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On June 3, 2022, within the International People’s Diplomacy Forum, an international panel session "The Role of Science Diplomacy in Supporting Sustainable Development" was held. The session was organized by the Department for Sustainable Development of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly.
The panel sessions were moderated by Deputy Secretary General Professor Yulia Petrova and Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Union of Arab Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities Dr. Yasser Allaham.
The panel was attended by prominent public figures, representatives of international organizations, scientific, financial and business structures from the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Asia.
During the panel session, the main aspects of the current level of social interaction in science and education, its particular importance for supporting sustainable development, as well as promising areas of cross-country integration were discussed.
A wide range of issues made it possible to meaningfully discuss not only general postulates, but also individual needs of the regions of the continent. Thus, colleagues from the MENA countries, Senator, ex-Minister of Labor of Jordan, Mr. Katamine M.A. Nydal, professor at Cairo University, financial consultant for state and commercial structures of Egypt, ex-Minister of Labor of Egypt Mr. Nour Nada and professor of the Department of Strategic Management at Brunel University (London), international expert economics Mr. Abraham Althonayan focused on the need to create international science and technology hubs. During the discussion, a number of specific solutions were proposed for launching hubs in the near future.
In support of this project, the Middle East colleagues also made proposals for opening Representative Offices of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly in the MENA countries, which, among other issues, will provide institutional, organizational and advisory support for international scientific and technical cooperation.
In turn, the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, responding to a request to expand cooperation, agreed to hold the Days of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly in this region in 2022-2023. These activities will create sustainable consortiums of stakeholders and will contribute to the effective implementation of the project.
Many speakers noted that in modern realities it is necessary to develop scientific diplomacy based on trusting relationships, international cooperation in education and culture in order to build constructive interaction. At the same time, in the modern conditions of the transformation of scientific and educational spaces, previous successful experience should be carefully used. In this regard, Professor Olga Oleinikova, Head of the National Erasmus Office in the Russian Federation, noted the high level and potential of the international experience of Russian universities, which should be creatively rethought and built into new integration mechanisms. This topic was supported by Tatyana Bratarchuk, Dean of the Preparatory Faculty for International Students of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, who has been working in the export of Russian education for many years.
In his speech, Vice-Rector for International Affairs of BSTU named after V.I. Shukhov Ruslan Lesovik noted that the strengthening of international relations and the development of comprehensive cooperation with foreign universities and research centers are among the priorities of the university and that, by joining forces with the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, scientific culture and public diplomacy will reach a new level of interaction.
The participants’ speeches were devoted to the creation of partnerships between state and non-state structures for making informed and responsible decisions in achieving sustainable development, in particular, by Olga Panina, Head of the Department of Public Administration of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation - in terms of the implementation of the international project of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly to create a Eurasian university ranking and project manager TOLMUCH, by Olga Subanova, General Director of Topatet Consulting LLC – in terms of the development of new forms of information promotion while maintaining continuity and respect for previously achieved results.
In her closing speech, the Co-Chair of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, member of the State Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Alexandra Ochirova summed up the session and formulated the main idea of implementing mechanisms for the development of scientific diplomacy through dialogue platforms of authoritative public unions and associations, of which the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly is a prominent representative. The implementation of this format effectively contributes to building contacts and organizing joint events on a wide range of issues between partner countries and stakeholders.
