Caspian Forum 2022: Plenary Discussion on New Models of Universities’ Third Mission

The meeting brought together experts from various fields who discussed the enhancement of mechanisms for involving universities in the development of regions and the country. The event was moderated by the scientific supervisor of the Scientific and Educational Policy expert analytics center Evgeny Szhenov.

The discussion involved the Chairman of the Commonwealth of Orphanage Leavers “Children of the Whole Country” Albert Sarbalaev, President of the Dvizhenie-1 Astrakhan regional public organization Vitaly Petelin, Head of the Regional Youth Agency Viktor Nurtazin, Rector of North-Eastern Federal University Anatoly Nikolaev, Rector of Volgograd State University Alla Kalinina, and Director of the ASU Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation Uliana Saveleva. Vice-Rector of the Higher School of Economics Dmitry Zemtsov and Rector of Siberian Federal University Maksim Rumyantsev joined the discussion online.

As Dmitry Zemtsov noted, a modern university is becoming not only a partner in changing the world, but also a unique space for dialogue. The speakers emphasized the importance of joint work with young people and laboratories for the implementation of various projects. They also noted the role of grants, universiades, business projects and social activities of universities.

Inclusion was an important topic of discussion. Albert Sarbalaev suggested that more programmes for the socialization of orphans at Astrakhan State University were developed, and Vitaly Petelin raised the issue of adapting the university space for people with disabilities. The president of Dvizhenie-1 was supported by Ulyana Saveleva, who spoke about a Russian Sign Language training programme and plans to create a project to work with the blind and visually impaired.

Andrey Nikolaev summed up the results of the discussion, noting how important it is to develop the region, focusing on the youth. According to him, these are the universities that educate the future leaders of the country and regions.