MINSK, 29 June (BelTA) – The Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia will help identify new points of joint growth in education and science, Oleg Dyachenko, a member of the Council of the Republic, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of Kuleshov Mogilev State University, said at the web-based panel discussion “Development of Russian-Belarusian cooperation in science and education in the era of ‘big challenges' and digital technologies” as part of the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia on 29 June, BelTA has learned.
“Our university has been working with regional educational and research centers of the Russian Federation for several years already, primarily those from Bryansk Oblast, Smolensk Oblast, Pskov Oblast, as well as universities from Omsk, St. Petersburg and Moscow. The main areas of cooperation are joint research projects in history, philology, there are projects in the field of exact sciences. In addition, one of the areas of our joint work is an academic mobility program for students. Our university runs a college. And we found a partner in Kolomna, Moscow Oblast. Our cooperation started from academic mobility programs between colleges, now we are collaborating already at the level of university students. In other words, college and university students from Russia come here, while we send our students to the Russian Federation for internships. This is very promising. It offers mutual enrichment, new contacts, connections. We are building a common education space within the framework of the Union State, thus it is necessary for our education systems to be into line with each other,” Oleg Dyachenko said.
The vice-rector added: “I think that this forum will help us compare notes and see whether we are moving along the same path and with the same pace, whether we have common goals and objectives. This is also about exchange of contacts, which can help us identify new points of joint growth in the field of education and science.”
The 8th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia kicked off on 29 June and will be running through 1 July. Its main events will be held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Five panel discussions are taking place on the first day of the forum and are focusing on the following topics: Belarus-Russia cooperation in science and education in the era of ‘big challenges' and digital technologies; the role of digitalization in the formation of a single scientific and technological space of the Union State; interaction between Russia and Belarus in implementing Union State programs and science and technology projects within the framework of international treaties; law and digitalization in the Union State: prospects and avenues of development; online youth: the digital environment of the future.
The governing bodies of the Chamber of Young Legislators at the Federation Council and the Youth Council (Parliament) at the National Assembly have convened for their maiden joint meeting on the sidelines of the forum.
The inter-parliamentary commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation will hold a web-based meeting to discuss interregional cooperation on 30 June. The forum will pay special attention to business matters. The Council of Business Cooperation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Belarus and Russia will discuss cooperation prospects.
The key event of the forum - the plenary session – will be held on 1 July via a video link. The list of speakers includes heads of government bodies, ministries and departments, representatives of business communities of the two countries, and also digitalization experts. In order to give a new impetus to the digitization process and the development of the common scientific and technological space in the Union State, Belarusian and Russian enterprises will sign several cooperation agreement and contracts on the sidelines of the forum.
