NPO LAB: Social Impact Lounge. 12 September 2018

12 September 2018

NPO LAB: Social Impact Lounge. 12 September 2018

Opening of the thematic section on social communication. Presentation of the INNOSOCIUM Nationwide Social Project Competition as part of the Centre for the Development of Social Communications

The competition should draw the audience’s attention to social problems faced by

“The Centre for the Development of Social Communications is a brand new project of the Roscongress Foundation. Today, we are announcing the launch of a very interesting story called the Innosotsium National Social Projects Contest […] The goal is to attract the attention to social projects that is currently lacking”, Editor-in-Chief of the Delovoye Utro (Business Morning) programme on NTV Tatyana Naumova said.

“We are starting the contest with three categories: ‘Active Longevity’, ‘Inclusive Society’, and ‘Territorial Development’, but we will develop our activities further”, Art Directors Club Russia President Alexander Alexeev said.

“We supported this initiative because we understand how important it is for the entire non-profit sector as a whole. We must consolidate common efforts and present these projects at such major discussion platforms. The project’s activities are very effective and useful”, Art, Science, and Sport Charitable Foundation Programme Director Maria Melnichenko said.

The contest will help to improve the professional skills of its participants

“Essentially, this is a laboratory that immediately conveys the results of the research process, and in a very short period. We will be dealing with prototypes of future real solutions […] This is a classic example of project education. We will create projects in real time which in terms of their form will be close to truly professional projects that are ready for implementation”, Alexeev said.

“People who are currently studying at universities are getting a state-of-the-art education and their student life is largely built according to the project principle”, Moscow State Institute of International Relations Vice Rector Artem Malgin said.

“When project management is gaining tremendous speed and we are faced with major tasks that need to be solved as quickly as possible with minimal costs and losses, we are extremely happy to be working with young people”, Director of the Personnel Policy and Administrative Affairs Department at the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Elena Panova said.

The competition will help to solve pressing problems

“This competition is very timely because oftentimes motivated students who have developed ideas do not have enough support from the corporate sector and the funds don’t always see them. So I very much hope that a large number of young people, including students from our university, will be able to influence the real social situation in our country with their projects”, Director of the Institute for Organizational Development and Strategic Initiatives at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration Vyacheslav Shoptenko said.

“We have an important goal of finding ideas through Innosotsium with which we will be able to involve young people and the Russian in resolving this problem [the social rehabilitation of military veterans]”, MEMORY OF GENERATIONS Charitable Foundation Deputy Executive Director Marina Pavlenko said.

‘Russia in Search of Ideas’. The ‘Raise Russia’ and ‘Russia in Miniature’ projects

The ‘Raise Russia’ and ‘Russia in Miniature’ projects, which are part of the ‘Russia in Search of Ideas’ humanitarian and educational project, were selected by the Presidential Grants Foundation for the ‘People’s Diplomacy’ focus.

“As part of the ‘People’s Diplomacy’, we have selected 70 projects this year”, Presidential Grants Foundation Deputy CEO Innokentiy Dementiev said.

The humanitarian project ‘Russia in Search of Ideas’ is designed to unite people

“We do not understand what the country looks like, what kind of people live in it, what they want, and what expectations they have for the future. We cannot choose a course until we can unite people with at least an understanding of the open spaces”, ‘Russia in Search of Ideas’ Multimedia Portal Producer Alexander Zamyslov said.

‘Russia in Search of Ideas’ helps with communication between the authorities and the public

“The authorities do not communicate effectively with the public. Business has difficult communication processes with the authorities. Just like citizens with business. It’s impossible to start a communication process if we don’t understand in which country we live”, Zamyslov said.

“Our project, which emerged from the bottom up, proved to be needed for civil and is important to the authorities. Communication between the authorities and the public has begun”, Member of the Board of Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) Charitable Foundation Rodion Shein said.

The world's largest hot-air balloon will be built as part of the ‘Raise Russia’ project

“At the initiative of Fedor Konyukhov, the largest hot-air balloon on the planet is currently being built. We called it ‘Russia’. Its flight will be the culmination of our ‘Raise Russia’ project. But I hope the project will not end on this note and will grow into a broad movement”, Head of the ‘Russia in Search of Ideas’ Project and Chairperson of the Board of Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) Charitable Foundation Mikhail Argamakov said.

The ‘Russia in Miniature’ project will help people learn about the country’s nature and choose a vacation spot

‘The ‘Russia in Miniature’ project will introduce people to the different nature conditions in the country in one hour”, Head of the ‘Raise Russia’ Project and Director of Fedor Konyukhov’s Zelenaya Planeta (Green Planet) Charitable Foundation Vladislav Yashkin said.

“People who visit the ‘Russia in Miniature’ part will not only get to know their own region, but will be able to choose vacation spots”, Bakhchisaray Park Crimea in Miniature Director Viktor Zhilenko said.

