The event platform was the leisure base “Stepanovo”, located in a pine forest on the shore of the Rybinsk Reservoir on the territory of the Korotovsky Rural Settlement, 70 km from Cherepovets.
The ceremonial opening of the 1st Summer Youth School of Social Sciences of the RAS Academician M.K. Gorshkov took place on June 23. The event participants were greeted by the director of the VolSC RAS, Doc. of Sci.(Econ.) Alexandra A. Shabunova, Scientific Director of the FCTAS RAS, RAS Academician Mikhail K. Gorshkov, and Scientific Director of the VolSC RAS, RAS Corresponding Member Vladimir A. Ilyin. Welcoming young researchers and their tutors, the Head of the Cherepovets Municipal District Nadezhda Yu. Malkova noted the special importance of interaction between scientists and population of the region.
During three working days, leading Russian scientists held 7 public lectures, 11 individual consultations with undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral students, 3 business games and a master class; the participants of the Youth Scientific and Practical Conference of Social Sciences presented 17 reports.
In the speeches, the lecturers highlighted various issues of social orientation:
- The Scientific Director of the FCTAS RAS, RAS Academician Mikhail K. Gorshkov touched upon a wide range of problems related to various types of social inequalities, clearly demonstrated the specifics of social inequality in Russia and foreign countries on data of statistics and sociological surveys of population;
- The Director of the Institute of Demographic Research of the FCTAS RAS, RAS Corresponding Member Sergey V. Ryazantsev shared the research results on the situation of migrant workers in Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- The Scientific Director of the VolRC RAS, RAS Corresponding Member Vladimir A. Ilyin focused on the problems of public administration effectiveness, largely related to the ideological guidelines that rely on the country’s ruling elites in their activities;
- The Director of the VolRC RAS, Doctor of Sciences (Economics) Alexandra A. Shabunova spoke about the peculiarities of demographic behavior of population and conducted an interactive survey of school participants comparing its results with data obtained in the Vologda Oblast;
- Deputy Director for Science of the ISESP FCTAS RAS, Doctor of Sciences (Economics), Olga A. Alexandrova highlighted the financial and organizational problems of the healthcare system, and also touched upon the issues of optimization, implementation of the Presidential “May Decrees”, and reliability of statistical information;
- The Head of the Center for Regional Sociology and Conflictology Studies of the FCTAS RAS, Doctor of Sciences (Sociology) Valery V. Markin focused the audience’s attention on the problems of small cities in Russia within the framework of the socio-spatial approach, presented the typology of small cities according to the urban development index, identified their key problems and proposed strategies for socio-economic and socio-cultural development of these territories;
- The Head of the Department of Sociology and Social Technologies of the Cherepovets State University, Candidate of Sciences (Philosophy) Albina A. Mekhova raised the issues of corporate social responsibility of large business, the role of sociological research in the CSR assessment and paid special attention to the organization of sociological research in the Severstal Corporation.
All students of the school had the opportunity to take part in master classes and business games.
The Head of the Department for Editorial-and-Publishing Activity and Scientific-Information Support of the VolRC RAS, Candidate of Sciences (Philology) Olga V. Tretyakova conducted a master class for young researchers “My Publication Strategy”.
Leading Researcher of the VolRC RAS Candidate of Sciences (Philosophy) Tat’yana A. Guzhavina organized a business game “A Friend in a Court is Better than a Penny in a Purse, or What My Social Capital is”; Junior Researchers of the VolRC RAS Anna B. Kulakova and Lyubov’ M. Sukhareva held the games “Smart Weekend”and “Idea Man”.
The final day of the Summer School was dedicated to the Youth Scientific and Practical Conference of Social Sciences, within the framework of which researchers from the Humanitarian Institute of the Branch of the FSAEI HE of the “Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after Lomonosov” (Severodvinsk), the Sociological Institute of RAS of the FCTAS RAS (St. Petersburg), the National Institute of Labor and Social Research of the Ministry of Labor and Social Issues of the Republic of Armenia (Yerevan), Cherepovets State University and the Vologda Research Center of RAS made reports.
The participants discussed the problems of preserving population, employment and education, social health, social structure, and civic participation. The focus of attention was on various social practices, issues of quality of life and social responsibility.
Closing the event, the director of the Vologda Research Center of RAS, Doctor of Sciences (Economics) A.A. Shabanova presented certificates and memorable gifts to the students of the school and their tutors. Each participant received a set of research papers from the Federal Research Sociological Center of RAS. A large selection of monographs on sociological topics was donated to the specialized departments of the Vologda State University and Cherepovets State University.
At the end of the 1st Summer Youth School of Social Sciences, RAS Academician M.K. Gorshkov, Alexandra Anatolyevna thanked all the participants for their active and fruitful participation in the events and expressed the hope that the established multi-level ties will remain, and the project will receive support and will be held on a regular basis.
