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).