International integration forum "Border-zone – 2018" was held at Belgorod NRU
On December 4-5, international integration forum took place in Belgorod National Research University.
Experts, scientists, heads of the public and international organizations from Republic of Belarus, Moldova, China, Finland, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Armenia and various regions of Russia took part in the Forum "Border-zone – 2018". The forum was held on the basis of the Belgorod State National Research University and the Institute of Cross-Border Cooperation and Integration with the support of the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States, the Fund for the Support of Public Diplomacy. A.M. Gorchakov and the Presidential Grants Foundation.
With welcome speech the acting vice rector for implementation of programs of strategic development of NIU "BELSU" Andrey Peresypkin addressed participants at the event. Andrey Petrovich told participants about the history of development of the Belgorod state national research university and also presented the relevant scientific directions. The participants were also greeted by the mayor of the city of Comrat, ATU Gagauzia, the Republic of Moldova Sergey Anastasov, chairman of the Belgorod Regional Duma Committee on Economics, Industry and Entrepreneurship Ivan Konev, director of the Institute of Economics and Management of the National Research University BelSU Viktor Zakharov.
Experts discussed issues of formation of favorable social and economic climate of border areas at a plenary session which was moderated by the head of the department of social technologies of NRU "BELSU" Victor Sapryka. An economic observer of the Sonar 2050 information project, Alexey Avdonin, spoke about external information threats to the EEU countries, gave an analysis of the methods, forms and methods used in the global media space. Khachik Galstyan, associate professor of the theory and history of political science at Yerevan State University, analyzed the causes and characteristics of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and noted the role of the Russian Federation in resolving contradictions. Coordinator for the Balkans of the Association of European Border Regions, Ana Nikolova, focused on the role of youth and youth organizations in the implementation of international and cross-border cooperation projects. Deputy Dean for Research and Innovation and International Relations of the Higher School of Economics and Business, Al-Farabi KazNU Aknur Zhidebekkyzy spoke about the scientific and educational cooperation of the EEU countries, highlighting the tendency of growth of academic mobility between the universities of Russia and Kazakhstan.
Deputy of the Gomel City Council of Deputies Yulia Volkova presented the most relevant areas of economic and social intermunicipal cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. Boris Zalivansky, Director of the Institute for Municipal Development and Social Technologies, told the forum participants about the peculiarities of urban development in the border regions.Denis Denisov, Director of the Research Institute for Peacemaking Initiatives and Conflictology, and Head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology at the Mogilev State University named after A.A. Kuleshova Svetlana Likhacheva, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Social and Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Maxim Fomin, Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Alexey Dermont, Head of the International Activities and Cross-Border Cooperation Association for Integration Initiatives Lyudmila Sheveni, chief editor of the Center for the Study of Integration Prospects for Integration . Within the framework of the plenary session, a video conference “International Experience in Cross-Border Cooperation” was held, at which Irina Novikova, Head of the Department of Management, Business Technologies and Sustainable Development of the Belarusian State Technological University, and Johannes Moyzio, Chairman of the Task Force on External Borders of the Association of European Border Regions, made presentations.
From reports to discussions
In the framework of the international integration Forum "Frontier region-2018", a foresight session, lectures and discussions on current areas of interstate cooperation were held.
During the foresight session “Socio-economic development of border areas”, which was organized at JSC “Development” Corporation, the forum participants developed a “road map” of the development strategy for border areas of the Russian Federation in various areas: digital economy, information society, scientific educational breakthrough, third sector.
Among the events of the forum were also a binary lecture of Belarusian scientists on the theme “Formation of a unified information space of the Union State of Russia and Belarus” and four discussion platforms. Two groups conducted discussions at the BelSU National Research University. The first one discussed the topic of public diplomacy and interaction of public organizations, in particular, the involvement of young people in diplomatic relations, and the second - the social aspects of cross-border cooperation. At the third site - in the JSC "Development" Corporation - experts and students developed projects for the development of the investment climate of the border regions. The fourth discussion platform was held in the Administration of the Graivoronsky District of the Belgorod Region. It presented the experience of inter-municipal cooperation and work in various areas of the development of the municipalities of Russia and Moldova. The discussion participants discussed relevant areas of cooperation between border regions and the main problems of interaction between the territories.
