Welcome Address to the Participants of the International Conference “UNESCO between two Phases of the World Summit on the Information Society”
Sergey Tarasov, Vice-Governor of Saint Petersburg

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honor for me to welcome you at this international conference on behalf of the Government of Saint Petersburg and the Governor Valentina Matvienko. We also regard it as a great privilege for our city to be selected for the conference before the Tunis Summit.

Saint Petersburg is a city whose historic, cultural, scientific, and intellectual potential is not only Russia’s asset but also the world’s heritage. Our city is undoubtedly interested in developing and expanding the relationships with UNESCO. Today our collaborative efforts cover the following areas: first of all, preserving and promoting Saint Petersburg as an object of the world’s cultural heritage, hence, the protection, restoration, and conservation of the monuments from the UNESCO World Heritage List. Another joint program is Hermitage-UNESCO project, which entails the restoration work and opening the new Hermitage objects in Saint Petersburg.

Four of UNESCO’s international scientific cathedras actively work in Saint Petersburg. They are the cathedra on pedagogical sciences of our Pedagogical University, UNESCO cathedra of distance education in engineering of Saint Petersburg Aerospace University, UNESCO cathedra on corporate research of spiritual traditions, cultural specifics and international dialogue in Saint Petersburg Cultural University, and а branch of the international cathedra of UNESCO network on cultural tourism for the purposes of peace development in Baltic International Institute.

Today, when Russia joined the Bologna Declaration, participation of Saint Petersburg’s educational institutions in UNESCO’s international programs in the spheres of science and culture opens new opportunities for Russia to enter the European and the world educational milieu.

I would like to wish to all the conference participants every success during your work here in Saint Petersburg. I think that this meeting will certainly be interesting and mutually beneficial for all the participants, including the Russian and Saint Petersburg specialists. Thank you for your cooperation and best of luck to all of you.