Development of Partnership and the Institutionalization of Professional Ties Between Russian and American Independent Analytical Centers
(2009)

Joint project with the Jefferson Institute (Washington, DC, USA).
Coordinator: Irina Olimpiyeva(CISR).
The project is intended to develop and strengthen connections with American analytical centers.
Participants from CISR: Irina Olimpiyeva.
Supported by IRIS, USAID.

Fostering Effective Partnerships Among Russian and North American FSC Experts, Activists and Social Scientists
(2007-2009)

Coordinators: Maria Tysiachniouk (CISR), Connie McDermott (Yale University, USA).
The project's goal was to foster new partnerships between North American and Russian Research institutions in relation to their mutual study of the functioning of NGO activists, collaborating firms, and local and national governments around certified sustainable forest management. Research was conducted on FSC certification in the Russian Far east and in the US. Methods of research included focus groups, interviews and participant observation.
In 2007 research was conducted in the Russian Far East in the Krasnoarmeisky district on territory leased by companies in the early stages of the FSC certification process. Three case studies were investigated: Lesexport, Primorsky Gok and Rozhinsky lespromkhoz. Interactions between stakeholders in the FSC certification process were analyzed, with special attention being given to the rights of indigenous communities to the leased territories. Participants of the exchange jointly discussed all controversial issues using company case studies. In the US, research was conducted in 2008 on FSC certified territories in Vermont.
Participants from CISR: Maria Tysiachniouk.
Supported by the Trust for Mutual Understanding (USA)

An Interdisciplinary Network for the Study of Multi-Level and Multi-Stakeholder Forest Governance in Russia and Sweden
(2007-2008)

International joint project with Umea University, Sweden.
The aim of the project is to create a Russian-Swedish interdisciplinary network of scholars that would focus on studying different aspects of multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance of forests and develop recommendations for policy makers. The project would foster new partnerships between scientists from Sweden and Russia who are studying the processes of globalization and non-state governance of forests and, in particular, the role of civil society's engagement in these processes.
Participants from CISR: Maria Tysyachniouk, Antonina Kulyasova, Ivan Kulyasov.
Supported by the Swedish Institute.

Building Partnership among Social Researchers, FSC Certification Experts, and NGO Activists in Russia and the USA
(2007)

Coordinators: Maria Tysiachniouk (CISR), Connie McDermott (Yale University, USA).
The project was aimed at developing a network of scholars and representatives of civil society organisations involved in studying and promoting certification in forest management through the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) system. Joint comparative research was conducted at enterprises in the Russian Far East and the State of Vermont, areas that have been undergoing forest certification. Qualitative methods were used: focus groups, participant observation, and interviews.
Participant from CISR: Maria Tysiachniouk.
Supported by the Trust for Mutual Understanding (USA).

Fostering Partnerships and Institutionalising Professional Relationships between Independent Research Centers in Russia and the USA
(2007)

Partners: American University, Transitional Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC).
The project aimed to establish institutionalised relationships between CISR and other analytical centers and research organizations in the USA. CISR's American colleagues are engaged in study of the problems of corruption, the informal economy, and post-socialist transformations, and were acquainted with the results of matching research conducted at CISR.
Participants from CISR: Irina Olimpieva, Oleg Pachenkov, Elena Nikiforova.
Supported by the IRIS.

Shaping the Landscape: Processes of Modernisation in the Russian Northwest
(2005-2006)

Joint project with the Lulea University of Technology (Sweden) (with participation of the Ethnology Department of the European University at St. Petersburg).
Coordinator: Alla Bolotova (CISR).
This project aims to integrate the CISR group into the existing international network called "The Modernisation Process in the Barents Region" and to establish research cooperation between CISR and Swedish partners from the Department of Business Administration and Social Sciences at the Lulea University of Technology.
Participants from CISR: Alla Bolotova, Dmitry Vorobyev, Elena Nikiforova, Tatiana Safonova, Maria Tysiachniouk.
Supported by the Swedish Institute (The Visby Programme).