China is one of those countries with which Krasnoyarsk has the closest ties at all levels and in all areas of interest. For example, last year a group of Krasnoyarsk children, at the invitation of the People’s Government of Manzhouli, visited this Chinese city to participate in a cultural and educational program. The young Krasnoyarsk residents were in Manzhouli for a week, with the Chinese side covering the cost of living, meals and organizing events. A few months later, a children's delegation from China arrived in Krasnoyarsk on a return visit. The children lived in Russian families, got acquainted with the organization of the school day in one of the city gymnasiums, visited the arboretum, the Yudin Museum-Estate, the summer camps “Lastochka” and “Patriot”, and also tried themselves in the role of firefighters. When leaving, the children from Manzhouli left a lot of warm reviews about their stay in Krasnoyarsk. Here is one of them: “In Krasnoyarsk, I liked the museum and summer camps, the powerful Yenisei river and, of course, the kindness of the Russian soul. I also liked in Russian people their joyful, friendly nature, active life and intelligence. I hope that relations between Russia and China will always be so good.”

The friendship between Krasnoyarsk and the Japanese prefecture of Aichi, a major industrial and economic center of Japan, with highly developed metallurgical, woodworking and ceramic industries started more than twenty years ago. During this time, joint projects have emerged in the fields of construction, healthcare, education, culture and sports. Last fall, Mr. Isao Kobayashi, President of the “Aichi Prefecture Japan-Russia Friendship Society”, visited Krasnoyarsk. He met with deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Region, with whom he discussed already implemented projects and prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation.

During the visit, Mr. Kobayashi noted: “We have long been cooperating with the Krasnoyarsk Region in the areas of health, education and culture. And I would like to continue and develop this cooperation. In addition, I would like Krasnoyarsk to become as famous among the Japanese as Moscow, St. Petersburg or Vladivostok. Krasnoyarsk turned out to be bigger and more beautiful than I  (and other people in Japan) imagined.”

A family from the USA August and Irina Shaefer come to Krasnoyarsk regularly. One of the reasons is that Irina is Krasnoyarsk’s native, her relatives live here, but, in addition, she and her husband August are active participants of an international project to preserve the memory of the legendary Alaska-Siberia Air Route, which was used to ferry aircraft from the USA to the USSR during the Second World War. Starting in 2015August Schaefer regularly helps all Krasnoyarsk initiatives to preserve the memory of the heroism of both Soviet and American pilots of “ALSIB”. He did a great work helping to prepare the participation of the American side in the international conference “Lend-Lease. Routes of interaction against a common enemy. 75 years of the Krasnoyarsk Air Route. Alaska - Siberia ”. It was thanks to him that Krasnoyarsk saw an interview with a participant of those events, pilot Mike Hunt. August Schaefer was awarded a letter of thanks by the Mayor of Krasnoyarsk for his activities.

“Since 2006, I regularly come here and over this time, I’ve seen tremendous growth and improvement in the city, with an expanded road infrastructure, new stadiums and sports arenas, and I’m always amazed at the number of new residential buildings that are being erected,” notes Augustus Schaefer. “But a city is much more than the buildings and the infrastructure - it’s the people as well, and the people of Krasnoyarsk cannot be more welcoming and helpful to me, whether I’m shopping in a store and need some assistance to make a purchase, or trying to communicate with a taxi driver during a trip to the city center.

I know that the City of Krasnoyarsk has a great history and heritage, coming up on its 391 Year Anniversary.  I’m sure that most residents are aware of the important role that the city played in the Great Patriotic War, especially in the production of goods and materials to support the war effort.  But it also played a crucial role in the transportation of almost 8000 military aircraft – fighters and bombers - sent from the USA to support the victory over fascism.  These planes were flown along the Alaska-Siberia Air Route (known as ALSIB), which originated in Great Falls, Montana and terminated in Krasnoyarsk City.  This was an excellent example of collaboration between Russia and a USA to defeat a common enemy, and Krasnoyarsk City can be very proud of the role it played in this effort.

Finally, over the time I’ve been visiting Krasnoyarsk City, I’ve seen it become more and more prominent in the international arena.  I thought that the city did an outstanding job hosting the 2019 Winter Universiade, which brought university athletes from 58 countries to Krasnoyarsk.  But in a way, this event also brought the entire world to Krasnoyarsk, as viewers from around the globe were able to see images of the sports venues and the city itself.  Last year Irina and I had the privilege of meeting school students participating in the FIRST® LEGO® League Championships, visiting with them here in Krasnoyarsk, and then seeing them in Detroit, Michigan, where they had traveled to compete in the final event.  These students represented both Russia and the City of Krasnoyarsk extremely well.”

Famous representatives of creative professions are frequent guests in Krasnoyarsk. This winter our city was visited by a Finnish artist, President of the International Association of Snow and Ice Sculpture Juhani Lillberg. He came to Krasnoyarsk for the first time to head the jury of the festival “Magic Ice of Siberia”. The world-renowned master highly appreciated the art of local sculptors in snow and ice carving and noted that Krasnoyarsk is perfectly suited for such festivals. In an interview with “City News”, Juhani Lillberg said: “In your city there is a huge potential for the development of such festivals. They can attract tourists. Especially since you have such amazing ice and snow artists. Maybe it is in Krasnoyarsk that a new format of this art will be born? Where they won’t use standard snow and ice cubes, but will invent something completely different? You have all the potential for this, besides you are not a small European town with 50 thousand inhabitants, but a megapolis of a million people.”

​Krasnoyarsk also always welcomes foreign scientists and one of them is Alan Pears, a pioneer of energy efficiency policy in Australia​. He has visited Krasnoyarsk twice, with research teams from the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) Low Carbon model Towns program, in April 2016 and November 2017. Even though most of his and his colleagues’ time was spent in meetings and discussions, he managed to see some sights and experience local hospitality.

“The weather was milder than we expected. The snow boots I bought in Australia (at a discounted price, because it was summer there) were not really needed in early December! Our bus trip on a sunny April day to the impressive hydroelectricity dam near the city was wonderful. The woodlands with partial snow cover glistened in the sun. The view along the river from a lookout was stunning. The diverse architecture was fascinating,” says Alan Pears.

Our meetings with city government staff and academics were full of energy and enthusiasm. Krasnoyarsk is lucky to have some knowledgeable, talented and enthusiastic administrators and educators. Our team had productive dialogue and, hopefully, we made some useful recommendations to help guide future city development. 

On both trips, we visited the site of the green development project managed by Monolith Holding at different stages of construction. We found it was very thoroughly designed, with many leading edge environmental features and thoughtful design for high quality lifestyle.

Like other cities, Krasnoyarsk faces its challenges. Climate change is making summer heat a bigger issue – air conditioners are appearing everywhere. The old, inefficient district heating system is ripe for transformation in a low carbon emission future. It relies heavily on lignite, a low grade coal. I was amused when one local expert explained the difficulty of burning poor coal with only 15 megajoules of energy per kilogram: I couldn’t resist pointing out that the brown coal used in power stations where I live (Melbourne, Australia) rated under 10 megajoules per kilo – even worse!    

I was pleased to see that the city is working hard to transform and diversify its economy. Expansion of educational services is a key to success in the global shift to a more service-oriented, connected, smarter economy. At the same time, transition to a low carbon transport, industrial and services economy is challenging socially ​and economically. Our APEC team has found that almost all cities face similar issues – though the detail varies.”