27 people aged 19 to 35 representing different regions of Russia (Yekaterinburg, Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov, Stavropol, Ulyanovsk, Tomsk, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Tyumen and Moscow) and also Belarus came to take part in the work of the School. Among the participants were undergraduates, post-graduate students, young scientists and diplomats united by keen interest to exploration of migration processes in contemporary Russia and in the world. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the School became the platform for creating the network of a new generation of experts studying different migration aspects.
The participants
27 people aged 19 to 35 representing different regions of Russia (Yekaterinburg, Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov, Stavropol, Ulyanovsk, Tomsk, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Tyumen and Moscow) and also Belarus came to take part in the work of the School. Among the participants were undergraduates, post-graduate students, young scientists and diplomats united by keen interest to exploration of migration processes in contemporary Russia and in the world. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the School became the platform for creating the network of a new generation of experts studying different migration aspects.
The School inauguration
RIAC Winter School “Migration in the global world” was inaugurated on January, 31. I. Ivanov, RIAC President, A. Kortunov, RIAC director General and I. Timofeev, RIAC Program Director addressed the participants.
Speaking before the members of the School Igor Ivanov touched upon pressing issues of migration in the context of internal and foreign policy developments. He stressed that exclusively prohibitive measures previously dominating in migration policy have rendered irrelevant, and now there is the need for the development of a new all-embracing migration strategy. It has become apparent that the current situation demands consolidated efforts of all ministries and agencies. The effective resolution of urgent migration problems is impossible without a long-term strategy and clear understanding the ways of its implementation. According to Igor Ivanov, the main task of RIAC as a nascent think-tank is to send to decision-makers the message about the importance of development and further realization of coordinated political initiatives in different spheres of international cooperation including such a complex problem as migration.
In his welcoming word Andrey Kortunov emphasized the role of higher educational establishments in migration processes studies, noting, however, that unfortunately little attention is given to this problem during study hours. He urged the participants to come up with their proposals of how to improve the situation. Mr. Kortunov also put forward the idea of setting up an association of organizations dealing with different aspects of migration. The idea was cordially welcomed by the participants.
Concluding the inauguration ceremony Ivan Timofeev said that RIAC Winter and Summer Schools is an ongoing project, and within its framework the Council plans to further keep in touch with their participants, in an interactive format among other things. One of the RIAC missions is the quest for new names, uncommon ideas and solutions. RIAC Winter School 2012 is the first step towards it.
The lectures
During seven days of the School’s work the participants could communicate with the leading specialists in the field of migration in the format of lectures, seminars and roundtables. The official public policy was set out by the representatives of the Federal Migration Service and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The position of the expert community was outlined by A. Vishnevsky, Director of Demography Institute of NRU Higher School of Economics, V. Inozemtsev, Post-Industrial Society Research Center, I.Ivakhnyuk, Deputy Head of the Demographic Studies department of the Economic Faculty of Moscow Lomonosov State University, E. Gontmakher, Deputy Derector of the RAS Institute of World Economy and International Relations, I. Denissova , leading research fellow of the Center for Economic and Financial Research at Russian Economic School, V. Malakhov, RAS Institute of Philosophy, Professor.
Business community interests in the sphere of migration were conveyed by E. Yakubovsky, Deputy Head of the “OPORA Russia” Committee on migration policy and N. Kurdyumov, President of the International Association “Labor Migration” (IALM) Council.
Interactive events
Apart from classical teaching formats, the participants enjoyed the possibility to take a deep insight into the problem of migration through different trainings, simulations, a city quest and a culinary master class. Training event “ The Draw” allowed them to look at this world through the eyes of a migrant. The city quest took the participants around the places of migrants’ historical residence in Moscow.
Picture gallery of the First RIAC Winter School “Migration in the global world”.
