Our History

The Swedish Aral Sea Society was created out of an informal network on the need to contribute to countering the effects of the monumental waste of natural resources and environmental destruction in the Aral Sea area. The network was formed as a result of an international conference held in 1998 by the UN Development Fund for Women (Swedish Unifem) in collaboration with Save the Children and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 

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The activities organised to date by the Aral Sea Society, often in collaboration with other relevant organisations, include: Sending a number of young delegates from Sweden to participate in the children’s conference "Children, Citizenship and Environment" in Karakalpakstan,1999; international seminars during World Water Week in Stockholm; a water presentation at the conference "Prospects of Democracy in Central Asia" in Istanbul, 2003; cultural exchange with the region through e.g. a visit to Sweden by the director of the Nukus art museum, 2003; seminar on the theme "Children at Risk" with participants from the region, 2005; seminar on democracy issues with the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, 2005; and seminar on oil and gas in Central Asia, 2005. In autumn 2006, together with RAS we organised a conference entitled "Who Speaks up for the Aral Sea? Central Asia in Crisis", which included international delegates and which was reported in the international scientific journal AMBIO.