The "Geography Lessons" exposition closes in 10 days: how it unfolded and what there is still time to see
Visitors to the "Geography Lessons" exposition have already searched for treasure using a "lost map", packed backpacks that will not let them down on a hike, learned to tie rescue knots, purified water using materials at hand, made their own "treasures" from stones and even become meteorologists by creating clouds right inside the hall and forecasting the weather with professional instruments. Ahead are a few more days to see rare maps, visit a school "Geography Classroom" from the mid-20th century and travel to the icy Arctic without leaving the National Centre RUSSIA: the "Geography Lessons" exposition closes on 9 July.
Over the course of the project, the National Centre RUSSIA became a point of attraction for teachers, schoolchildren, students and everyone who sees the rich history of our country behind maps and atlases. One of the main events was the Forum of Geography Teachers and Students of Specialised Universities, which brought together more than 800 participants from all federal districts. Teachers and experts discussed how to connect the school lesson with the digital world, making satellite images, AI and geographic information systems part of everyday practice. Separate sessions focused on new textbooks, task banks, modern atlases and assessment formats that help children see geography not merely as a subject, but as a key to understanding the world.
A special place in the forum programme was given to the meeting "Compass of Vocation: Motivational Routes". Test cosmonaut, participant in the Path of the Ancestors Arctic expedition and Hero of Russia Ivan Vagner, Arctic civil aviation pilot Valeria Minina and extreme traveller and expedition tourism expert Dmitry Barabanov explained how school geography had helped them find their professions, taught them to make decisions in difficult conditions and turned childhood interests into their life’s work.
Lectures of the educational project "Exploring Russia" were held in the "Geography Classroom", a hall styled as a mid-20th-century school classroom. For example, photographer and researcher Alexander Lyskin presented his own photographs from the country’s many different regions, from permafrost to the mountains of the Caucasus, and told the stories of the people and landscapes behind each shot. Aerospace engineer Denis Prudnik, in a lecture on extraterrestrial cartography, drew a line from ancient navigators to modern "asteroid hunters", explaining how humanity learned to find its bearings in a world where even celestial bodies are constantly moving.
The practical part of the programme was equally eventful. At the interactive "Camp of Masters", guests of all ages learned basic hiking skills: how to pack a backpack so that it helps on the way rather than dragging them down, how to pitch a tent that can withstand wind and rain, and how to tie hiking knots that will not fail at a crucial moment.
At the workshop on creating a water filter, participants built a multi-stage purification system with their own hands and saw murky water become clearer, while also learning about the laws of nature. There were also sessions devoted to first aid, where geography met medicine and safety. At the "Weather Station" workshop, schoolchildren measured temperature, pressure, humidity and wind speed using professional instruments, created artificial clouds, observed the behaviour of cold and warm steam and, on that basis, learned to make their own weather forecasts.
The "Geography Lessons" exposition itself remains an important route through the National Centre RUSSIA and one that is well worth taking before it closes. Eight halls bring together original maps and atlases from the country’s largest repositories, including the Russian State Library, the Russian Geographical Society, the archives of the Ministry of Defence, leading universities and research centres. Visitors can trace how borders and ideas about Russia changed, see what the routes of pioneers looked like, how our country was depicted abroad, how resources were mapped and roads were built.
In the "Geography Classroom" hall, guests sit at Erismann-style desks and see textbooks and globes from different eras, while in the section "Courage. Expeditions, Discoveries" they find themselves in the camp of the drifting station North Pole-1, imagining themselves as participants in the legendary Papanin expedition. The hall "Resources. Gifts of Geography", with gemstones, ancient rocks and live sturgeons, is a particular delight for both children and adults, telling the story of the fragile balance of natural systems as vividly as any textbook.
Although only 10 days remain before the exposition closes, guests of the National Centre RUSSIA still have a chance not only to walk through the halls, but also to attend new events. On 5 July, as part of the "Exploring Russia" project, Dmitry Nesterenko, a geographer and Vice-Rector of Murmansk Arctic University, will give a lecture titled "The Limits of the Possible: Roads of Discovery". It will focus on how Russia’s territory took shape, why the defeat of the Horde, the development of Siberia, access to the seas, the voluntary accession of the Caucasus and Central Asia, and even Russian America are all linked by a single logic of the country’s expansion, and where the natural boundary of that growth lay.
On the same day, the practical workshop "Survival School" will be held for future pioneers. Participants will work with real expedition equipment: they will learn to use a compass, navigate terrain, distribute items properly in a backpack and handle ropes confidently, mastering knots that are useful both on a hike and in everyday life.
The "Geography Lessons" exposition at the National Centre RUSSIA is approaching its finale, but each of the remaining days can become a journey of its own, from old maps to modern lectures, from Arctic camps to immersive quests and workshops that teach visitors not only to love geography, but also to feel more confident in the real world. If you have been putting off your visit until later, now is the time to open your calendar and choose a date: in 10 days, the exposition will close.
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