Creative Approach is Essential for Engineering Professionals
The issues of creative economy for sustainable development of St. Petersburg and the North-West Federal District of the Russian Federation were the main theme of the Knowledge Forum 2021, which took place on 28–30 September. The Forum was organized by Saint Petersburg State University of Economics together with the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library and was supported by the St. Petersburg Committee for Science and Higher Education, the Committee for Education, the Committee for Industrial Policy, Innovations and Trade of St. Petersburg, PJSC Gazprom Neft, Project Office of the St. Petersburg Administration, the Centre for Region Management (St. Petersburg), “Regions Dialogue” non-profit organization and other institutions.
Young people are a key intellectual resource for the country's future
The concept of creative economy includes a wide range of companies with a significant share of investments in intangible assets, in the salaries of creative professionals, with income generation mainly from intellectual activity.
Creative economy is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy, already accounting for over 3% of global GDP. At the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, 2021 was declared the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development.
Within the forum programme, SPbGASU students had a chance to take part in the “City 22” hackathon.
Hackathon is a sprint-like event, in which teams composed of specialists from different fields (computer programmers, designers, managers, etc.) collaborate intensively on a project.
Roman Kozakov
SPbGASU students Roman Kozakov (Faculty of Economics and Management), Polina Butkova (Faculty of Architecture), Polina Vinogradskaya (Faculty of Automobile and Road Building) and Elena Karacheva (Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Municipal Services) practised developing strategies of transition to new business processes, management systems and production methods based on information technology.
"I decided to take part in order to develop my speaking skills, to exchange experience in my speciality with other students, and gain new knowledge. My team included students from UNECON and Saint Petersburg State University. We were engaged in solving a case study related to dissemination of information. The task was to assess the current state of initiative budgeting, the projects ‘My Budget’, ‘Your Neighbourhood’, and ‘Shaping a Comfortable Urban Environment’, and then develop an advertising campaign to involve residents," told Roman Kozakov.
Elena Karacheva’s Certificate
Roman was supposed to get professionals interested in the subject, so he prepared an article layout for the specialized media. The rest of the team developed the concept of the PR campaign. Roman thinks that the team has coped successfully with the task: they have made advertising videos and suggested platforms for cooperation.
"I received a certificate for active participation, but the main prize for me was the opportunity to exchange views on the development of the participatory economy, in particular in the construction and urban improvement sector. I will continue participating in such events," said Roman Kozakov.
“I was invited to take part in the hackathon by the Faculty Dean's office. I agreed, as I believe it is necessary to actively contribute to the development of our city. In addition, a creative approach to professional duties is important for an engineer. In this project, the focus was on the creative process in solving certain tasks," said Elena Karacheva.
Elena took part in a discussion on developing the culture of separate waste collection. Her task was to write a post on social media about the importance of using containers for waste sorting, which required studying the necessary information beforehand. She says the forum has deepened her knowledge about economics and the environment. "I’m planning to use what I learned in practice. I would recommend participating in such events to all interested students who want to change something in their city, to suggest problem-solving ideas".
Text: Tatyana Petrova
Photos courtesy of the Press Service of the Presidential Library
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