Geology and geography: meeting on developing educational programmes for young specialists held at the National Centre RUSSIA

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The meeting "The Role of Public, Scientific and Industrial Associations in Developing Educational Programmes for Young People" was held at the National Centre RUSSIA on 28 May. The event, dedicated to preserving the connection between generations and training young geologists, became part of the business programme of the "Geography Lessons" exposition. The meeting was organised by the Russian Geological Society.

Participants discussed how geological knowledge is taught today and how to help teenagers learn more about the profession through educational projects, expeditions, project work and other formats. President of the Russian Geological Society, Scientific Director of FSBI VIMS and Professor Grigory Mashkovtsev noted that the meeting was being held at the "Geography Lessons" exposition for a reason: geography and geology are two sciences that go hand in hand.

First Vice-President of the Russian Geological Society Nikolai Serdyuk turned to the history and development strategy of the organisation. He spoke about how geographical discoveries gradually turned into geological achievements and noted the importance of popularising geological knowledge not only among young people, but also among all sections of the population.

"We are trying to convey to the public that geology is not simply a mineral resource base for the development of the national economy, but part of a single process. For example, the creation of geoparks and geological trails helps people learn more deeply about their regions," Nikolai Serdyuk said.

Head of the History of Geology Group at the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ivan Vtorov gave a report on how geology was taught in secondary school in different years. Drawing on historical experience, he suggested that it would be reasonable to return this subject, as well as textbooks on it, to the modern school curriculum. This proposal, he recalled, had already been voiced at the IX All-Russian Congress of Geologists this year.

President of the "Geological Guide" Foundation Vladimir Yeriklintsev presented the public project "Planet Earth Through the Eyes of a Geologist: Deposits — Routes — History". Its goal is to provide practical information about the most interesting corners of Russia, including those that are extremely difficult to reach. According to the expert, before the project appeared, no one had linked geology with history so deeply, and all this is being done to develop and support young people’s interest in science.

Honoured Builder of the Russian Federation and Head of the Initiative Group for the Creation of a Geopark in Zelenograd Alexander Raptovsky spoke about how he collected stones across the Moscow Region and personally organised the difficult transportation of multi-tonne boulders, including a 64-tonne granite monolith. This is how the idea of the "Park of Amazing Stones" was born — a beautiful and, at the same time, educational space from the point of view of history and geology. The unique public area is planned to be created at the junction of Moscow and the Moscow Region: it will include not only living teaching aids, but also, for example, a museum with palaeontological exhibits. The total volume of the collection is about 2,000 tonnes of stones from different regions of the country. The author of the idea is especially proud that guests from China, a country with millennia-old traditions of reverence for stone, have shown interest in the project.

"The reaction of the guests from China was overwhelming. According to them, this collection of stones would be enough for three such parks. Later, I was asked to give a personal tour to the Ambassador of the Republic, who had learned about the collection and become very interested in it," Alexander Raptovsky said.

Professor at the Faculty of Geology of Moscow State University and Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences Pavel Plechov gave the audience a mini-lecture, "Yellowstone: Three Levels of Truth", as an example of how lessons at school can be structured. At the same time, he warned about the downside of popularisation, noting that unprofessional simplification of information causes harm.

"It is harmful to tell schoolchildren incorrect things, because their eyes light up, they remember it, and then come to university with a mess in their heads. That is why popularisation should be carried out by people who understand what they are talking about," Pavel Plechov emphasised.

At the end of the meeting, an awards ceremony was held. Among others, Head of the Laboratory of Cultural and Educational Projects at the National Centre RUSSIA Olesya Malevannaya received a letter of thanks from the Russian Geological Society.