Foreign bloggers visit Lobachevsky University
As part of the “Welcome to Russia!” project initiated by Maria Butina, a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, a group of foreign bloggers visited the Nizhny Novgorod region. The combined audience of the foreign bloggers who joined the trip to the Nizhny Novgorod region totals more than one million people. The aim of the visit was to help the international audience form an objective view of life in modern Russia based on the example of the Nizhny Novgorod region, and to draw attention to the region as a potential place for relocation.
“Nizhny Novgorod is the hallmark of the entire ‘Welcome to Russia!’ movement, because the excellent OKA agency works here. This is the first systemic initiative that we are in close cooperation with and we can see the systemic and structured approach that Nizhny Novgorod region has taken to the issue of resettlement from unfriendly countries,” said Maria Butina.
The programme of the visit, which was prepared by the Ministry of International and Interregional Relations of the Nizhny Novgorod region together with the OKA regional staffing agency, was aimed at demonstrating the economic, scientific, educational and cultural potential of the Nizhny Novgorod region.
“Our foreign guests are not just representatives of the media community, they are also active supporters of the Russian Federation's policy, they share the traditional spiritual and moral values of our country. Their visit is intended to help demonstrate real life in Russia to residents of Western countries, to show the beauty of the Nizhny Novgorod region, thereby contributing to the destruction of stereotypes and the formation of an objective view of our region. I hope that the materials prepared by the bloggers based on the results of their visit will serve as an incentive for many foreign citizens to visit the Nizhny Novgorod region and, perhaps, to consider it as a place to live,” noted Olga Guseva, Minister of International and Interregional Relations of the Nizhny Novgorod region.
As part of the blog tour, the participants met Remo Kirsch, a native of Germany and a volunteer advisor to the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region on the resettlement of foreign specialists to the region. Remo Kirsch is now building the RuDe settlement in the Bogorodsk district. They also met with Stacy Schrader, a native of the USA and owner of the Three Graces Equestrian Club, who has been living in Russia for over 30 years and is successfully developing her entrepreneurial activities. To find out more about the economic potential, the delegation visited the agricultural enterprise SPK Nizhegorodets.
During the scientific and educational part of the programme, the delegation made a visit to Lobachevsky University where they were introduced to its activities and infrastructure, and visited the Simulation Centre of the UNN Institute of Clinical Medicine. The participants of the blog tour also met with international students studying at the university, who shared their impressions of life and study in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
“UNN as one of Russia's leading centres of research and education is doing its best to let the truth about our country be heard abroad. More than two thousand international students from almost 100 countries study at our university. They are actively involved in extracurricular activities, participate in many of our events, and initiate intercultural projects that draw the attention of the region's residents. A lot of work is being done, and it is no coincidence that last May the Centre for Public Diplomacy of the Nizhny Novgorod region was opened on our campus with the assistance of the Ministry of International and Interregional Relations of the region. Today our guests visited the university, learned about its potential, talked to students and professors. We hope that after seeing everything with their own eyes, they will tell their audience about it, and more foreign citizens will become interested in the culture of our country. Perhaps some of them will want to come to us and study at our university. We will be very happy about it,” said Oleg Trofimov, Rector of Lobachevsky University.
On the site of the Neimark IT campus that is currently under construction, foreign bloggers were presented with the concept of the project, which is positioned as a promising centre of attraction for talented young people and professionals from around the world.
The cultural part of the programme for foreign bloggers included a sightseeing tour of Nizhny Novgorod and a trip to Gorodets.
