Russia's New Generation Program For Young Foreign Leaders Marks 10th Anniversary

Russia's New Generation program, designed to bring young foreign industry leaders on a short trip to Russia, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and some of the participants in the program told Sputnik about their impressions from visiting the country

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2021) Russia's New Generation program, designed to bring young foreign industry leaders on a short trip to Russia, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and some of the participants in the program told Sputnik about their impressions from visiting the country.

Launched in 2011, the program has been operated by Rossotrudnichestvo, the Russian humanitarian cooperation agency. Each year, some 1,000 foreigners from various industries such as media, science and politics are selected by the Russian Centers for Science and Culture, functioning across the world, to win grants and visit Russia. During the trip, young professionals aged from 25 to 35 have a chance to visit art museums and historic places, and meet with Russian industry professionals and high-ranking officials.

New Generation also cooperates with the Sputnik news Agency on the SputnikPro international project, which provides an opportunity for foreign journalists, students and media professionals to exchange expertise and improve their skills. SputnikPro holds seminars both abroad and at its headquarters in Moscow. So far, over 3,000 delegates from 80 countries have taken part in SputnikPro.

Chamara Sumanapala, a young journalist from Sri Lanka, came to Russia under the auspices of the New Generation program several years ago. The trip included visits to the offices of the RT broadcaster and the Russia Beyond media outlet, as well as to the Russian Foreign Ministry and Rossotrudnichestvo.

"I enjoyed my stay within those four-five days. We read a lot of Russian literature, in Sri Lanka it's very popular. Because of that, we know certain things about Russia, but modern Russia is not something we are really familiar with. Some people still think Russia is a socialist country," Sumanapala told Sputnik.

The visit has debunked some of the stereotypes about Russia, spread by the Western media, the Sri Lankan journalist noted.

"I didn't expect the friendliness of the city of Moscow to be at that level. Always, we are hearing bad things about Russia in certain media so we don't expect that level of friendliness and other stuff. I have started to see some of these misconceptions that are being spread out more vividly since I came to Russia," Sumanapala said.

The journalist has also pointed to certain historical misconceptions about the country, such as the common translation of Russian Tsar Ivan Grozny's nickname into Ivan the Terrible in English even though "grozny" in Russian principally means formidable or fearsome.

As for how the experience with the New Generation program could be improved, Sumanapala noted that more time to explore Russian art and history would be useful.

"Overall, it was a good experience. What I didn't like was that there was not enough time to explore Moscow. We had some bad luck with the weather. I would have loved to explore more, there is a lot to learn in Moscow itself and in Russia in general, so maybe some other day I might be able to do it because I'm quite fascinated by Russian history," the journalist said.

The New Generation program has helped the Sri Lankan national to gain more expertise about the country as he has been running a popular Facebook community on Russia since 2017.

George Agrba, an Abkhazian architect with the "Kama Katsiya Creative Group," visited Russia last year as a participant in the New Generation program. His trip started in Crimea, where he took part in the Tavrida Art Festival, a summer art school for young professionals from creative industries.

At Tavrida, Agrba as an architect participated in a group project on the development of a riverfront in the city of Volgograd. This experience was followed by a trip to Moscow, during which the Abkhazian national had a chance to see the Kremlin and the Red Square. But it was the visit to the Winzavod Contemporary Art Center that left a memorable impression on him.

"As an architect, I really liked how they approached the reconstruction of the cluster, which used to be a winery. They have treated the original infrastructure with respect. It was a new experience for me because I didn't know that such a place existed and I was very impressed. I also liked that they have a program supporting beginner artists rather than the well-known ones � that deserves respect," Agrba told Sputnik.

The architect said that he was impressed with Moscow's scale and modernity and would want to visit the city more often in the future.

"Without flattery, I will definitely advise people to go. It helped me a lot that I went there, and I think that everyone who wants to evolve as a professional should at least once visit it, as it is very useful," Agrba concluded, when speaking of his visit to Moscow.