First Deputy Executive Director of the Russian Geographical Society, Ilya Gurov. Photo: photo.roscongress.org
The world is not simple, not simple at all. Especially now. International relations are about to explode, the authorities of different countries quarrel and sometimes even fight.
But that’s how the authorities are. Many people and organizations have been friends and collaborated, visited each other and continue to do so. A striking example is the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) and its projects, which today cover half of the world’s countries. And the geography of the activities of the Russian Geographical Society (sorry for the tautology) every year, yes, yes, including 2022 and 2023, is only expanding.
“Like this?!” – The reader who is not entirely familiar with the subject will be surprised. This question was answered by the guests at the session “Expanding opportunities for humanitarian cooperation: implementation of international scientific and educational projects”, which took place on September 10 at the Eastern Economic Forum.
ON HUMAN AND ANIMAL DIPLOMACY
– After the start of the special military operation, many questions arose about how our international activities would change. Many of us feared that all our projects would be cut short, that no one would be our friend… But life put everything in its place. And everyone who really worked with us continues to do so. I’m sure they will continue to do so. But those with whom we had love with pressure from us… As they say, you can’t be nice by force, and with them it’s all over. And thank God,” Ilya Gurov, first deputy executive director of the Russian Geographical Society, said at the session, “I believe that the East is the vector on which we will develop. And, as practice shows, over the past two years we have not slowed down and in many areas we have even gained momentum.
Now to the details: what is the international work of the Russian Geographical Society?
– This is also the activity of the Amur Tiger Center, whose founder is the Russian Geographical Society. There are a number of other projects that allow us to develop “animal diplomacy”. We continue to have a large number of international expeditions. There is a “Young Generation” program under which students and young people from other countries continue to come to us. They really want to get to Russia and we give them the opportunity to travel to those parts of our country that are very difficult to reach on their own. For example, it is not always possible for a foreigner, at least one who does not have a lot of money, to reach Kamchatka or New Zealand,” said Ilya Gurov. Let us add that without a lot of money it is difficult for foreigners to reach these places.
Archaeological expeditions are another important element of international cooperation.
– This year we had a powerful paleontological camp in the Orenburg region. Foreigners also want to see and excavate our dinosaurs,” Gurov said.
DICTANT WORLD
And the International Geographic Dictation is a leader in terms of coverage of participating countries. The Russian Geographical Society has been conducting it since 2015. It is conducted in the form of a test, both in person (in Russia and abroad) and online. Throughout the entire history of the event, more than 3 million participants from 126 countries have participated and their number grows every year. Geographic Dictation is performed in the six United Nations languages (English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French) plus Hindi.
– This year the Geographic dictation will take place on November 19. We invite everyone to join, write it or, better yet, organize a platform and encourage your partners in Russia and abroad to do the same. Make these platforms interesting, fill them with contests and programs, and we will help and share our experience”, Iliá Gurov urged. – I also want to especially highlight this point. In such cases, many say that money is being spent on all this… So, the Russian Geographical Society does not have a single cent of government funding. 50% of our funds come from sponsors, 50% is earned by us. For example, the cost per participant in the Geographic Dictation in 2022 was 12.4 rubles.
ABOUT RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Another excellent example of the notorious “soft power” are the centers of the Russian Geographical Society operating abroad. They are created by foreigners close to the ideas of the Russian Geographical Society. As a rule, this is a collaboration of local businessmen and geographers, operating under the banner of the Russian Geographical Society. You can call it a non-financial franchise. As of May 2023, there are five centers of the Russian Geographical Society abroad: in Switzerland, Serbia, Transnistria, France and Japan.
The head of one of these organizations also spoke at the session.
– When in 2021 the Center of the Russian Geographical Society in France was created in Paris, we often heard the question: what does this mean? It seemed that there was a contradiction in the very name of the organization, because geographically our countries are far from each other. And we said: let’s look more broadly, we want to present to our interlocutors in France the geography of Russia, its people, its culture. And everything became clear,” says Daria Loyola, a professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and “part-time” director of the Center of the Russian Geographical Society in France.
Daria spoke about the interesting know-how of the Center of the Russian Geographical Society in France. They invite an expert, for example a scientist or a traveler, to each of their events, and this paints the event in bright new colors. Participants will be able to ask questions, discuss, and learn the opinion or personal experience of a professional. Daria listed several examples of such events:
• In June 2022, members of the French Center of the Russian Geographical Society and writer and translator of travel literature Yves Gautier spoke to high school students in the French city of Valence about the Far Eastern explorer Vladimir Arsenyev and his friend and Dersu guide. Uzalah.
• In September 2022, an exhibition on Piotr Semenov-Tyan-Shansky opened in Paris with the participation of the General Secretary of the French Geographical Society, Jacques González, and the descendants of the Russian discoverer: the art critic Kirill Semenov-Tyan-Shansky and the associate professor. at the University of Cannes Irina Semenova-Tyan-Shanskaya-Baidin.
• In November 2022, in Paris, the local center of the Russian Geographical Society organized a conference with oceanologist Alexei Mironov, who works at the French Scientific Institute for Marine Research.
• In February 2023, a “Discovering the Arctic” conference was organized for French schoolchildren with the participation of a Russian biologist from the Institute of Oceanology. PP Shirshova Anna Zolota. She studies the snow crab in the Arctic seas.
• In March 2023, a teleconference took place between high school students from Bordeaux, France, and the city of Labytnangi in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. According to Daria, it was a very emotional experience.
• In July 2023, an exhibition on Lake Baikal was inaugurated in France with great success, with a lecture by the greatest French Baikal scientist in Europe, Laurent Touchard.
– The activities of our center are an example that from the common desire for intellectual discoveries and love for geography you can find an oasis of something good. We want to support and expand this source of dialogue,” concluded Daria Loyola.
TOURISM AS A MIRROR OF A COUNTRY
It is also necessary to support and expand aspects such as international tourism, which until recently seemed common. Admission included: Foreigners want to see and discover Russia as much as in previous years.
– Inbound tourism does not exist separately, it is the same as internal tourism. We relax on the same beaches, live in the same hotels, drive on the same roads. And now Russia has a wonderful opportunity to achieve qualitative progress in the tourism industry. Gather forces, develop new routes, update existing ones and create new tourist clusters, and take care of logistics. And enter the world market renewed, ready to receive a large number of tourists,” said Elena Galaktionova, deputy director of the Department of Multilateral Humanitarian Cooperation and Cultural Relations of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the session.
The expert recalls that tourism brings people closer like no other field.
– People who come here see our country as it is. They see our people: friendly and willing to communicate. Therefore, our department, together with other relevant departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is working to facilitate the visa regime and expand the list of countries to which simplified entry rules and electronic visas apply,” Galaktionova said. And she added: “I would like to praise the Russian Geographical Society for what they are doing. We and the Rossotrudnichestvo agency, subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Russian Geographical Society, are implementing the “New Generation” program, of which we are proud. Its objective is to create an objective image of our country abroad.”
