International Museum and University Festival “To the Museum Today, to Science Tomorrow!”

General information about the project

Full name of the project: International Museum and University Festival “To the Museum Today, to Science Tomorrow!”

Short name of the project: “To the Museum Today, to Science Tomorrow!”

Project head: Tatiana Valerievna Avgusmanova, Head of the Sustainable Development Directorate.

Start and end dates of the project: from 2024 to the present.

Project partner

Full name: Dokuchaev Central Soil Science Museum.

Address: 6 Birzhevoy proezd, St Petersburg, 199034, Russia. Tel.: +7 (812) 328-56-02, e-mail: soilmuseum@bk.ru, website: https://soil-museum.ru/

Head of the organisation: Elena Yurievna Sukhacheva, Director.

Rationale for the project

The relevance of the Project lies in its contribution to the international development of society, where its organisers and participants act as bearers of values, of life and professional experience. The Project brings generations together, creating an environment for shared learning through universities, science museums, libraries and public movements, and offers opportunities to develop modern competencies, become acquainted with scientific knowledge and build research skills through institutions of culture and science. This corresponds to the international trend towards lifelong learning and increases a person's adaptability in a rapidly changing world.

Goals of the project

Using the technologies of the museum research and education space:

• to demonstrate the importance of research carried out in the region's universities, institutes, laboratories and libraries in the context of the Eurasian and global research agenda;
• to build links between national scientific schools and international research networks, contributing to the development of a common research and education space of Greater Eurasia;
• to master formats of international scientific cooperation for assessing the contribution of cross-border research teams to solving shared international tasks.

Objectives of the project

• using the joint potential of staff of museums, institutes, universities and libraries who know how to convey complex scientific information to schoolchildren and how to motivate young people to make an informed and responsible choice of their future profession;
• attracting schoolchildren, their parents and young people to museum and library spaces in order to broaden their knowledge of the regional, departmental, municipal and private museums and libraries and of the small museums of research and cultural institutions and educational establishments in their own city and country;
• involving postgraduate students and young scientists from research institutions and universities in popularising the results of their own research;
• promoting the ideas of humanitarian modernisation in the interests of the sustainable development of society and of the world;
• uniting museums of Russia and other countries during the Festival into a single research, educational and tourist space;
• disseminating information about the research and education routes of universities, museums and libraries to the general public through the media.

Activities planned within the project

The annual Festival month is traditionally held in March and April, finishing in the calendar week of the Russian spring school holidays, and includes a Business programme comprising:

• an international conference on humanitarian modernisation;
• a presentation Round Table of the Festival at the Legislative Assembly of St Petersburg;
• introductory research and education tours of the international and national venues of the Festival;
• an international research and practice conference for schoolchildren and students;
• a round table at news agencies with the participation of the organisers and partners of the Festival;

and a Museum, educational and cultural programme, which includes research, educational and cultural routes for the participants of the Festival, combined into a single programme.

Prospects for the development of the project

The Festival is an example of multilateral international partnership in research and education: it fosters intercultural dialogue, develops scientific thinking among young people, transmits knowledge and preserves the scientific, cultural and historical heritage of different countries.

The Project reflects the logic of Sustainable Development Goal 17 — building partnerships that strengthen collective efforts to address global challenges.

Expanding the range of Festival participants from the international community helps to strengthen scientific, museum and cultural ties, raises the cultural level of schoolchildren and young people in the field of tourism and supports the mutual recognition of the international research being carried out.

Project website: https://музейвнауку.рф/

Responsible officer: T. V. Avgusmanova, avgusmanova@world-assembly.org