Youth Multimedia Discussion Campus Opens at EEF 2022

The ‘Soul of Russia. The North’ Youth Multimedia Discussion Campus has opened at the 7th Eastern Economic Forum. The campus was organized by the Innosocium Foundation, the social platform of the Roscongress Foundation, with the support of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District–Yugra. The unique educational project is part of the programme of the Creative Business Forum ‘Sociocultural Development of the Northern Regions’. This year, the event is being held as part of the main events of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023, which are being organized by the Roscongress Foundation.

Roscongress Foundation CEO Alexander Stuglev and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District–Yugra Governor Natalya Komarova delivered greetings at the opening ceremony, after which they took a tour of the campus.

“We are interested in the opportunity to convey what makes Russia’s Indigenous Peoples so rich to a large number of people. Such spaces for young people provide an opportunity to present their idea, learn about other knowledge, skills, and experience, create a project team, and implement their project. Their achievements are of great importance for our future. The cultural wealth of Indigenous peoples cannot be lost,” Komarova said.

“One of Russia’s core social values is the diversity of the cultures and traditions of the peoples who inhabit it. Their entirety is what makes our country unique and creates its main strength. Our job is to not only preserve the traditional way of life and cultural features of these peoples, but also to ensure their sustainable and progressive development. The opening of the Youth Multimedia Discussion Campus will help attract young people to the creative sector. The development of creative industries in Russia’s northern territories, which we devote great attention to at the major business events of the Roscongress Foundation, such as the SPIEF and EEF, are of paramount importance for the development of the entire country,” Stuglev said.

The main programme of the campus runs from 5 to 8 September. The multimedia zone will host Forum participants on 9–11 September. The uniquely designed Lounge pavilion at the ‘Far East Street’ exhibition has a youth press centre that presents multimedia projects and an interactive map of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the North, and hosts master classes by professional designers and a youth folk art laboratory for making amulet souvenirs and national dolls, carving wood and bones, and processing leather and birch bark.

In the discussion zone, Forum participants will discuss a wide range of creative industries, including e-sports, cinema, gastronomy, video games, and tourism. The media zone will host a screening of short films about all the themes at the campus and demonstrate video art dedicated to the Spirit of Fire International Festival of Film Debuts, which Yugra has hosted for two decades and has served as a launching pad for dozens of stars of Russian and world cinema.