The international scientific conference “Great Silk Road: civilizational dimension, evolution, and development prospects.”
On December 8, 2022, the SCOLAR Nizhny Novgorod hub organized the international scientific conference “Great Silk Road: civilizational dimension, evolution and development prospects.” The purpose of the conference is to search for new forms of organization of international cooperation on the Great Silk Road based on historical and civilizational experience and interdisciplinary studies of modern international relations.
The conference was held with the support of SCOLAR Network, Rossotrudnichestvo, the government of the Nizhny Novgorod region and the administration of Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Houses in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the Confucius Institutes and the Russian-Chinese Friendship Center, Samarkand and Bukhara State Universities, the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Khujand University named after Academician Bobojon Gafurov, Tajik University of Business, Politics and Law, the SCO Public Diplomacy Center in Uzbekistan, the SCO Friendship and Cooperation Center in Tajikistan, as well as numerous Russian and foreign experts.
The opening of the conference, moderated by the Dean of the Graduate School of International Relations and World Politics of NSLU Svetlana Kolobova, was attended online and in person by more than ten guests of honor – representatives of the leadership of partner organizations, students and teachers of the University. The University was honored by the personal presence of Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Pavel Shevtsov and Deputy Director of the Department of External Relations of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Vladimir Prelov.
Opening the event, rector of the University Dobrolyubova Zhanna Nikonova emphasized the importance of the chosen topic – in the context of the history of civilizations, the Great Silk Road is one of the unique achievements in terms of its potential: thanks to the development of trade and economic relations between the countries of East and West, which eventually grew into an exchange of knowledge and ideas, it had a significant influence on culture, politics, religion, languages, intellectual and artistic heritage of Eurasia.
Pavel Shevtsov, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo, noted that today the historical vector is shifting from Western Europe to the countries of Southeast Asia and the African continent, therefore these countries today represent a great potential for the development of international relations, the implementation of educational, cultural and youth projects.
The conference became the first event after the opening of the SCOLAR hub in Nizhny Novgorod and is already included in the Agora project – a platform for communication between young and experienced experts from all over the region to improve inter-civilizational dialogue, increase youth awareness of regional and youth development. Victoria Khu, President of SCOLAR Network, noted the high level of the event, emphasizing that academic and educational projects remain a priority for young people from the SCO countries.
“Agora project, which is translated from ancient Greek as “market,” and in the context of SCOLAR – “market place of ideas,” is a platform that brings together young and experienced experts, and scientists to exchange views. And today, Agora will keep a close eye on the ideas presented at the conference. We are looking forward to the results of the discussion and want to convey to our members of the hubs that the ideas that you will discuss today can become the ideas that you will implement tomorrow!” – said Victoria.