Agents of Change in Russia and the CIS
2005 John Smith Memorial Trust Networking Conference
9-10th March 2005, Nizhny Novgorod
Bogdan Ciubotaru and Vitalie Iovita (2004 Fellows, Moldova)
Seventeen John Smith Fellows travelled from five countries across the Former Soviet Union to take part in the 2005 John Smith Fellowship Networking Conference, held in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia on 9th and 10th March. They were joined by Trustees Lord McCluskey and Professor Peter Frank, the British Ambassador Anthony Brenton, the Head of the British Council in Russia, James Kennedy, and a number of local politicians and journalists, all of whom came together to hear the Fellows report on their progress since taking part in the programme and to debate on the theme of the conference - Agents of Change in Russia and the CIS. There was great disappointment that the three Fellows from Georgia and Olha Melen from Ukraine were unable to attend and they were greatly missed by all.
Among the many success stories from the 2004 Fellows was that of Oleg Serebrian of Moldova. Just days before the conference he was elected as a Member of Parliament in the Moldovan elections, a huge success for both his political party and Oleg himself. Fellow Moldovan Bogdan Ciuboraru (pictured above)?also played an active role in the elections by campaigning to encourage young people to vote. Slogans such as 'Don't be a cabbage - Vote!' were used to inspire young voters to go to the polls.
The Fellows from Ukraine shared their experiences of the recent 'Orange Revolution' and how it has affected their work. Inspired by her experiences with the BBC, Journalist Viktoriya Talashkevych recently created an independent website where journalists can post political articles freely on the internet, and has also become Editor of a local political newspaper. Sergey Orlov has helped to establish a Regional Development Agency in Ukraine, and hopes establish ties between the Odessa region and the UK in the near future.
(L-R) Hayk Martirosyan, Kristina Galstyan, Maria Sadoyan, Poghos Shahinyan (2004 Fellows, Armenia)
Thanks to generous sponsorship from KPMG, several past Russian Fellows also took part in the event including Roman Vvedensky (2000) and Inna Terentieva (nee Nikanorova) (2002). Evgeniya Verba (2000), Executive Director of the Sluzhenye Association of Russian NGOs, gave a presentation on NGOs and Civil Society Development in the Volga Region which prompted a lively discussion about the role and effectiveness of NGOs and the advantages and disadvantages of receiving local or international financial backing for such organisations.
Following the conference Roman Vvedensky took Lord McCluskey and the Emma MacLennan to visit two projects that he had helped to develop, drawing upon business and promotional techniques that he had studied while on a John Smith Programme placement in Newcastle with the North-East Initiative. One of the projects was the "Nizhny Novgorod Cancer Research Centre", a non-profit organization, which is creating a state-of-the art cancer clinic. The other conducts research in Biophotonics at the Institute of Applied Physics and is marketing new optical technology for swift, non-invasive diagnosis of medical pathologies. Roman assured us that what he had gained from his placement was of the greatest value to him and to these projects in which he had played a leading role.
Despite a packed schedule there was still time for the conference participants to take a sightseeing tour of snow-covered Nizhny Novgorod, and the British Ambassador hosted a reception for which he generously provided a plentiful buffet of local dishes.
The Networking Conference proved to be a hugely successful event which was given considerable and favourable publicity in the local press and on TV, and it demonstrated yet again the huge achievements made by the 2004 John Smith Fellows. It also provided a forum for Fellows to come together to create new cross-border projects which we hope will develop in the future.
(L-R) James Kennedy, Director of the British Council, Russia, Lord McCluskey, Trustee of the John Smith Trust, HMA Anthony Brenton, Emma MacLennan, Director of the John Smith Trust