Exiled, Not Silenced: Spotlight on Russian Civic Educators in Exile

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In today’s Russia it is almost impossible to promote human rights and democratic values through education. So-called patriotic values dominate, and education has become a vital propaganda tool for the authorities.  

Educators who do not agree with these developments, have either been silenced or driven into exile.  

Since 2022, the project “Practicing Citizenship” implemented by the European Wergeland Centre (EWC) together with our partners the School of Civic Education (SCE) and has aimed to support the Russian democratic diaspora, including educators who have found themselves in exile in Council of Europe member states. The Practicing Citizenship project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

At the seminar “Exiled, Not Silenced: Spotlight on Russian Civic Educators in Exile,” we give space to their voices. Together with SCE, we will discuss the role of the democratic diaspora in the sphere of education and highlight the importance of support for educators in exile. We will also look into the latest developments within the education system of the Russian Education.  

WHEN: November 26th 08:30-15:00

WHERE: Litteraturhuset, Conference room “Skram”

Wergelandsveien 29, 0167 Oslo

Programme:

Programme: 

8:30 – 9:00 Welcome coffee and registration   

9:00 – 9:20 Opening and official addresses 

Ana Perona Fjeldstad, Executive director, the European Wergeland Centre 

Lena Nemirovskaya, Founder, School of Civic Education 

9:20 – 10:40 PANEL DISCUSSION: The Changing Landscape of the Russian Educational System 

Vasilij Zharkov, visiting lecturer PhD at European Humanities University (Lithuania), visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Montenegro) 

Ana Kuleshova, Independent researcher, founder and project coordinator, Social Foresight Group, founder, Social Researchers Across Border (Luxembourg) 

Helge Blakkisrud, Associate Professor in Russian Area Studies, University of Oslo, Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (Norway) 

Mariia Vasilievskaia, Director of the Hanna Arendt Research Centre, Head of Research at OVD-Info (Germany)

Moderated by: Anastasia Gontareva, School of Civic Education and Larisa Leganger Bronder, the European Wergeland Centre 

10:40 – 11:00 Coffee break 

11: 00 – 11:20 Practicing citizenship project, main results and findings  

Valentina Papeikiene, Senior Advisor, the European Wergeland Centre 

11:20 – 12:40 PANEL DISCUSSION: Practicing Citizenship: the role of democratic diaspora, voices of participants of the project  

Introduction by Vladimir Shmelev, сo-founder of The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Edumonte educational company (Montenegro) 

Nataniel Laevsky Tutor, English teacher in Adriatic Open School (Montenegro) 

Natalia Kovyliaeva, coordinator, Reforum Space Tallinn (Estonia) 

Lidia Cherkasova, methodologist, trainer, principal assistant for the primary school “Projector International School” Tbilisi (Georgia).

Moderated by: Bojana Dujkovic Blagojevic, trainer and project coordinator with the European Wergeland Centre and Dariusz Grzemny, trainer and consultant with the European Wergeland Centre, member of the pool of trainers of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe

12:40 – 13:00 Recommendations, and closing remarks 

13.00 – 14.30 Lunch and mingling