Rediscovering Russia Expedition Submissions Open until June 15th

© Alexey Evdokimov

The Rediscovering Russia project invites universities, commercial and non-profit organisations to apply to organise and conduct student expeditions in 2023. Candidates can apply until June 15^th, and the winning expeditions will receive financial and organisational support.

Applications should outline the expedition theme, concept, and approximate programme. The expedition must correspond to one of six areas: education, ecology, the social sphere, urbanism and the development of territories, culture, and technology.

Rediscovering Russia is an all-Russia inter-university programme of student expeditions. Students from the best universities participate in socially significant projects that change life in provincial regions for the better. The programme is organised by HSE University and the Russia—Land of Opportunity platform. Its partners are the More Than a Trip programme and the Boiling Point network. As part of the Rediscovering Russia programme, students demonstrate professional competencies and go on expeditions to work on real projects, while regional teams receive support from the best young specialists in the country.

Up to 15 participants will be able to go on an expedition: students of Russian universities accompanied by one or two mentors (expedition leaders). The winners of the competitive selection process will be announced on July 1 on the website and in the competition’s official VK group. The team of the Rediscovering Russia project will provide the winners with methodological support in preparing the expedition. Travel, accommodation, meals, and an excursion and cultural programme for the students and their mentors (leaders) are provided free of charge.

The More Than a Trip programme is supported by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs. Its key partners are the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, ANO Russia—Land of Opportunity, the Znanie Russian society, and the Russian Movement of Children and Youth. The More Than a Trip programme was created in 2021 on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a tool to encourage active and talented young people from all over Russia. The programme’s main distinctive feature is its educational component: lectures, workshops, volunteering, visiting enterprises, etc. The programme helps young people to get to know their country better, fall in love with it, learn new things, and contribute to the promotion and development of Russia’s regions.

To successfully pass the selection, the proposed expedition must:

 solve a significant problem in the region, respond to the strategic challenge of its development, and have interested partners in the region of departure.
 be feasible (remote work is not enough to solve the problem).
 have a result in the form of a product (the team’s work results in something useful to others—from a well-designed embankment to a mobile app).

Rediscovering Russia has been implemented at HSE University since 2017, during which time more than 300 expeditions have been carried out with the participation of more than 3,500 students and teachers. In 2022, the project expanded to a new, inter-university level. Together with 35 partner universities, more than 100 expeditions were held and about 1,500 students from 58 universities and mentors took part.

Dmitry Zemtsov, HSE University Vice Rector

‘The Rediscovering Russia student expedition project continues to develop. The first competitive selection expanded the project’s geographic scope to new regions—the expeditions will go to the Republic of Crimea and the Magadan Region, and new universities and organisations have become project partners. I am glad that the level of expedition concept elaboration is also increasing; students meet with governors and representatives of regional administrations and jointly design expeditions that the region needs.’

In the spring, 113 universities and 47 organisations from 62 regions of the country took part in the competitive selection. A total of 40 applicants were named winners after submitting 47 applications for unique expeditions that will cover 41 regions.

Alexei Agafonov

‘I invite our regional partners to take part in the competition and propose a task to be solved by the best students from all over the country,’ said Alexei Agafonov, First Deputy General Director of ANO Russia—Land of Opportunity. ‘We see high-quality results and the motivation of young and bright scientists, architects, geologists, and economists to prove themselves for the benefit of regional development.’

ANO Russia—Land of Opportunity was established in 2018 on the initiative of Vladimir Putin, who headed its supervisory board. The platform’s mission is to create the future of Russia by providing equal opportunities for everyone. The organisation helps every person attain opportunities for development, regardless of where they live, what profession they choose, or what family they grew up in. This is an open platform for communication between talented and passionate people of all ages, exchange of experience between schoolchildren, students, experts, entrepreneurs, managers, and volunteers. Over the four years of the platform’s operation, about 18 million people from all regions of Russia and 150 countries of the world have participated in its 26 projects, and more than 1,500 companies, universities, government and public organisations have become its partners.