and international organizations, including organizations of the United Nations system. MAOR projects cover such relevant areas as:

  • water diplomacy;
  • innovative water resources management;
  • transboundary water cooperation;
  • water and health;
  • blue financing;
  • harmony of water (music, art, photography and film festivals on the theme of water).

     Over the past three years, the Association has prepared and launched, with the participation and support of partners, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and the UN system, a number of projects aimed at cleaning, revitalizing and strengthening the water resources of Eurasia. One of the large-scale projects in this area is the annual international campaign "Clean Shores of Eurasia", in which 32 regions of Eurasia participated in 2019. The event received wide international support and was noted as one of the best by the Director of the European Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In 2021, more than 20,000 volunteers took part in the campaign at 120 locations from 52 regions of Eurasia. Almost 9,000 km of the Eurasian continent from east to west. From the coast of Sakhalin Island in the Far East and Chukotka to the shores of Lake Como in Italy, from the Arctic coast to Lake Issyk-Kul and the rivers of Central Asia. This event received huge information coverage from federal and regional media channels. In recent years, new regions of Eurasia have been actively joining the campaign. The experience of the past years has demonstrated a keen interest in this project among the population and has received wide support in its implementation in such forms as garbage collection of river banks and reservoirs, folklore water festivals, art exhibitions and sporting events. In July 2021, the European Office of UNEP nominated MAOR as a nominee for the UN's highest environmental award, Champions of the Earth. In 2021, the International Association of Lake Regions and the Geneva Water Institute completed work on the publication "Water Drama in the Context of Global Transformations; a Trilateral dialogue on Innovative Water Diplomacy and Effective Water Resources Management in the 21st Century," prepared by thirty-six prominent Russian and international experts. This publication is intended to be used as a reference material for specialists in the field of hydropolitics and water diplomacy.

   The Association pays great attention to the formation of a new ecological worldview among the younger generation growing up in the context of mass digitalization and information globalization. Currently, the Association has conceptually developed and launched the project "The main game "Ecopeneration". The project belongs to the category of "serious games" and is one of the innovative methods of environmental and economic education of the population, their familiarization with socially responsible and environmentally oriented business. It helps to improve the understanding of practical problems of environmental sustainability and increase the involvement of participants in their solution. Expert support for the project is provided by the Russian Academy of Sciences, academic institutes of Russia and leading universities in Europe, and international organizations of the United Nations system.