UNN to open Russia’s first bachelor’s programme in Social Architecture
This year, Lobachevsky University will launch a bachelor’s programme in Social Architecture within the Social Work field of studies. The training of social architects will be conducted by faculty members from the UNN Faculty of Social Sciences.
Sergey Sudin, Head of the Department of General Sociology and Social Work, provided his comments on the connection between social architecture and social work:
"Social architecture is now commonly defined as the practice of modelling, designing, and organising changes that are significant for society, aimed at developing social systems. We view social architecture as a means to implement the constitutional principle of Russia as a social state. The work of social architects involves engaging with civil society institutions, developing innovative ways to solve difficult life situations, and fostering communications between social groups. Essentially, social architecture represents the most promising and relevant aspect of social work, capable of transforming it to meet the current goals of the state and society."
The current educational programme already includes the acquisition of project management, analytical, research, and administrative competencies. Among the new academic courses are: "Design in social architecture", "Technologies of social architecture", "Conflictology in social architecture", "Non-profit organisations as subjects of social architecture".
According to Roman Golubin, Dean of the UNN Faculty of Social Sciences, the approaches of social work and social architecture to social problems and their solutions are quite similar:
"The Russian model of social architecture is constructive; it focuses on creating benefits for people and involving citizens in solving problems. All parties involved in institutionalising social architecture share this understanding.
That is why the state declares its readiness to help trained professionals in securing employment within government agencies and business corporations."
