Global Education Trends in the Russian Сontext 2023

The material was offered to innovators in the form of a survey. A total of 370 people took part in the survey conducted electronically. The average age of survey participants is 34 years (SD=11.9), the most senior participant indicated the age of 75 years, the youngest—14 years. More than half of the respondents (69.8%) are 'in-house innovators', i.e. employees of educational organizations (school teachers, teachers or administrators of supplementary education, teachers of secondary vocational education, representatives of state authorities in the sector of education, etc.), and 30.2% of the respondents were ‘external’ innovators not working in educational organizations (e.g. school or university students, entrepreneurs).

Nineteen experts in education were interviewed, including researchers, university management, leaders of key educational projects. Twenty-three students from different regions of Russia were also invited for an interview, including school and university students and adults undertaking a micro-training.

The interview transcripts were analyzed in a generalized form for each group of 'experts' and 'students'. Each trend above is illustrated with two expert quotes and one student commentary.

Global trend 'Hybrid models'

As a result of the pandemic, the learning process has changed: teachers now more often use online tools along with traditional classroom lessons. Today, one can study remotely even what was previously available only in the face-to-face format. Many teachers have mastered video calls and offer their courses in a hybrid format: some students connect online, while others take the same course in the classroom.

*****

Kirill Barannikov

Vice-Rector, Head of Development, Moscow City Pedagogical University

*****

'This trend has been triggered by external circumstances; it can be observed more often in urban educational organizations, bit not in the province, in the countryside without the Internet and personal computers for children. This format is so far ad hoc—it works only if the teacher is strongly motivated and ready to learn on their own. There are practically no training courses to explain how to use online tools in an effective way, or how to get students interested. With a huge pool of information resources out there and a lack of understanding, hybrid learning can take the form of a teacher as a "talking head" and their students yawning.'

Arina Nuriakhmetova

Co-founder & COO Geek Teachers

*****

'I don't really like the hybrid format. The teachers find themselves between two stools—paying attention both to the people in the classroom and online. If there are many people in the room, the teacher will address mainly those who are in front of him or her. I like it better when it is either face-to-face, or online, but now is the time of the hybrid. It is good that they try to meet our demands and conduct lessons at least this way.'

Anna, 2nd year Master's student, Moscow

*****

Project examples:

• Aktru. Unique classrooms for hybrid learning at the university
• Algorithm School. Face-to-face and online teaching of Russian and international curricula
• FORA.Vision (semi-finalist of the Innovations in Education Competition 2022) is a platform for physical training in a hybrid and online-only format.

Global trend 'Micro-credentials'

Today, employees have to keep acquiring new skills and knowledge. There are now new ways of formal acknowledgement of one’s qualifications: non-degree certificates, digital badges, academic credits. The learning tools depend on the objectives of a training course—there can be a portfolio of projects and work assignments, case studies, interactive learning in communication with a tutor and classmates. These micro-credentials are then accumulated into a fully-fledged degree.

*****

'This trend is supported by the very context of the day. The narrowing of the planning horizon, the redistribution of income, the reduction in training costs lead to a reduction of the number of people ready to engage in long-term training. People now choose courses that cover their short-term needs. Having learnt the basics, a person can choose modules that correspond to their today’s objectives or those in the "zone of proximal development". The main risk here is to try to replace, or altogether forget about long-term programmes, which help to achieve more complex and comprehensive educational outcomes that cannot be achieved via short-term formats.'

Marina Shcherbakova

Head of the Pedagogical Design MA programme at Moscow State Pedagogical University

*****

'In my view, micro-credentials are more than just a one-off course. They should be part of a degree, a set of three or four courses, sort of fine-tuning of what one learnt at the university. People graduate from a university at the age of 22 and will work until the age of 60—surely, everything will change along the road, there will be global technological shifts, and the skills obtained at the university will not be enough. Thus, it will be necessary to keep updating them on and on, gaining new knowledge, even new professions; and micro-credentials fit perfectly into this logic. Moreover, not only the knowledge as such is important, but also the certificate, as a signal for the labor market. The phenomenon of "micro-credentials" is yet waiting to be recognized by the Russian law, so the reputation of the company or university awarding the micro-credentials is very important.'

