On September 18, the Delegation of the European Union to Russia together with the National Erasmus+ Office in Russia held the conference “Implementation of the Jean Monnet Project in Russia: Examples of Best Practices”,  dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Jean Monnet Project, the conference was attended by representatives of higher education institutions in Russia and academic coordinators of Jean Monnet Projects, who have successfully completed the project proposals and implemented the projects funded by the European Commission.

Markus Ederer, the EU Ambassador to Russia, and Boris Zhelezov, Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, welcomed conference participantsat the opening ceremony.

“The EU and Russia are and will remain very important neighbors on the global arena. They are linked with each other through a wide range of bilateral and multilateral ties and shared interests. It is everyone’s hope and our shared responsibility that relations will improve, and one cannot overestimate your contribution to this process,” the Ambassador said addressing conference participants. “The opportunity for the informed dialogue which you provide at your universities is very important. I am convinced that it is through better knowledge of each other that we can narrow our differences, ensure a better understanding between Russia and the European Union, and thus contribute to better relations in the future.”

Jean Monnet Project is one of the leading programs of the European Union. Launched in 1989 to support academic teaching and research in the field of European integration studies,  it was at first open to academics in the European Union. In 2001, it expanded to include stakeholders from all around the world.

For several years, Russia has been the leading country worldwide as regards the number of Jean Monnet proposals. In 2015-2018, a total of 113 Jean Monnet projects were started up or carried out by Russian universities.

Currently, Nizhnevartovsk State University is implementing six Jean Monnet projects,which indicates the university’s leading position in this area in Russia.

Lala Yakubova, the Head of the Department for Document Science and General History, Academic Coordinator of Jean Monnet Module “The European Union Social Policy” shared the NVSU experience at the conference. In the panel discussion “Teaching and Research (Module, Department, Centers of Excellence): practical implementation experience, impact on target groups, achievements and problems”, she spoke on her experience of a Jean Monnet Project, the specifics of writing a project proposal, the role of financial and administrative project management, the main stages of the project implementation, its activities, results, their impact, and project dissemination  and also shared some recommendations for grant seekers.