First Youth Clubs Were Opened Abroad

The Youth Club of the Russian Geographical Society is expanding its borders. New Youth Clubs of the Russian Geographical Society have been opened in Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. This happened due to important changes in the Concept of the project - now clubs can be organized abroad. Ankara, Antalya and Bishkek are pioneers in the work of our young geographical team abroad.

– Why did you decide to open the RGS Youth Club?

– Russia is a very big, populous and multinational country. Its geography, history, of course, attracts the interest of the inhabitants of Turkey, where many our compatriots live and the young bilingual children generation is growing up. They are carriers of Russian and Turkish cultures. Of course, they should study the history and geography of their native country. There are also students of the Russian language and literature departments and they have no opportunity to study the history and geography of Russia in depth. All these factors inspired us to create the Youth Club of the Russian Geographical Society in Ankara”, said Evgenia Dogan, the head of the Youth Club of the Russian Geographical Society in Ankara.

– Many travelers, such as Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, Przhevalsky, tried to make geographical discoveries for the benefit of the Fatherland. I like the activities of the RGS, I have loved geography since childhood, and my life is closely connected with it - I took part in expeditions more than once, including the Arctic ecological expedition on Vilkitsky Island. And I want the young people in Kyrgyzstan to be inspired by the discoveries, - said Ivan.

- In which direction are you going to develop the activities of clubs?

- Creating the club is, to some extent, a career guidance. We have practically professional regional experts in the team who, perhaps, will help activists to decide on the choice of their future profession. It is also an opportunity for us to create an interesting new area of cooperation between the two countries and expand acquaintance with Russia not only through the Russian language, but also through the geography of our country”, explained Alexander Babayev, the head of the RGS Youth Club in Antalya.

The head of the RGS Youth Club in Kyrgyzstan added that it is important to strive to make the project more popular, that is possible if you are active enough and organize as many geographic actions as possible.

Evgenia Dogan noted that the RGS Youth Club has every chance to become popular in Turkey, because now educational activities are in demand among young people in the country. The girl also said that in their club, emphasis will be placed on the educational and entertainment direction and work with media content, that is one of the most effective ways of popularizing science.

– We are going to involve students of Turkish universities in conducting various events as participants, volunteers, as well as creators and translators of videos about the RGS. This will help expand our audience and attract not only Russian-speaking youth. We are already preparing quests, quizzes, educational meetings and competitions on the high-speed collection of the map of Russia, - Evgenia told.

– Is it possible that the RGS Youth Club will unite the scientific communities of Russia and other countries?

Alexander Babayev agreed with words of the colleague and explained that the opening of the RGS Youth Club in Turkey is the rallying of both, the scientific and cultural community: "Cultural interaction is necessary. Let's remember, there are amny kinds of geography: population geography, historical geography, cultural geography, social geography and many others. This is a huge layer of work that unites different directions. Perhaps the work of clubs abroad will affect the creation of a positive image of Russia in other countries. "