In the capital of Albania, Tirana was held a scientific and practical conference. 120 surveyors from Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Switzerland and Ireland showed interest in the professional forum.

Professor of INRTU Anatoly Okhotin discussed with colleagues from the Balkan countries and Belgium the development of surveying.

Recall that in March of this year, Anatoly Okhotin visited the Polytechnic University of Tirana, which is the oldest university in the country. Currently, about 15 thousand students study at six faculties. The university consists of two research institutes. Irkutsk professors were invited to learn from the experience of Russian mine surveyors and discuss the prospects for the Albanian representatives to join the International Society for Mine Surveying (ISM).

The program of the scientific-practical conference consisted of six sections devoted to BIM-technologies, surveying surveys, GIS-technologies, etc. Professor Anatoly Okhotin welcomed his colleagues in five languages ​​and delivered a report on the development of surveying business in Russia, spoke about the achievements of the university staff. Following the results of the conference as a member of the award committee, he presented the main prize to the most active speaker.

The forum participants stressed that most of the budget of Albania is formed from the activities of the mining industry. The country is actively developing the oil, bitumen, coal, chromium, iron ore and copper mining industries. During the meeting, the leadership and activists of the Union of Surveying and Geomatics of Albania expressed interest in establishing broad links with the global professional community.

Anatoly Okhotin said that he had held a series of talks with representatives of each country. The conference participants planned to organize the next Summer School for talented students of surveyors and surveyors on the shores of the Adriatic Sea.

 “It is assumed that the Summer school educational project, which was first held in 2016 on the shores of Baikal on the initiative of INRTU, will be held in the Butrint area - this is an archaeological museum in the south of the country. According to historians, the Butrinti amphitheater was built in the 3rd century BC. Now archaeological excavations are underway there, ”said Anatoly Okhotin.

- I offered to scan the ancient buildings, using the latest technology. This idea is being formalized at the state level. We hope that it will be supported by the Ministry of Tourism of Albania. We are ready to assist the global manufacturers of equipment and engineering solutions for measuring geodetic tasks. Their instruments will be provided by Leica Geosystems and Trimble. The summer school will bring together capable students from universities in the Balkan countries and Russia. ” 

During the overseas business trip, Anatoly Okhotin also visited Belgium. He visited the exhibition of university innovations and met with colleagues from Brussels and Antwerp, who demonstrated their competencies and offered to organize an international scientific forum.

According to the professor, in this country, great attention is paid to the renovation of industrial zones, where mining enterprises were located earlier. Coal mining in Belgium ended in 2006.

“At one of the Belgian mines, where most of the production facilities were dismantled during the renovation process, some equipment was left, for example, ball mills and lifting machines. They successfully fit into the space of modern business centers with conference rooms of up to 1.5 thousand people. In my opinion, the “post-mining period” in many mining regions of Russia can also receive an interesting development in terms of creating creative public areas with a green environment. I discussed with my colleagues the solution to the problems of monitoring land subsidence in mines, where coal production has long been minimized. In addition, we talked about the digitalization of the economy, ”said the professor.

The most important outcome of the negotiations was an agreement on the accession of Belgium to the International Society for Mine Surveying. This event will take place at the ISM World Congress, which will be held in September 2019 in Irkutsk. Experts from 43 countries intend to discuss achievements in the field of surveying, geodesy and cartography.

In continuation of the business trip, the professor Okhotin visited Budapest where he met with prof. Istvan Havashi - Head of the Department of Geodesy and Mine Surveying, Miskolc-Egyetemváro, University of Miskolc, member of ISM from Hungary.