On October 1 through 4, 2009, the traditional days of St.Petersburg were run in Turku, the first twin city of St.Petersburg.
On October 1 through 4, 2009, the traditional days of St.Petersburg were run in Turku, the first twin city of St.Petersburg.
On October 1, R.E. Filimonov, St.Petersburg Vice-Governor and the head of St.Petersburg delegation, and A. Randel, Chairman of the Government of Turku, open the Information and Business Center (IBC) of St.Petersburg in the region of Turku.
The next day, the display at St.Petersburg was opened at the International Book Fair in Turku, in the presence of A. Stubb, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland. The guests of the fair could see not only the colorful albums about St.Petersburg, but also the contemporaty fiction literature of the city; a meeting was held with the St.Petersburg writers for children. Besides, on the occasion of this year's 200th anniversary of the independence of Finland, the exhibition of copies of relevant historical documents was shown owing to the collections of National Library. After the fair, more than 300 books of St.Petersburg display were donated to the city library of Turku.
The program also included various activities of the business and cultural kind; further to the cooperation of the St.Petersburg State University and Turku University, a seminar was held on the protection of intellectual property rights.
Representatives of the St.Petersburg school, together with the colleagues from Turku, run a paedagogical seminar "Forming a cross-cultural educational environment in St.Petersburg and Turku".
The great interest among the inhabitants of Turku was raised by the preformance by the theatrical comradeship "Comic-Trust", by children's ensemble of accordionists "Aventurine", and by a piano-player D. Yakimchuk. In addition to the permanent business representative office of St.Petersburg - IBC, on October 4, a center for information and education was launched in Turku: "Russian Museum: a Virtual Affiliation".
Within the framework of Program for harmonization of inter-ethnic and intercultural relations, prevention of xenophobia, and strengthening tolerance in St.Petersburg for 2006–2010 (Program "Tolerance"), the experience of strengthening tolerance and prevention of the manifestations of xenophobia was exchanged by the representatives of governments and civil society organizations. The Finnish regions pay great attention to the adaptation of migrants to the national culture and traditions. Turku, like St.Petersburg, is a member of the Coalition of Cities against Racism. The delegation of St.Petersburg visited the agencies working with migrants, the center «Veraan», the youth center "ABC", and a seminar on "Ethnic Diversity and Tolerance: a Comparison of Problems and Solutions".
Withn the framework of the St.Petersburg Government Program for 2008–2010 to implement the state policy of Russia regaring the compatriots abroad, there were activities aimed at strengthening cooperation with compatriots living in Finland (the region is home to about 1,600 Russian-speaking people):
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15 countrymen, the residents of Leningrad under the Siege, now living in Turku, were awarded with commemorative medals "In Honor of the 65th Anniversary of the Complete Leningrad Liberation from Fascist Blockade" (the ceremony was held at the Consulate General of Russia in Turku);
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at the National Academy of Turku, the refresher courses were organized for teachers of Russian language abroad, featuring the "Trends in the Development of Modern Russian Language and Surviving the Language in Emigration", for the teachers of kindergartens for Russian-speaking children and schools of extra education; as well as an exhibition of educational materials on Russian language and Russian literature "Modern Textbooks on Russian as a Foreign Language and Second Mother Tongue";
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a presentation of the experience of Russian diaspora in Turku concerning the maintenance and surviving of Russian language among the younger generation;
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in the youth center "ABC", with the participation of representatives of the Consulate General of Russia, Russian Center for Science and Culture in Finland, and the Committee for External Relations of St.Petersburg, a round table was run, devoted to the "Preservation of Russian Language and Russian Culture in the Russian-speaking Diaspora of Turku" (the compatriots' organizations and educational institutions were bestowed the sets of educational aids in Russian language, and books on history and culture of Russia and St.Petersburg).
Source: Committee for External Relations of St.Petersburg