Bjørnø Irina - Russian-Danish Students Conference in Copenhagen. November – December 2018

Editor Bjørnø Irina

Editor Irina Degtiareva

Editor Mikhail Kozitsin

Editor Alina Oboysheva

ISBN 978-5-4496-4828-0

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Dear friends! Here is a book of reports from the conference, which was held in November and December 2018 in the Russian Center for Science and Culture, Copenhagen, Denmark. Students were from the Institute of World Civilizations (Moscow, Russia), that participated at this conference. Their contributions and reports were devoted to current issues of modern Denmark – pension system, gender policy, corruption, environmental issues, politics and more.

The students spent a week in Denmark to see for themselves how the social, political, and economic system of this small Scandinavian country works. They were in the Danish Parliament and tried to debate with Danish politicians and in the Danish Trade Unions, as well as they visited educational institutions, particularly International School of Business, and participated in various public services institutions. They got acquainted with the Danish waste recycling system and they saw how disabled people actively participate in business structures. Students tested on practice the concept of the happiest people’s life in Denmark compared to the whole world, as well as experienced the influence of Danish constantly changeable weather!

The conference was the highest point of students’ visit to Denmark. The expert panel, consisting of representatives of scientific, public and educational institutions of Denmark, highly appreciated the reports presented by students.

One of the experts, Anders Muller, was surprised at the complexity of the subjects that the students had chosen for their presentations. Karl Erik Foverskov, another expert, several times noted that the differences between Russia and Denmark are great – both in economics and in historical development. He recommended next time to add a comparative analysis between Russia and Denmark in students reports.

The Expert panel of Danish students from the University of Copenhagen, Diana Madsen and Julia Samokhvalova, noted the good level of spoken English language. It was highlighted, that the group presentation of the reports was done at a high level of excellence.

Students actively answered experts’ questions, showing a deep understanding of the presented subjects. The best students’ report and presentations were appointed by Panel of Experts (see text later).

The conference ended with a practical workshop, where students tried the methods of collective decision-making, which is widely used in Denmark – both in politics and in the management system.

In general, it can be concluded, that such an educational students’ trip with a final conference is an important part in the system of training future specialists of an international profile in the modern conditions of world globalization.

I hope that you will enjoy reading reports of students, presented in this collection. It is good to keep in mind, that the future of every society is laying in the hands of the younger generation. They should solve the problems of building better and happier society for all mankind.

Irina Bjørnø, Ph. D, project coordinator.

At the present stage, Russian-Danish interaction is characterized by a wide range of areas of cooperation, including high-level contacts, trade, economic and humanitarian ties.

Despite the fact that the relations between Russia and Denmark were not good-neighborly in all historical periods, at present both sides are making all possible efforts to establish strong relations, developing joint projects in various fields.

This collection of articles is based on the results of student scientific conferences held under the auspices of the Russian Cultural Mission in Denmark and the Russian Center for Science and Culture.

The first part of the collectionis called “Social, political and economic trends in modern Europe on the example of Denmark” . The issues covered in this section are devoted to the consequences of migration and the aspects of socio-religious character related to this, current socio-economic trends in the development of the Danish society, as well as issues of self-determination of such parts of Denmark as the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The focus of this section is on a general analysis of the main spheres of society in Denmark with a view to a deeper understanding of the causes of success and/or failures of the Scandinavian model of government.

The second part of the collectionis titled “Theory and practice of implementing political, economic, and social projects as an opportunity for solving problems in a society: Denmark, from an individual consumption society to a society of social justice and responsibility”. Within this part, the specific reasons for the success of the state model of Denmark, as well as some of its shortcomings, are considered in more detail. The students analyzed exactly how Denmark managed to move on to a model of the structure of society, in which such concepts as social responsibility and justice set the tone for the functioning of the entire state. As it turned out, the success of the Danish state system lies in almost pedantic attention to everything: from the formation of environmental literacy and the search for the most effective ways of recycling household waste to cultivating a negative attitude of society to such a phenomenon as corruption and social indifference. However, even in such a progressive society there are own drawbacks.

As was mentioned above, it is equally important for Russia and Denmark to strive to develop joint projects in the political, social and economic sphere in order to solve common problems in their societies in both the short and long term. If the model of the public-state system of Denmark has already managed to show itself as successful, Russia in this regard should pay more attention to the positive experience of its Western colleagues.

The students of the Institute of World Civilizations, who took part in a series of these conferences, gained invaluable experience not only in the analysis and writing of articles of a scientific nature, but also expanded their professional and personal horizons, immersing themselves in the culture, history and traditions of Denmark.

Copenhagen, Russian Center for Science and Culture

Opening of the conference, prof. Markarjan A.A., director of RCSC, Copenhagen

Experts comission: L. Hardonk, O. Olesen, A. Müller, moderator assoc. prof. Irina Bjørnø