Ulyanovsk UNESCO City of Literature hosted the international online meeting on New Cultural Products, Cases and Practices of UNESCO CCN on February, 17. 

This online meeting was held as a part of the Book Lighthouse of St. Petersburg, the VI All-Russian Festival. In Ulyanovsk, the conference was held in 'Tochka Kipeniya', UlSU co-working space.

Russian cities – Ulyanovsk, St. Petersburg, Kargopol, Kazan, Creative Cities from Brazil and Kazakhstan (Parati and Almati), cities from the Republic of Belrus as well as Vladivostok and Krasnoyarsk, which  are interested in joining the Creative Cities Network, took part in the meeting. 

For two hours, the participants discussed how to develop municipalities through the innovative experience of UNESCO Creative Cities.

The development of creative industries in cooperation with UNESCO was emphasized by Dmitry Zverev, the Acting Mayor of Ulyanovsk .

The representative of the Secretariat of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO Anna Ermachenkova noted that the Commission highly appreciates the large-scale work of Russian creative cities, and Ulyanovsk is one of the most active participants in the network.

Elena Cherkas, head of the Ulyanovsk UNESCO City of Literature program team, spoke about the priority projects.

“Active participation in international projects of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, international cooperation with UNESCO cities, BRICS and CIS countries is planned for 2023. Educational events will also be organized as part of the Year of the Teacher and Mentor, approved by the Decree of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, and projects related to the socio-cultural adaptation of Indian students studying in Ulyanovsk,” said Elena Cherkas.

Nana Gvichia, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Tourism Development of St. Petersburg, Tatyana Ivshina, Head of the Creative Industries Fund of the Ulyanovsk Region, and other participants shared plans for 2023 as well.

“One of the outcomes of the meeting was an agreement on cooperation between Ulyanovsk UNESCO City of Literature team and Natalya Schasnovich, Executive Secretary of the National Commission of the Republic of Belarus for UNESCO. We plan to cooperate with the Belarusian UNESCO Clubs,” said Elena Cherkas.
The Book Lighthouse of St. Petersburg Festival is an intellectual holiday for Russian readers and Russian-speaking Internet users, and it was held February, 17 to February, 19 2023. Within three days, more than 1,000,000 people participated in the project.