University of Tubingen and PetrSU: international online school

Within the framework of the project “Local Welfare Production and Governance – Petrozavodsk and Tuebingen”, an international online school was held on October 4-8, 2021.
From March 2 to October 8, students and teachers of the Institute of History, Political and Social Sciences of Petrozavodsk State University took part in an international interdisciplinary project implemented jointly with the Institute of Political Sciences of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Tubingen named after Karl Eberhard with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the framework of the “Ost-West-Dialog 2021” program.

The project leader was Dr. R. Frankenberger (Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen), coordinator on the part of the IIPSN PetrSU – Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign History, Political Science and International Relations E.I. Chernenkov. Organizational support for the implementation of the project was provided by the Karelian Foundation for the Development of Public Diplomacy (executive director N.V. Lavrushina).

In the spring of 2021, at the first stage of the project implementation, classes on the methodology and methods of political and social research were conducted by E.Yu. Tsumarova – Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign History, Political Science and International Relations (jointly), Associate Professor of the Department of Comparative Political Research, FMOPI SZIU RANEPA, Yu. .A. Petrovskaya – Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology and Social Work, I.S. Petukhova – Senior Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Social Work, D.I. Sachuk is a senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Social Work. Representatives of the expert community D.S. Kislov and N.V. Lavrushin.

In April-June, a student group of the project, consisting of 8 undergraduate students from three areas of study, participated in joint classes with students, bachelors and undergraduates from four countries currently studying at the University of Tubingen. Karl Eberhard.

In parallel, in the period from April to September, students carried out independent research work on cases . The topics of the cases were very diverse, but all the studies were aimed at realizing the main goal of the project: studying and comparative analysis of the role of regional and local authorities and administrations, non-governmental organizations and universities in ensuring public well-being in a pandemic.

The final event of the project was the International School “Local Welfare Production and Governance – Petrozavodsk and Tuebingen”, which took place online from 4 to 8 October 2021. The school was held in English.

The school opened with greetings from the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in St. Petersburg S. Weinberger and Vice-Rector for International Affairs of PetrSU M.S. Gvozdevoy.

One of the activities of the school was the joint work of bilateral project teams. In the moderation of this activity, in addition to the direct participants of R. Frankenberger’s project, N.V. Lavrushina, E.I. Chernenkova, D.I. Sachuka, Yu.A. Petrovskaya, a graduate of the institute E. Shestakova, an active participant in the previous joint project “Local Governance and Public Wellbeing” in 2019, took part.

In addition to joint work, discussion of the results of individual research, the school program included panel discussions “Challenges for Social Work and Social Security in Petrozavodsk and Tübingen”, “Governance: NGOs, municipalities and other stakeholders”, “Urban planning and development: administrations, citizens and NGOs “. Analysts, experts, representatives of administrative structures and heads of public organizations of sister cities took part in the thematic discussions.

The final event of the school was the public reports of students on the studies of the impact of the pandemic on everyday life, the state of the social sphere, on the peculiarities of the implementation of social policy in the twin cities of Petrozavodsk and Tubingen.

Based on the results of work at the school, students will receive certificates.

Assessing the significance of the event, Project Manager Dr. Frankenberger noted:

During the summer semester and at our joint fall school, students, faculty, civil society and government officials discussed issues of reproduction and community welfare management at the local level during the pandemic.

Students designed, conducted and presented their own research projects. It was interesting to observe how young people are involved in researching local practices and with what enthusiasm they discuss, compare and present the results of their work.

And the exchange of information and mutual learning in comparison of Russian, German, French and Brazilian social practices became especially significant. Our young elite keep in touch, learn from each other and develop a sense of responsibility for their lives and society. All this became possible thanks to the fruitful cooperation between our universities and cities with the financial support of the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD.

PetrSU project coordinator E.I. Chernenkova expressed the hope that the knowledge gained and the experience of joint teamwork will find application in both research and social activities of the project participants.

Project coordinator from the Karelian Foundation for the Development of Public Diplomacy N.V. Lavrushina stressed:

The experience of the project implementation, in general, showed the possibilities and prospects of this format of international exchanges. The interaction of representatives of universities, NGOs, experts, municipalities allows you to see other points of view, experience in solving socially significant problems. The experience of communicating with representatives of other nationalities is no less important – students from Russia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Brazil participated in this project, and this is valuable in terms of developing the skills of establishing mutual understanding between people of different traditions and cultures.

Anastasia Khodchenkova, 3rd year student of the direction of training “International Relations”:

This project gave me the opportunity to more clearly understand a possible area of ​​scientific interest, especially in the study of integration problems. In addition, it was very interesting to work with my project partner Lucy Marchand. We have different views, but the topics of individual projects were very similar, and we saw how different our approaches were, but at the same time, this difference played into our hands and we got a single project. Thanks to the organizers for the opportunity to participate in such an interesting event!

Ekaterina Nikulina, 3rd year student of the direction of training “International Relations”:

I am very impressed by the invited speakers who are happy to talk about their scientific and social activities and are ready to answer any question that may arise. In addition, it was very interesting for me to observe the work of a professional translator due to the fact that consecutive interpretation is one of the disciplines I study. But the most valuable thing for me was the very process of discussion during the workshop, the so-called project workshop, when you act as an expert on behalf of one side, and the students of the University of Tübingen on the other. It was very interesting to exchange knowledge and opinions, I am looking forward to working with the guys again!