6 December 2022, On December 1, the 15th anniversary of ROSATOM, more than 30 experts from 20 countries gathered at the Global Impact Conference to discuss problems, trends, challenges, and new opportunities in education in the coming years. Education experts from India, China, Russia, Turkey, UAE, Oman, Armenia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Brazil, Vietnam, Egypt, Latin America, and Africa took part in the event.
Aleksey Likhachev, Director General of the Rosatom State Corporation, opened the GIC 2022 International Conference: “This is the third time we are meeting at the Global Impact Conference and every time we move up one level in the quality of talk, conclusions and decisions we make. This year’s theme for the event is “Education X: Catalyst for the Future.” At GIC 2022 we are talking not only about education as a learning process, but also about education as the formation of a person who acquires knowledge not to broaden their horizons, but to apply it for the good of their people and country,” added Alexey Likhachev.
Gleb Nikitin, Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, noted the importance of choosing Nizhny Novgorod as the host city for the 2022 Global Impact Conference. “Nizhny Novgorod has a rich history and great scientific and technical potential. The opening of a new campus of Rosatom’s corporate university – the Mayak Academy – in Nizhny Novgorod will raise the prestige of engineering professions among young people and provide additional opportunities for students, schoolchildren and professionals to interact and share knowledge,” he said in his address to the conference participants.
Welcoming the participants of the conference, Rashid Alouach, Human Rights Officer for the Joint Program of the Russian Federation and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted the importance of receiving quality education. “Nowadays, quality education is a key issue, because it is a crucial moment for building the future. There are 1.8 billion young people in the world – the largest number in the history of mankind,” he said.
The GIC 2022 International Conference continued with plenary session “Connecting with Humanity: Art, Science and Business”. The discussion was attended by Zelfira Tregulova, Director of the Tretyakov State Gallery, and Professor Sergey Filonovich, Head of the Higher School of Business at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. The experts discussed how culture and art are transformed in an era of change, what path of development contemporary science is following and how businesses respond to the emergence of new imperatives.
“I see two major trends in education. The first is people’s need for lifelong learning. The second trend, which I am concerned about, is the pragmatization of education, when there is a desire to direct a young person too early to a narrow educational profile,” commented Sergei Filonovich. According to him, the world and professions are changing very rapidly now, so the education system must take this into account.
Zelfira Tregulova, in turn, noted the importance of developing creativity in young people: “Through exhibitions, educational programs and master classes we give impetus to the development of creativity. Young people who absorb this practice will be just as creative in their professions”.
In a public talk session titled The Corporate Jedi: HR trends in the JEDI World [Justice – Equity – Diversity – Inclusion], Tatiana Terentyeva, Deputy Director General for Human Resources at ROSATOM, noted that one of the most difficult jobs in education is that of a teacher. “It is extremely important to become a friend to your students so that they come in time, share problems and doubts. It is necessary to preserve the young talent for the future so that they will feel their inner strength,” she said in her answer to a question about the important professions of today.
Also as part of GIC 2022, members of Impact Team 2050, a Youth Advisory Council to Director General of ROSATOM, presented an analytical report EducationX and took part in panel discussions as participants and moderators.
Preparing the EducationX report required Impact Team 2050 to do some very extensive research, including conducting sociological surveys among young people in the Team members’ home countries. Thus, according to the survey, the best way to reach young people is through digital platforms. 54% of the younger generation get their news through social networks, 15% read youth media, while only 8% prefer traditional media. 81% of respondents believe that social media gives their generation a voice. Over 63% of respondents stated that social media also allows them to have an impact on environmental and community issues.
As a side event of the GIC 2022 conference, there was also an awards ceremony for the winners of the International Student Contest “Innovations in Education”, organized by the Corporate Academy of Rosatom together with the Higher School of Economics National Research University. This is a federal competition for projects in the field of education and technology, where individual authors or teams of 2 to 6 people can participate. The winners of the Innovation in Education Contest 2022 were determined at the conference in real-time during the pitching of the ten finalists previously selected by an international Expert Jury. The 2022 contest received over 400 applications from 19 countries, including Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Germany, France, Israel, Indonesia, Malaysia and other states. This year’s winner is a project titled “LEAN. PRODUCTION – digital simulator for lean production training from the Leningrad region” by Vladislav Tereschenko and Valery Leventsov.
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The 2022 GIC International Conference took place on the new campus of the Rosatom Corporate University, the Mayak Academy of Sakharov, with over 250 participants attending the event live.
Conference materials are available at https://impactconference.global/