The Union of Journalists will help the ‘Russia in Search of Ideas’ project

“The Union of Journalists will help, provide their own ideas, and get involved, and if the project succeeds, it will be very cool”, Russian Union of Journalists Chairman Vladimir Soloviev said.

Social communication as a driver of socially important change

Effective social communication is important for the state, business, and people

“The social function is important, and not just for immediate agents, NPOs, and the state. It is important for companies because consumers vote for this social mission and social function with the rouble. For the young generation – Generation Z – the existence of ideas and values that resonate in their hearts and souls is a very important factor in their choice”, Effie Awards Russia General Director Ekaterina Son said.

“In the past, we knew how to come up with catchy images, but now we have to come up with and build catchy manners of behaviour so that people quickly grab a hold of it and do something […] How to make a good example infectious is a challenge for everyone”, Art Directors Club Russia Director Alexander Alexeev said.

“At present, it is very difficult to get through to individuals, to all of us, and to the Russian public […] I really want to get the citizens of Russia and not only business involved in social responsibility and social communication”, Pavlenko said.

The role of social communications is expanding in the digital age

“Today’s students will find themselves in a situation where high technologies are forcing people out of work. People will have a lot of free time. They are already discussing a 4-day work week and shortening the work day. People are getting more free time, and a person can simply fall out of social processes in the absence of a culture of social communication”, FEFU President Nikita Anisimov.

“The world is becoming increasingly smaller and closer. Whereas in the past we were separated by insane distances and it was impossible to see how people live in other countries, now distances don’t mean anything. Now we all have our social media, we can see how people live in other regions, cities and countries, and communication is taking place in a new information space”, Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Anna Akparova said.

A project’s popularity is an indicator of its importance

“When a project goes beyond what the organizers have done and starts living its own real life, this actually symbolizes the quality of the project. And this means that it was truly conceived and implemented so that it can exist on its own. This is what successful social communication is”, Executive Secretary of the Silver Archer National Board of Trustees Yakov Minevich said.

“We realized that it is very important for business and for NPOs to understand how to visualize their own activities. We have a photo contest and captions for which the image is posted on social media because we currently believe this is the best stamp of how we can communicate in principle regardless of how the media or someone else apart from us looks at it”, Donors’ Forum Association Executive Director Alexandra Boldyreva said.

The formation of a person’s social culture should start from childhood

“Real social communication occurs when children are still in school. A lot of things are introduced to a person at this age. If we fail to pay proper attention to the culture of human formation and how people construct their social communication at an early age, it then becomes difficult to catch and fix problems” Anisimov said.

Social communication increases society’s self-esteem

“We still treat ourselves as a third world country in the 21st century. We don’t love and respect ourselves very much. We look at everything from the outside without noticing our ambassadors”, Vice President for Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility at Russian Copper Company Anna Shabarova said.

It’s essential to build social communication based on moral and ethical norms

“These days it is important to talk about our social communication proceeding from the principle of goodwill, mutual respect, and responsibility for our words and the energy that we bring to the communication space”, Akparova said.

Active Ageing. Time for New Opportunities

The mental barrier must be overcome for active ageing

“Tools to support the elderly are secondary. First of all, you have to convince yourself that you can lead an active lifestyle at the age of 70+”, Head of the Republic of Udmurtia Alexander Brechalov said.

The authorities should pay attention to working with the older generation

“The government is definitely working with public organizations in this area. We began working with the older generation in our region a long time ago. The ‘Active Ageing’ is currently being implemented”, Director of the Primorsky Territory Department of Labour and Social Development Lilia Lavrentieva said.

“The system of presidential grants will enable us to implement the ‘Active Retiree School’ project in Nakhodka. The elderly make up one-third of the population in Nakhodka. The project is aimed at the social adjustment of retirees and veterans and to improve their quality of life”, Nika Charitable Foundation President Oksana Volodina said.

The number of people with disabilities is increasing

“There are about 12 million people with disabilities in our country. According to the forecasts of international organizations, people with disabilities will make up 20% of the Earth’s inhabitants by 2050. This should be taken into account”, Chairman of the Board of Cybathletics Andrey Davidyuk said.

Modern methods need to be used for the social adjustment of elderly citizens

“In 2100, there will be 3 billion people over the age of 65. In Europe, the term ‘silver volunteering’ has become firmly established, with 5–20% of Europeans participating in it”, Volunteer Centre Association Chairperson of the Board Artem Metelev said.

“Our charitable projects include the ‘Status-Online’ computer and financial literacy programme. These courses help to resolve issues with the social adaptation of the elderly and disabled people and create an interest club”, Philip Morris Sales and Marketing Siberia and Far East Corporate Governance Manager Dmitry Sharkov said.

NPO LAB: Social Impact Lounge. 12 September 2018

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