Pavel Travkin

Deputy Vice-Rector of HSE University, leads the development of joint and network educational programmes of the university

*****

'Help with course planning is often needed indeed. The choice of courses is very large. On the one hand, this is good - you can find the way of learning and the topic that suits you. Professional courses complement well the training at school. And on the other hand, it can be difficult to choose the right course, plan your time so as to complete it, and not start a dozen different courses and quit everything eventually. In addition, it is difficult to understand which course will be useful and which certificate or digital badge can impress the employer.'

Marina, 11th grade student, Moscow

*****

Project examples:

• Micro-degrees at the Higher School of Economics (e.g. Teacher of English as a Second Language (non-native), Consultant on Digital Technology Law, etc.)
• Thirst for Knowledge platform (finalist of the Innovations in Education Competition 2019) is a search engine for course that serve specific professional goals

Global trend 'Dual learning scenarios'

The practice of combining education with professional experience is often initiated by both the employers and the teachers. It helps the teacher to tie the classroom tasks to the current professional context, and it gives the employer a way to reinforce the practice with deeper theoretical knowledge, and contribute to the training of specialists with sought-after professional skills. On the back of the pandemic, combining education and practical experience has become more frequent due to the spread of online formats.

*****

'The trend towards combining studies and work placement is widespread across most countries, Russia being no exception. This approach allows the student to get exposure to the work process earlier, consolidate theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience, and adjust the learning trajectory to meet the real-life demand. When combining studies and practice, it is important to pay equal attention to both elements, otherwise the entire setting may turn to be inefficient. The employers tend to seek in the employees a combination of education and practical experience, and this demand is likely to grow in the future. The employers take up a pro-active role—they create opportunities to involve students in the activities that will help them understand the profession as early as possible. We have nineteen flagship universities in Russia, and we at Rosatom have stepped up the cooperation, providing internship opportunities, so that the company would later employ well-trained graduates. Furthermore, we have offered internship opportunities to schoolchildren studying in our industry classes, for them to develop a vision of their future profession. We are creating an ecosystem that includes outreach to schoolchildren, their parents and teachers, students of colleges and universities, attracting young people to STEM, supporting their seamless transition to our company on the back of a combination of education and practical experience. This trend will be even more relevant in the future in the context of rapid changes and new requirements from the side of the business, where qualified personnel is the main asset. The employer is ready to invest resources in this work like never before.'

Yulia Uzhakina

CEO, Corporate Academy Rosatom

*****

'Connecting science and practice has been in the focus for the last forty years. But it is not a commonly accepted approach so far, as it requires a lot of extra efforts from teachers. It is one thing to give a lecture in theory and sit back, and another thing—to be constantly in touch with students, keep changing the curriculum and the approach. The employer has no desire to teach either, except if it is a specific new area. Therefore, most often we see this trend in technical education, in IT, when students are instructed by those who will employ them later. The most difficult thing, in my opinion, is to balance the interests of the university and the expectations of the employer. The employer needs a ready-made worker, the university needs someone who will learn at the workplace and at the same time continue to learn in the classroom. Where this combination is achieved, it turns out very interesting.'

Victoria Kopylova

Vice President of Prosvesheniye Group, author of the workbooks ’English in Focus and Star English’

*****

'I am into flying robotics. With us, it was never the case that we would listen to a lecture first, and then put the knowledge into practice. Rather, the theory was always learned via practice. For example, there would be a problem in an Olympiad or contest that needed to be solved, and in the process of solving it I would gain the theoretical knowledge of how things work. This approach to learning turned out to be very effective.'

Leo, 11th grade student, St. Petersburg

*****

Project examples:

• Rosatom Technology Development Center at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute offers a range of opportunities from internships in the company for students, and up to specialized master’s programmes set up by Rosatom
• Hedgehog Children Academy of Professions (participant of the Innovations in Education Competition 2022) offers courses for schoolchildren, with an immersion in the profession under the guidance of a practitioner
• Net Junior (semi-finalist of the Innovations in Education Competition 2022) is a platform for schoolchildren who develop their startups, including as part of project activities at school

Global trend 'Influencer-led education'

Lately, many bloggers and influencers have begun to offer educational content: videos, infographics, animation and other content outside of formal education. They influence subscribers’ decisions about what and how to learn, blurring the line between entertainment and learning. Some are concerned about this trend because of the unverified qualifications of the influencers. On the other hand, blogging techniques can help teachers of formal curricula make learning more accessible and engaging.

