The Best Civic Engagement Experts at the “Community” Forum

The Novosibirsk Expo Centre International Exhibition Complex hosted the second event out of nine forums of active citizens and non-commercial organizations “Community”.  

Over 500 people took part in the Forum – civic activists, representatives of non-commercial organizations, business entities, and mass media.

The main goal of the forum was collecting feedback about the state of voluntary sector in the Siberian Federal District and adding the suggestions of those who care to the roadmap of developing the civil society in Russia.

As the Secretary of the Russian Federation Public Chamber Aleksandr Brechalov noted, “Communities –small, local, informal ones – are crucial elements of the civil society, they are actually the backbone that supports it. Unfortunately, in most regions the official social structures are simply decorations, if you’ll excuse me”.

According to the results of research into the current state of the non-commercial sector in the Siberian Federal District conducted by the expert group at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Civil Service following the order from the Russian Federation Public Chamber, there are 938 informal communities in the Siberian Federal district, with only 250 (about 27%) of them operating actively.

The following three main factors are keys to boosting further development of communities in Novosibirsk:

• the availability of financial resources that will support the functioning of organizations;
• working with mass media and social networks to inform citizens about the activities of communities; 
• the need for simpler and quicker interaction with municipal and regional authorities.

The program of the forum included several theme discussions and roundtable conversations during which experts shared their experience. It is interesting that the concept of the forum allowed and stimulated the participants of “Community” to exchange business cards with government officials, business people, and other activists from the very first minutes of the event.

It must be emphasized that all the suggestions expressed by the forum participants have been considered, and the best of them will be included in the annual report of the Public Chamber to the President of the Russian Federation.