International cooperation

The rapid development of information technology opens up new opportunities for preserving and popularizing cultural heritage sites as well as creating attractive tourist products that focus on deep immersion in the history and traditions of regions. This project is a result of cooperation between the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) and Samarkand State University named after Sharof Rashidov (SamSU). Combining the efforts of these two leading scientific and educational centers in Russia and Uzbekistan allows us to effectively use the competencies and expertise of each party. HSE University has expertise in the fields of digitalization and the preservation of cultural heritage, while SamSU possesses a deep understanding of cultural context and traditions in Uzbekistan, creating the synergy needed for the successful implementation of this project.

The interests of project participants intersect in efforts to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of two historically significant cities, while also creating conditions for the sustainable development of cultural-educational tourism. By considering the needs of various stakeholders, including local communities, it will be possible to form integrated platforms for preserving and promoting cultural heritage and strengthening the brands of St. Petersburg and Samarkand.

The result of the research will be the development of a system of models for the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage through various integrated tourism platforms. This, in turn, will not only strengthen the brands of the studied tourist destinations and increase their attractiveness to diverse target audiences, but also foster consumer loyalty. It will also involve a wide range of stakeholders in the process of preserving cultural heritage, including representatives of the socio-cultural phenomenon known as the Uzbek mahalla.

Thus, this project represents an important step towards harmonizing the interests of the cultural heritage and tourism industries, contributing to the creation of sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships between all participants in the process. Its implementation will not only contribute to the preservation and promotion of the cultural heritages of St. Petersburg and Samarkand, but also strengthen cultural ties between Russia and Uzbekistan.

The aim of the project prolongation is to strengthen and expand cooperation between Dutch and Russian universities and museums for the integration of young people into the museum field. The second stage of the project includes 5 tracks:

1. Development of the concept and materials of the educational project "City by the water. 2070». This project unites together students of the Design Bachelor’s Programme of the HSE University in Saint Petersburg and architecture students of the University of Groningen to jointly study the features of architecture and project prototyping of "cities by the water". As a result of the educational collaboration, it is planned to organize an exhibition of student team work of architecture and urban studies.

2. Development of student startup projects. As part of the pre-acceleration program for youth entrepreneurship development at the first stage of the project, museum experts noted several of the best projects by the novelty of the idea and the elaboration of the business plan. At the second stage, with the support of the Center for Innovative Entrepreneurship, student teams will continue to improve projects.

3. Designing of the online course "Art Entrepreneurship". The idea of an international online course arose as a result of the successful seminars and consultations on the design of business ideas in museums. Experts of the Center for Innovative Entrepreneurship and colleagues from the University of Groningen plan to develop an online course concept and conduct several educational seminars for Russian and Dutch students during the project period.

4. Creation of an online course "Youth and Museums" together with the University of Tilburg. During the track, the formation of the content of the online course continues. The online course concept was approved by Dutch and Russian experts at the first stage of the project.

5. Formation of an organizational base for conducting international project internships for students.

The project is supported by the Netherlands Consulate-General in St. Petersburg.

The aim of this project is to establish interaction between Dutch and Russian universities and museums to explore the new role of youth in the development of museums.The first stage of the project included 4 tracks:

1.Creation of a pre-acceleration program for the development of youth entrepreneurship and start-ups in museums. The track was implemented under the patronage of the Center for Innovative Entrepreneurship in cooperation with experts from the University of Groningen. As part of the track, students of the Higher School of Economics - St. Petersburg took part in VentureLab Weekend, presented their projects to the experts of the museum community.

2.Creation of a joint LEGO course «Youth and Museums». The result of this direction will be an innovative online course by the Higher School of Economics and the University of Tilburg on the creation and media promotion of museum products for young people. As part of the first stage of the project, the concept of the future online course was developed.

3.Creation of a Dutch-Russian youth network of members of youth councils and youth clubs at museums. In this direction, students of the Higher School of Economics - St. Petersburg and the Avans University of Applied Sciences, together with researchers from the Laboratory of Cultural Economics and experts from the Avans University of Applied Sciences, studied the peculiarities of interaction between youth and museums in social networks in the intercultural context.

4.Creation of the concept of international project internships.

The results of the first stage of the project were presented to the international online conference «Youth as a driver of museum development».

The project is supported by the the Netherlands Consulate-General in St. Petersburg.

The mid-term evaluation was initiated by the Managing Authority of the Estonia-Russia CBC Programme in order to analyse the current state of the Programme implementation. The evaluation was being performed by Technopolis Group together with the Laboratory of Cultural Economics and the Centre for Applied Research and Development.

The aim of this evaluation was to investigate the implementation of the CBC Programme particularly from the point of view of the beneficiaries and authorities: its efficiency and effectiveness and whether the results of funded project will lead to the achievement of the objectives of the funded projects and the CBC Programme as a whole. Within the framework of this project, the Laboratory staff conducted interviews with beneficiaries and authorities of the Programme; conducted a desk study; and based on the results of the work, prepared a final report in cooperation with the Technopolis Group. The results of this evaluation contribute towards improving the CBC Programme and guide the development and implementation of the Estonia-Russia CBC Programme 2021-2027.

As part of this study, a set of activities was carried out, the purpose of which was to analyze the implementation effectiveness of the «International project to create new museum approaches to working with young people 15-24 years old «Museum 15/24» in terms of its main indicators and target audiences. To achieve this goal, an analytical block of performance indicators (KPI) was formed, expert polls were conducted with three groups of experts, and a sociological survey of visitors to offline and online project events was conducted. In the course of the study, a number of recommendations were formulated on the application of the experience gained during the implementation of the Museum 15/24 project and the development of the main ideas tested in this project.                                                            

The Laboratory in collaboration with Institute for cultural programs provided the series of seminars "New Reality – New Opportunities. Development of Cross-border Cooperation and Innovative Projects in Culture and Tourism" as a part "EDUCRO: EDU-Creating New Customer Value through cross-border cooperation" project. Representatives of the top management of state and non-profit cultural organizations took part in the seminars.
During the seminars the study, aimed at broadening the range of professional competencies required for the implementation of international cultural projects, mainly in the cross-border area, was successfully provided.