*****

'It happens whether we like it or not. Young people today are greatly influenced by social media. Therefore, the point is not to fight it, but to add something creative to it. It is enough for a teacher to spend a couple of hours a week on the Web and watch what is trending on YouTube, Vkontakte, and so on. If the teachers—without pretending to be younger—just show the students that they know what it is, and can add their background to it, then they will be able to transform the social media content that teenagers consume, into educational.'

Alexander Murashev

Journalist, author of the YouTube project 'Normal People' and the book 'Another School', host of the programme of the same name on radio 'Mayak'

*****

'As a novice teacher I faced difficult questions—where to find ideas, like-minded people, and something non-trivial. Since I did not find answers to these questions, I decided to create my own blog, to bring together the teachers who want to create something interesting. It is much easier for teachers from different parts of Russia to communicate via someone's blog and share their experiences there, than to attend offline conferences. The purpose of my courses in social media is not to show off or issue a certificate, but to help teachers create something that they will actually use later in the classroom. It is important to have examples of influencers with a degree in pedagogy working in this area. This has an impact on the prestige of the profession. Often a teacher is seen as a gray mouse who had nowhere else to go—somebody who was not accepted into any other university, failing all along, and now working as a teacher. If we manage to get rid of this image by means of blogs where one can speak out and be heard, that would lead to a different attitude towards education in general.'

Anastasia Shcherbakova

teacher of the Russian language and literature, author of the Blue Curtains blog

*****

'It seems that almost all bloggers have their own educational product. I had an unlucky experience of buying an info course from a blogger that I regretted. The course was superficial, with errors. People trust their idols too much, while those professionally "warm up" naive followers in order to sell their product.'

Alisa, 4th year student, Moscow

*****

Project examples:

• Anna Vilenskaya and the Open Musical Lecture Hall (YouTube lectures on music)
• Uncensored social science is a video blog of a teacher of social science explaining concepts from the school curriculum using relevant examples
• English teacher’s page* short English lessons, posts, videos and stories featuring educational content
  * Property of Meta, which has been recognised as an extremist organisation in Russia

Global trend 'Pedagogy of autonomy'

The pedagogy of autonomy is rooted in the proactive position of the student who acts not as a mere 'recipient of an educational service', but as a 'professional in the field of education', and largely assumes the responsibility for the result. The student him- or herself plans the educational trajectory, sets goals and makes decisions taking into account the requirements of the teacher. The mission of the teacher is to help acquire useful study habits, master effective planning and self-regulation techniques, learn to diagnose one's condition and manage reactions.

*****

'We can talk about autonomous learning as a trend in Russia since about 2013 when there appeared Stepik platform, the first Russian-language courses were launched on Coursera and other MOOC platforms, YouTube reached a new level of popularity. People of various interests received the opportunity to learn on their own, using a range of sources. I expect this trend to expand due to the development of tutorship, expansion of the projects integrating various electronic services for the student, and platforms where one can demonstrate their achievements, from GitHub for developers to Behance for designers.
We still lack tools to compare knowledge and skills obtained through different sources. Perhaps, we are in for a boom of independent diagnostic companies that will be able to measure the level of expertise in specific professional areas.'

Diana Kolesnikova

Head of Methodology Development in the product team, Uchi.ru

*****

'Autonomous learning has become highly popular after the COVID-19 pandemic, and is expanding further. Using the modern technology, one can gain knowledge and skills while being anywhere in the world, and, most importantly, without interrupting the work process. In the Technical and Corporate Academies of Rosatom, webinars and online training are among the most sought-after formats. We have a proprietary industry-specific educational online platform "Record-Mobile", which provides more than 4,000 courses to develop hard and soft skills, thus offering a choice of courses according to the needs of the employees. The demand for training to solve business problems comes from employees, and we respond to it by expanding the variety, the volume of educational content, and the range of formats. No doubt, this trend will remain relevant in the future.'

Yulia Uzhakina

CEO, Corporate Academy Rosatom

*****

'Autonomous learning can help students truly immerse themselves in the subject, broaden their horizons, learn to adapt to unusual situations, and develop leadership skills. We absorb better the knowledge that we have to pass on to others (there is even a well-known lifehack: if you want to understand and remember the material, tell it to a friend/parent, or someone else). When a child takes on significant responsibility for the result, he or she learns the independence, responsibility and self-discipline, which is very useful in adult life.'

