19.10.2016  Associate Professor of the NovSU School of Continuous Pedagogical Education represented our university on the German-Russian Conference for Alumni of German Programmes

Last week, the associate professor of sociology and bilingual education Ekaterina Egorowa represented Novgorod State University at the VIII German-Russian conference for alumni of German programmes on a topic "Project Management in the Context of Intercultural Communication." It was organized by the Association of Alumni of the German programme «Hallo Deutschland!» of the German-Russian Forum jointly with the Smolensk State University, the Administration of the Smolensk region and the Coburg University of Applied Sciences and took place in Smolensk.

The conference participants were alumni of various German programmes from Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Samara, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Ufa, Elista and other Russian cities. The working languages were German and Russian. 

During  round tables, master classes, and panel discussions, the following  issues were discussed:
- German-Russian relations in the scientific and educational spheres: a historical perspective, the current situation, the look to the future;
- Problems and prospects of education and project management in terms of international integration;
- Innovative concepts and strategies of networking and project management in the educational and research institutions;
- Specifics of intercultural communication in the scientific and educational discourses;
- Educational and project management in the service of strengthening German-Russian relations. 

The participants visited two German companies on the territory of the Smolensk region. The first one is LLC "Rhenus Terminal" – a logistics company, which is engaged in clearance, declaring and maintenance of goods in customs. The second one is "OSRAM", a manufacturer of LED lamps. "Visits to enterprises caused great interest among the alumni of German programmes," said Ekaterina Egorova. "They communicated with the leaders and found out the issues related to modern requirements for employees in today's labor market, asked about how to tackle the issues of intercultural communication in business, about the training and retraining of personnel in accordance with the modern political, economic, social and other challenges. 

Particular attention was paid to project management. Under the guidance of an experienced practitioner, Dr. Georg Schneider and researchers – Eduard Gerhard, Artem Lysenko, Vladimir Goldenberg and Tobias Stüdemann, alumni of German programmes shared their experiences on the implementation of international projects and views on their significance for Russian-German cooperation. Participants developed projects that can be implemented within the framework of cooperation between Russia and Germany. 

Conferences of such format take place twice a year. In 2016, the event was held in Krasnoyarsk and Smolensk. In 2015, it took place in Tyumen and Kazan, in 2014 – in the Altai Territory and the Nizhny Novgorod region, in 2013 – in Irkutsk and Krasnodar. 

The next conference will be held in Krasnodar. For information visit the Hallo Deutschland! website

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