RIAC Days Launched in St. Petersburg University
Short version
The St. Petersburg University is currently hosting RIAC Days opened by the joint press conference in the Rosbalt News Agency, where the two institutions were represented by RIAC Program Director Ivan Timofeev and the University’s Foreign Relations Department Director Igor Gretsky. The three-day program includes a meeting with top officials of the St. Petersburg Government Foreign Relations Committee, A+Standard training for the University staff (development of the English-language website), negotiations with the University publishing facility, a workshop with participation of RIAC Presidium Member Fyodor Lukyanov, and other events aimed to promote University’s internationalization, develop its schools, as well as incorporate the Foreign Relations Department into RIAC’s projects and programs.
Full version
The St. Petersburg University is currently hosting RIAC Days opened by the joint press conference in the Rosbalt News Agency, where the two institutions were represented by RIAC Program Director Ivan Timofeev and the University’s Foreign Relations Department Director Igor Gretsky.
“We are often asked why RIAC is cooperating with universities and what goals it is pursuing. To forestall the question, let me say that this is a unique opportunity to engage with the Russian regions. Indeed, such an entity as the St. Petersburg University is the intellectual hub of the huge city that concentrates the intellectual assets of the entire region. It is the University that offers a platform for engagement of the regional business and the government and NGOs, a platform for expansion of international partnership. Of course, RIAC could have opened numerous regional sections and plunge into red tape, sluggishness and excessive costs. But today this approach is hardly competitive. The thing we need is the regional linkage and potent regional partners. Universities provide the best prospects and do help us become the genuinely Russian International Affairs Council,” said Dr. Timofeev.
According to Igor Gretsky, the RIAC Days in St. Petersburg University present a coherent follow-up of more than a two-year bilateral cooperation, as the University’s Foreign Relations Department, the key link of the RIAC cooperation, is celebrating its 20-years anniversary.
The three-day program includes a meeting with top officials of the St. Petersburg Government Foreign Relations Committee, A+Standard training for the University staff (development of the English-language website), negotiations with the University publishing facility, a workshop with participation of RIAC Presidium Member Fyodor Lukyanov, and other events aimed to promote University’s internationalization, develop its schools, as well as incorporate the Foreign Relations Department into RIAC’s projects and programs.