Julia, 11th grade student, Moscow

*****

Project examples:

• Personalized trajectories at the Primakov Gymnasium
• School of Advanced Studies of Tyumen State University
• I-Cube school with individual learning trajectories for students

Global trend 'Wellbeing education'

Mental health education has an impact on students’ self-esteem and learning effectiveness, attendance and academic performance. Attention to mental well-being should be embedded in all elements of the education process at school or the university, and involve all staff and students. The students’ literacy in matters of mental health can be improved by teaching them the basics of self-diagnosis and self-help, as well as providing the information on where and when to get help. Student-to-student approaches are effective.

*****

'Unfortunately, there is an upward trend of depression and anxiety disorders in adolescents. This is due to the loss of support from adults, and poor mental health literacy, in particular outside the capital city. There is a faculty of psychology in almost every university, but the quality of training raises concerns. A recent graduate coming to work as a school psychologist encounters a reality completely different from what they learnt. Moreover, if there is only one psychologist for eight hundred children, well, how can they work with anxiety disorders?
The world has long begun to talk about this problem; there are many simple tools based on big data that can be used for diagnosing a child, and for self-diagnostics. We need a system of specialized centers working with various disorders in children, where the school psychologist could refer a child if necessary. And there is not enough support for the teachers themselves, including the supervision, the opportunity to talk about the complexity of their work. We generally don’t have this either for teachers or for school psychologists, and people in these professions burn out very quickly.'

Olga Fogelson

co-founder of the Teacher for Russia programme

*****

'In Russia, unlike in Western countries, many people for a long time considered it shameful to go to therapy. In recent years, and especially during the pandemic, the demand for such services has surged, and mental health has become no less important than physical health. Digitalization has served as an enabler—there emerged various online services for selecting a therapist, it is now possible to discuss in social media, either openly or anonymously, positive experience of seeking mental health help, thus creating a favorable perception and motivating others to pay attention to it. In 2022, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation came up with a concept of a network of mental health services in the institutions of higher education in Russia. This will encourage universities to offer such services and pay more attention to the mental health of their students, including through educational activities in this area.'

Evgeny Raskin

Vice-Rector for Youth Policy, ITMO University, member of the Public Council at the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs

*****

'During the exam period I often experienced anxiety and sleep disorders. Most students get it, and it is important to learn how to deal with it. The sheer presence of a psychologist at the university does not solve the problem, as only few students reach out to them. Many do not consider anxiety a problem at all. The introduction of a mandatory practice of studying the mental health topics would reduce the anxiety among students, help them learn how to avoid it or work on it.'

Daria, recent graduate, Moscow

*****

Project examples:

• Chatbot and diary of emotions as a mental health help tool for teenagers
• Travli.Net helps establish a psychologically safe environment in schools
• Mental health festival for HSE students and staff

Global trend 'Pedagogies of the home'

The pandemic made us pay attention to the student's home as a learning and cultural environment. To take into account the home environment means that the teacher is to be aware about what and how his or her students learn in an informal setting at home and in their immediate environment. This can help with the selection of personalized learning materials and meaningful topics for discussion, e.g. when teaching critical thinking skills or talking about social inequality.

*****

'Education research takes into account home learning environment, including socio-economic status and cultural capital of the family. This trend is also manifested via such online tools as an electronic diary or the Moscow E-School. These tools are based on the assumption that parents will contribute to homework and preparation for school events. Education spills out of school and into the home environment, and, regretfully, this sometimes spoils the relationship between parents and children.
With regard to the upscaling potential, two aspects need to be taken into account. One is the universal access to education; the other is the individualization of education. These are two diverging paths—it is either mass, relatively cheap and accessible education for everyone, or individual selection of classes depending on the background, etc. As parents invest more and more of their own resources in the education of their children, the focus on the student’s background will become stronger. But this is not the business of a mass school.'

