Events digest: weekly highlights from the National Centre RUSSIA

The "Youth Day – 2025" festival, a "Startup as a diploma" contest, a discussion in the course of the project "Dialogues about the future" are in our digest for the past week.

On June 24, a master class for the whole family "Plastic cards - a new tool for drawing" was held as part of the educational program "the Birth of Scale" expositional at the National Centre RUSSIA. The participants discovered an unusual creative tool in an ordinary plastic card.

"We bravely approach materials, boldly experiment, and learn to see and take the shape out from the plane, working with a plastic card, relatively speaking, like a spatula. This technique perfectly liberates your imagination and develops the creative thinking," said Anna Medleva, teacher of the master class, senior lecturer at RANEPA ION School of Design, member of the Union of Architects of Russia.

While conducting the master class, the teacher was assisted by freshmen students of the ION school, the "Honey Gingerbread" workshop. 

On June 25, as part of the "Symbols of Time" cycle, a lecture "Palaces of Russia" was held. There, the formation and development of the Russian palace architecture from the royal chambers to the State Kremlin Palace were discussed. The audience leaned about the architects who created the ceremonial appearance of royal residences, about palaces and palace-and-park ensembles. The visitors were also told about the mutual influence of our country and other countries, and about innovative solutions that were born at that time. The experts talked about the unique engineering solutions of Peterhof, the mystical Engineering Castle and the Winter Palace, where the country's history was made. They also touched upon the Soviet period, when the Palace of Soviets project was created.

On June 26, the EISI panel discussion "Video games as a tool for teaching values and protecting historical memory" was held. The experts discussed mechanisms for promoting socially significant content via video games, the specifics of sharing values in a game format, and the possibilities of promoting such products on the Russian and global markets. A moderator and a host of the discussion Nikita Setov, Deputy Director General for GR of "Polylogue" Group of companies, noted that video games are not just a hobby, but a real tool of communication and narrative translation. Following the discussion, the experts concluded that games, with due attention from developers and government support, can become an effective channel for sharing traditional values, and an effective tool for the patriotic education. We just need to find a balance between the meaning and quality of the game scenario.

The final annual meeting of the board of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs was held on June 26. Representatives of state authorities and public organizations, which are involved in the implementation of the youth policy, summed up the results of Rosmolodezh's activities in 2024, and announced plans for 2025. Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, noted that one of the key results of 2024 was the adoption of a Strategy for Implementing the Youth Policy in Russia until 2030.

"The Youth Policy has a special place in the system of public administration. Its aim is the realization of each person's potential, development of their talents, and education of patriotic and socially responsible citizens. This is a national goal set by our President Vladimir Putin. According to polls, today more than 86% of youngsters believe in the possibility of self-realization in Russia, and 94% of young people are proud to be its citizens," Dmitry Chernyshenko emphasized.

During the event, Anastasia Zvyagina, Deputy Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA, received the expression of gratitude for her contribution to the implementation of the tasks assigned to Rosmolodezh.

On June 26, at the workshop for children "Household Garbage - a Planet for Fantasy", the young attendees came to understanding that ordinary household waste can become an unusual material for creativity. The master class was conducted by freshmen students of the School of Design of the Institute of Social Sciences at the Russian Academy of Sciences, and members of the "Honey Gingerbread" workshop. At the master class, the children learned to feel the scale, developed spatial thinking, and got acquainted with a constructive approach to design.

On June 26, at a meeting of the Literature Club "What would you (like to) read?!", the work of the outstanding Russian poet Alexander Tvardovsky, whose 115th birthday was celebrated this year, was discussed. The guests were told about how a son of an ordinary blacksmith got into literature, went through the entire Great Patriotic War as a special war correspondent. How he perpetuated the honor and courage of the defenders of the Fatherland in his immortal works, and even headed one of the most respected magazines of his time. Experts paid special attention to the analysis of the poem "Vasily Terkin", in which the author conveyed the strength of spirit and heroism of ordinary people through poetic epics and lyricism. 

On June 27, more than 400 participants of the "Startup as a Diploma" contest gathered at the National Centre RUSSIA: students from different regions of Russia, experts, entrepreneurs, industry representatives, universities and government authorities. 14 finalist teams presented their startups to an expert jury. The winners of several tracks were determined.

"The "Startup as a Diploma" contest shows how important it is for students to have mentors and partners' support. We keep on working on creating a full-fledged ecosystem of youth entrepreneurship, which will unite universities, industrial partners, entrepreneurs and government authorities. It is important that students not only study, but also have an opportunity to develop and scale their startups, which will contribute to the innovative growth of the region, and the whole country," said Olga Petrova, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

On June 28, the Youth Day - 2025 festival was held across the country. The organizers were the presidential platform "Russia — the Land of Opportunities", Rosmolodezh, Movement of the First and the Russian Society "Knowledge". At the National Centre RUSSIA, visitors could talk with famous athletes and outstanding teachers, learn how to properly build and monetize a personal brand, and be inspired by real stories of self-overcoming from the nominees of "Russia — Land of Opportunities" Award.