Scientists from Altai State University have started to develop the fourth strategy for the stratproject "Sustainable Development of Altai Territories in the Transboundary Space"

The strategic project of Altai State University "Sustainable Development of Altai Territories in the Transboundary Space" has been implemented since 2019. The project team includes scientists from MIEMIS, INGEO, IBB, as well as experts and entrepreneurs of Altai Krai. The main task is to find and justify projects for the development of regions of Altai Krai to increase the investment attractiveness of enterprises, the standard of living of the population, and the effective use of natural resources.

Smolensky, Sovetskiy, and Altayskiy districts of Altai Krai became pilot participants in the project in 2019. Strategies for socio-economic development and a number of projects aimed at developing business, education and the environment in the participating regions were developed for them.

In April 2021, our project team met with economists from Talmensky District administration to discuss the prospects for cooperation. Talmensky District is one of the largest in Altai Krai with a developed industry and agriculture, and is very interesting from a strategic point of view. The district borders on two territories - Kuzbass and Novosibirsk Oblast and has good potential for inter-municipal cooperation. Let me remind you that we already have a good groundwork and experience in implementing projects in the municipalities of Altai Krai - to date, three strategies for the development of Altaisky, Smolensky, and Sovetsky Districts have been developed and adopted. Now, within the framework of the agreement, we are working on a draft strategy for the socio-economic development of Talmensky District. This is the first step.

Why is a strategy important? The strategy gives the municipality additional opportunities to enter support programs at the national, regional level. This is important in conditions of insufficient resources for the implementation of municipal social and economic programs, since it determines the priorities, goals, and objectives of the socio-economic development of the region, the main directions of their achievement in the long term. The most important thing in the strategy is investment projects and people: by what means and by whom the goals and development priorities will be achieved.
In our opinion, the intellectual and investment potential in Talmensky District is quite high. However, it is the search for real projects for the successful implementation of the strategy that constitutes the main difficulty for the developers of the document: specialists of the district administration, our experts.

For a more accurate and comprehensive consideration of the opinion of the business community and the population of Talmensky District, we have developed a questionnaire, with the help of which we will try to find out what residents think: what projects are needed, due to which the district can develop, what the strengths and weaknesses are. We plan to discuss the results of the survey in the format of MIGs - municipal initiative groups. It is very important that the population, residents of the district, take part in the development of the strategy. If you have a hand in the project, you yourself become part of it and are interested in the result.

If you delve into the technology of work, then for a full-fledged strategy development you need at least 4-6 months: collecting statistics, processing, analytics, building interaction and communications with the business community, experts in the social and industrial spheres, and the real sector of the economy take so much time. And this is only with the unconditional support and joint work with the district administration.

Heads and specialists of specialized departments and committees of the Talmensky District Administration, heads of organizations, as well as experts from among the teachers and practitioners of MIEMIS of Altai State University are directly involved in the development of individual sections of the Strategy for Social and Economic Development of  Talmensky District. The developers of the Strategy are Doctor of Economics Inna Sannikova, Candidate of Economics Viktoria Vorobyova, Candidate of Economics Sergey Vorobyov.

We are actively engaging our students. The strategic project of Altai State University "Sustainable Development of Altai Territories in the Transboundary Space" has become a center of attraction for youth scientific and business ideas on the socio-economic development of municipalities. To expand the opportunities for participation of young scientists, active youth, and all those who are not indifferent, the service "Aggregator of Initiative Projects" has been created on the project website. It allows anyone to submit their idea or project and become part of the project team for its implementation. The proposed projects can become part of the development strategy of Talmensky District of Altai Krai.

What will change in the life of the district with the adoption of the strategy?

The region is strong, and there are a lot of ideas from our team for projects: for example, you can position Talmensky District as the northern gate of Altai Krai and strengthen cooperation with the traditionally strong tourist regions of Altai Krai - Altaisky, Smolensky, through the project Unique Altai.

We need to analyze the possibilities for developing the infrastructure of the transit zone, especially if the construction of a direct road to China passes through Altai Krai. Here, by the way, drones could be used to serve logistics corridors.

To improve the demographic situation, which is extremely important for the entire Altai Kray, it is possible to think over projects for retaining personnel by providing a base of practices and internships to college and university students.

Also, our research has shown that some enterprises of Talmensky District work with the neighboring Novosibirsk Oblast, there is real cooperation, and this is also a factor in the development of the municipality.

To summarize: the strategy for the socio-economic development of the municipality must be developed according to the rules, comply with regulatory legal acts, and therefore the opinion is often expressed that this is a lifeless and even useless document. Practice has shown that the strategy is useful as a basis for the development of programs and plans for sustainable development of municipalities. Moreover, the process of analysis and strategizing itself has additional value, since it contributes to a clearer and more structured definition of goals, priorities, projects, taking into account terms and costs.