Katerina Polivanova

Doctor of Psychology, Tenured Professor at HSE University, Academic Director of the Centre for Contemporary Childhood Research

*****

'Russian schools pay certain attention to the cultural and ethnic background of students—schools organize folk holidays, offer a choice of subjects regarding the religions. This approach is however rather generic, one would not call it personalized. Sometimes a teacher may take into account the circumstances of students at social risk who have difficulties at home—if the child is known not to have a parent, and a lesson is to be focused on the topic of the family, the teacher can adjust the script to make the child more comfortable. The teacher with many children of different nationalities in one classroom can also take these aspects into account in certain lessons. But it all depends on the individual teacher; it is still impossible en masse.
These are two different social institutions—family and school, and when we try to merge them together, the merger must be done professionally, otherwise it creates mental health risks. Already now, there appear conflicts when the family is not satisfied with something happening at school. Should the school rely more on the family, the conflicts are likely to exacerbate.'

Inga Tolstykh

Head of Mental Health at The Intellectual state school

*****

'On the one hand, it's great, on the other hand, not so great, when it comes to the point where you feel like you're being watched. I think this practice would go down well in elementary school, because the progress of small children has a stronger correlation with the family environment than for older children, while for the latter privacy becomes more important.'

Maria, 11th grade student, Moscow

*****

Project examples:

We failed to identify specific cases to underpin this trend. If you would like to share such an initiative, please contact us at innovations_edu@hse.ru. So far, we note inclusive education projects that take into account a variety of challenges a student can face (including their home environment):

• Migratory Children project is about teaching Russian to immigrant children
• Pifiya studio’s awareness raising project (semi-finalist of the Innovations in Education Competition 2022), explaining dyslexia and dysgraphia to teachers and parents

Global trend 'Watch Parties'

Watching videos together is a way to engage people in collective learning, even if they are physically located in different parts of the world. Learning objectives can be set before, during and after the viewing. For example, a teacher can ask the students to read certain material related to the video in advance, take active part in a group discussion of a video, share an opinion in a chat.

*****

'For educational purposes, we often watch something on our own, and then discuss it together. Everyone chooses a convenient time, place and format, can put the video on pause, continue watching it later, and so on. At the same time, joint family viewings, when parents are watching something together with their children, are quickly becoming popular. This tool is actively used as extracurricular activity, in supplementary education modules, in vacation programmes. I believe this trend will gain momentum, because watching a movie or video together is an opportunity to talk about various complex topics, with regard to which there is not always a reason and a way to communicate.'

Nina Dobrynchenko-Matusevich

Head of the Children and Youth Education Cluster of the Gorky Film Studio, founder of the online community 'What to watch with children'

*****

'Pedagogy of film teaches people to build a dialogue, helps to study art. When we started doing this, however, we saw that the problem was not in the content, but in the teachers. The teacher does not know how to use film screening. We need additional training and methodological materials for films. Cinema is first of all a life experience, stories told through the language of the film. By means of joint viewing we can shift the child from entertainment to learning, develop their figurative literacy by discussing the components of the film language, the use of images, etc. If kids have grown up watching Disney films, the brighter ones, they need to be prepared to appreciate deeper films too.'

Nikolai Dann

film director, producer, public figure, founder of the international film festival and online cinema 'Zero Plus', forum 'CinemaPedagogy', CEO of the Institute for the Development of Cinema and Media, member of the Public Council of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

*****

'I support this idea. Watching videos and chatting together can help people escape the isolation—nowadays some people find it convenient to communicate online, where starting a face-to-face conversation would be a challenge.'

Alexey, 9th grade student, Tsimlyansk

*****

Project examples:

• Service for setting up film clubs for joint viewing of films
• Telegram channel featuring one non-mainstream cartoon a week, and inviting the followers to watch and discuss it

Global trend 'Pedagogy of discomfort'

'"Pedagogy of discomfort" implies that students carefully examine and critically reflect on their emotional response to topics such as discrimination, oppression, and social injustice. If sensitive topics are explored in a neutral manner, a model of unfair social relations can be accepted as a norm. Emotions are a powerful tool for challenging established ideas and prejudices. Sharing negative emotions between students and teachers can help get new insights and lay the ground for new behaviours.'

*****

'In Russia, this trend is just emerging; in the near future, this practice is unlikely to become widespread. This is due to the socio-cultural context, and the pedagogical tradition, where it is not common to discuss unpleasant emotions. We in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies had an insightful experience when in sessions with teenagers during and after COVID we discussed their negative experiences of distance learning. This clearly had a therapeutic effect on them. Again, children, teenagers are not used to sharing their emotions, to open up in the classroom in front of the teacher and other children. At first, they could not even understand what we want from them.
Such practices can make a person rather vulnerable in a group. For this practice to be successful the skills of the group reflection need to be developed, both teachers and children need to be trained; a culture of such reflection need to be formed. There is still a very long way to go here.'

