CIRP Winter School 2020
The Centre of International and Regional Policy (CIRP) is non-governmental nonprofit organization founded in St. Petersburg in 2001 to provide closer cooperation between Russia and its neighbors in the Baltic – Black Sea area.
The CIRP is committed to exploring and examining the variety of policy options available to Russia to promote its development as an integrated, active and responsible member of a regional community where freedom, opportunity, cooperation, security, and prosperity flourish. The CIRP team pursues this mission by providing research on public policy and international cooperation in the Baltic – Black Sea area, disseminating its findings among the academic and policy communities as well as the regional mass media, conducting education and training work. On February 2-6 of this year I participated in the CIRP Winter School “Challenges and prospects for international cooperation in the Arctic” which was took placed in Velikiy Novgorod. That was an amazing experience for me.
This CIRP Winter School was dedicated to the matter of international cooperation, energy, transport and environmental security in the Arctic region. The organization not only provided us with four-star meals and accommodation, and a comfortable international exchange environment, but also gave us a precious opportunity to directly talk and discuss to EU experts and diplomats. My favorite time was that after dinner, everyone would gather in groups at the hotel lobby to discuss various current affairs, international issues, and the state of each country. We exchanged ideas, shared bottlenecks encountered in our papers, and brainstormed with each other. Participants were from different specialized field, some were studying history, some were studying law, some were studying politics, some were studying anthropology, and so on. Therefore, each person analyzed the incident from a different perspective, but everyone shared their ideas actively and unrestrictedly. Each time I discussed with them, it stimulated and explored more of my thoughts to my research direction and I got a lot of valuable opinions.
I sincerely encourage everyone to participate in the activities of CIRP. You will not only gain the opportunities in discussions on international issues and academic knowledge, but also will make friends with many talented and great people there. It will be an unforgettable experience in your academic life.