Best practices in social project design discussed at the Symposium
Experts analysed leading examples of social initiatives at the II International Symposium "Inventing the Future" held at the National Centre RUSSIA. The panel discussion took place within the "Society" track and brought together representatives of public authorities and social organisations.
Social project design is a targeted activity that enables transformation of reality, emphasised Alexander Kharichev, Head of the Presidential Directorate for Monitoring and Analysis of Social Processes.
"Sociologists describe our time as an ‘ideal storm’. Indeed, we live in an era of major geopolitical and economic shifts and a technological revolution. Under such circumstances, social project design takes on the crucial task of addressing key issues — creating scenarios of a desirable future and implementing social projects without which these scenarios would remain unrealised. In the context of social project design development, we have started forming educational programmes and plan to present a dedicated textbook in early December," Alexander Kharichev noted.
He noted that some social projects focus on addressing specific challenges, while others aim to highlight certain values and attitudes within public consciousness. Projects of the first type include "Live in the North!", "Leaders of Russia", and "Time of Heroes". Successful value-based initiatives include the "Immortal Regiment" movement, the presidential platform "Russia — Land of Opportunity", and the National Centre RUSSIA.
Social project design plays a key role in shaping proactive thinking, noted Gennady Guryanov, First Deputy Director General of the presidential platform "Russia — Land of Opportunity". If in 2017 only 37% of Russians saw opportunities for self-realisation in Russia, by 2025 this number had risen to 82%.
"We bring together passionate people — for instance, in the TopBLOG project, these are media professionals who create content about our country’s achievements. They go through a selection process and then enter the Senezh Management Workshop, where we form teams and train them. Afterwards, they return to their regions and create opportunities for others. This is how our projects evolve into a whole ecosystem where people inspire one another," said Gennady Guryanov.
Olga Zanko, Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on Civil Society Development, Public and Religious Associations, and Chair of the Central Headquarters of the All-Russian Movement "Volunteers of Victory", highlighted social practices that help form a shared value space in Russia — such as the "Immortal Regiment" movement, "Volunteers of Victory", the "St George’s Ribbon" campaign, and the "Search Movement of Russia". These simple and relatable formats encourage personal participation and ultimately turn abstract ideas of patriotism and love for the Motherland into tangible action.
Kirill Istomin, First Deputy Director General of ANO "Dialogue Regions" and Deputy Director General of ANO "Dialogue", spoke about online interaction between society and the authorities. He noted that thanks to systematic work with users, today 65% of citizens prefer to address their questions to government bodies via official public pages rather than third-party platforms.
Andrei Chibis, Governor of the Murmansk region, discussed the implementation of the "Live in the North" programme, which has stopped population outflow from the region and attracted new residents and tourists for the first time since 1989. The Governor emphasised that the project’s success is due not only to its emotional appeal but also to a specific plan that is revised annually based on residents’ feedback.
The II International Symposium "Inventing the Future" is being held on 7 – 8 October at the National Centre RUSSIA, bringing together participants from more than 85 countries and all regions of the Russian Federation. It features over 260 Russian and international experts from China, the USA, Italy, Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
The International Symposium "Inventing the Future" is organised on the instruction of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, under the auspices of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia, and the Ministry of Culture of Russia. The analytical partner is the VCIOM Analytical Centre, and the literary partner is the Eksmo-AST Publishing Group.