Olga Rubtsova

PhD in Psychology, Head of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Modern Childhood, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education

*****

'This trend is highly relevant for Russia, and the relevance will only grow, as discrimination and social inequality are all around, and children react very strongly to that. For example, in one of the regions where Skillfolio worked with teachers, differences between immigrants and locals consistently resulted in bullying, hate and other unpleasant manifestations. Thanks to the development of teachers’ soft skills and tutor skills, these problems were solved, up to preventing suicides.
Without a special preparation, however, a discussion of social inequality, oppression, etc. can be shallow or remain a manifestation of a personal opinion of the teacher, without a real pedagogical component and psychological help to students. Raising these topics is very important, the skill of reflection is necessary for the development of awareness of students and teachers, for building a dialogue. But this is only possible where high-quality social-emotional training has been provided, and the students work to develop their soft skills through an understanding of their individual characteristics.'

Viktoria Shimanskaya

PhD in Psychology, Russian expert on the development of emotional intelligence, author of books, teacher, creator of SKILLFOLIO.ru

*****

'A lot depends on the relationship between the teacher and the students. I would not be happy to discuss my negative emotions with my class teacher, but I might discuss them with a psychologist.'

Alexandra, 11th grade student, Orel

*****

Project examples:

We failed to identify specific cases to underpin this trend. If you would like to share such an initiative, please contact us at innovations_edu@hse.ru. In the meantime, here are some aspects worth mentioning:

• training of employees of international companies is needed, to raise their awareness about the importance of diversity and inclusion (DEI—diversity, equity, inclusion) and how to achieve it in the workplace
• human rights should be discussed as part of the curriculum, e.g. in the course of social studies and courses of law, including a discussion of xenophobia, discrimination and the need to counter them
• emotions of both actors and spectators can be processed in the framework of staging student theatrical performances on problematic topics

Global trend 'Walk-and-talk'

As ever more learning takes place online, there is a growing concern regarding negative effects of insufficient physical exercise and face-to-face communication. During the pandemic with the ban on indoor meetings, group walking and longer-distance hiking became highly relevant. Walking improves the state of mind and clarity of thinking, stimulates new ideas. A conversation during a walk takes on a different tone from that in the classroom. This format of education goes particularly well together with the activities promoting mental and physical well-being, and goes well together with innovative approaches in education, and with out-of-school education.

*****

'I have serious reservations as to the appropriateness of this format, as during the walk it is difficult to make sure that all the students can hear you, and, secondly, it is difficult to explain what the lesson is about. A conversation, say, about physics, chemistry—it is not clear, why it should take place in the format of a walk.
However, if by this trend we mean excursions, then, of course, this is an excellent educational format, since an excursion is highly convincing—objects are not described in words, they are not shown on a slide, instead students can observe their physical existence. As a result, it has the maximum impact on students, as they can perceive the objects with all their senses. In addition, an excursion is a collective action where people experiencing the same object to varying degrees, empathically share their experience with others. The topic of an excursion does not need to be limited to architecture; it can be natural history, geology, pilgrimage, literature, gastronomy, and so on.'

Airat Bagautdinov

historian of architecture, Head of 'Through the Eyes of an Engineer' company

*****

'People often lose concentration in the education process just because they are asked to sit still for a long time. I have repeatedly noticed that it is more convenient to focus on new material when travelling—during the lockdown I "attended" classes while hiking. This trend seems to be highly relevant for Russia, because we have beautiful nature, and no matter where you are, you can find beautiful places that will inspire you to study. This method of training is not suitable for all subjects.'

Maxim Vasilenko

Chairman of the HSE Tourist Club

*****

'This is one of the best learning solutions for me. Why? The head works better outdoors, and the information is better digested. Add here a live chat. Walking creates a non-routine atmosphere; such an experience ensures a long-lasting memory.'

Sofia, 8th grade student, Nizhny Novgorod

*****

Project examples:

• The Big Adventure. Company offers 'Smart travel' for children; active tourism is seen as a way to support the development of a well-rounded person
• Arctic Circle Tourist Centre offers programs for children and families, including walks and trips to the Arctic to study its nature