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Head of the Department for Happiness of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, director of the ANO "Eurasian Center for Support of the Institute of Family and Family Values", Head of the Center for Social and Cultural Development "Aggregator of Happiness" Marina Volkova took part in an international scientific and practical conference, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the first All-Union exhibitions of philately and bonds “Post history and social philately as tools of knowledge and preservation of undistorted history.” The conference is organized by the “World of Russian Philately” Foundation with the support of the all-Russian public organizations “Russian Union of Veterans” and “Association of Legal Historians”.
The conference took place at the A. Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad in Moscow. This is a unique complex consisting of a museum, archive, library, research, information, publishing and cultural and educational centers, whose activities are aimed at concentrating and studying the cultural heritage of Russians abroad, developing relations and strengthening ties with compatriots outside of Russia.
The conference participants represented the Union of Collectors of Russia, the Russian Union of Veterans, other public organizations, government agencies and the media.
Greetings to the conference were sent by: Andrey Kondrashov, General Director of the Russian Information Agency TASS, Igor Panfilov, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Peace Foundation.
Acquaintance of specialists of the House of Russian Abroad with the announcement of the first issue of the magazine “World of Russian Philately”, the ability of the Editor-in-Chief and President of the foundation of the same name Valentin Levandovsky to reveal and illustrate the history of the country with the help of postal items, to involve materials on the history of postal and social philately, including postage stamps, into scientific circulation and calendar stamp, date of departure, text of the letter, address of the sender and recipient, revealed proximity to the scientific, historical and socio-cultural research of the House of Russian Abroad. This was the reason for the start of cooperation between the organizations.
Marina Volkova, Head of the Department of Happiness of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, spoke about the activities of the International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations and revealed the features of “happiness diplomacy”:
“The project called “Happiness Aggregator” was launched in 2020. Its essence is that it is a platform where people can share their stories of happiness and inspire others. The main idea of the project is that happiness is not only an individual feeling, but also a collective experience that can be shared with others.
On the “Happiness Aggregator” portal and the pages of the magazine of the same name, we invite everyone to share their recipes for happiness and learn in our happiness workshop about the unique experiences of people from all over the world. Every story is amazing. My team and I believe that these stories can help people see that happiness is possible in any situation and that each of us can contribute to creating a more harmonious and happy society.
“The Aggregator of Happiness is a place where people in the most remote corners of our world can learn about your collection of happiness. We invite you to join us and share your stories.”
Speaking about collecting as the most popular hobby in the world, the head of the Department of Happiness gave examples of the motives that lead people to collect things. Among them are the joy of searching and acquiring knowledge, investing, social contacts, finding friends with similar interests, obtaining a unique status and other meanings. Collectors often say that their hobby makes them happier.
“You can collect a whole collection of happiness dedicated to this hobby. It will include photographs of satisfied collectors, their reviews of their hobby, as well as rare specimens that cause special joy. This collection will be an excellent gift for any person who is looking for happiness,” noted Marina Volkova.
Mentioning that gratitude is an important component of happiness, the representative of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly thanked the World of Russian Philately Foundation and its director, the famous collector Valentin Levandovsky, for the opportunity to participate in the scientific and practical conference and interest in the development of “diplomacy of happiness.”
