One-week programme designed for journalism students from Volda University College, Norway, and S?dert?rns University, Sweden, began yesterday, on October 21. In May 2014 UNN journalism students travelled to Norway to participate in a workshop on multicultural understanding and human rights. Now UNN welcomes Nordic students who have come to study religious and ethnic multiculturalism in theory and practice.

A series of lectures for Scandinavian and Russian students are planned for the programme aimed at the formation of journalists’ views and ethics in multicultural societies, started on Monday, October 21 with Mrs. Olga Savinova, Head of the Department of Journalism of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod and the manager of this project. Mr. Alexander Bedny, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, met with students and wished them well in their studies. Norwegian and Swedish students will meet with Nizhny Novgorod journalists, visit UNN Media Centre, travel to Bolshoe Boldino, and write papers about multiculturalism in Nizhny Novgorod, the capital city of Volga Federal District, the most multi-ethnic and multi-confessional area in Russia.

The first day saw a meeting with the leaders of ethnic and religious organizations in Nizhny Novgorod, Mr. Vidadi Abbasov, Mr. Eduard Chaprak and Mr. Gaiaz-Khazrat Zakirov.

The main emphasis of the programme is on exchange of experiences and best practices in intercultural communication. “Training journalists to work in an ethnically and culturally diverse world is an urgent task, and exchange of experiences is needed for experts and those who engage in intercultural communication”, Prof. Olga Savinova said.