JONES-BOS RENEE

The interview is a reflection of the famous Dutch diplomat and politician Renee Jones-Bos, who in 2016-2019 worked as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Russian Federation. The main topic of the article is the need for cooperation between countries in various fields. In particular, the interview talks about interaction in the field of environmental protection, exchange of experience in the development of ‘smart cities’, and the features of the Dutch economy based on a pragmatic approach to development due to the geographical location of the country. In particular, it is noted that the achievements of the Netherlands in the field of environmental conservation are caused not only by the understanding of the importance of this topic in the issue of human survival, but, above all, are determined by the country’s characteristics: a small territory and a population that is quantitatively comparable to the population of a small Russian region. The importance of academic and university projects and exchanges as part of people-to-people diplomacy is emphasized; the role of the undergraduate educational program in the field of Ecosystem Management ‘Eco-Management’, implemented by the Faculty of Foreign Regional Studies and Regional Administration of the IPACS of the RANEPA since 2019, is disclosed.