Dmitry Puchkov: "Education isn’t only about knowledge — it’s about bringing people together"

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People engaged in educational outreach deserve to be known. However, they do this work not for awards, but because they want to serve their country. This view was expressed by writer, publicist, translator, populariser and computer game developer Dmitry Puchkov at the National Centre RUSSIA during the fifth ceremony of Znanie.Award.

The Russian society Znanie traces its history to a Soviet public organisation founded in 1947 at the initiative of representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia. Dmitry Puchkov noted that even in his Soviet childhood he enjoyed attending the society’s lecture hall on Liteyny Prospekt in Leningrad.

"It is good that the Russian society Znanie survived all social upheavals and continues to promote knowledge among the public. I take an active part in this work to the best of my abilities. Here, at Znanie.Award at the National Centre RUSSIA, there is a team of like-minded people who are engaged in roughly the same work — shaping a sound public consciousness <...> The situation in the world around us is tense. Educational outreach makes it possible to convey certain knowledge to people and explain how the world actually works. This helps bring people even closer together," said Dmitry Puchkov.

According to the writer, the rapid development of technology makes it possible to create various formats for working with information, which is extremely important for modern audiences. Whereas text used to be the main medium, today it is increasingly being displaced by videos from social media.

"Today any information must be delivered at least in video and audio formats. One person watches video clips, another listens while working with their hands. A third prefers to read because it takes less time. We need to work with all formats. But video, of course, remains the most popular today," Dmitry Puchkov concluded.

The award ceremony of Znanie.Award, the country’s educational award and the flagship project of the Russian society Znanie, was held on 3 March at the National Centre RUSSIA. During the event, 32 laureates were announced across 18 nominations.