Penza State University hosts a conference ‘Extra-economic Factors of Regional Development’

 The international conference devoted to the discussion of political, social, and cultural aspects of regional development was conducted on 30th and 31st of October, 2015. This is the third time that the conference was organized with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (Germany) and the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements (Moscow). 

In his welcome address, Sergey Vasin, Doctor of Economics, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, stressed that though the major factor of human development, the economic factors alone could not act as single driving growth factors. ‘If we solve the problem from the economic viewpoint, then we can not observe the impact of social, political, confessional and other factors which ultimately may nullify the effect of all seemingly efficient measures,’ he said.

Tiina Fahrni, head of the Moscow Office of Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, expressed her satisfaction with close cooperation between the foundation and Penza and Moscow universities, Bashkir Academy of Civil Service and Government. 

Anna Ochkina, head of the department of Methodology of Science, Social Theories and Technologies, and Olga Surina, Director of the Institute of Teacher Education, greeted the guests and stressed the importance of studying the aspects and key factors of life in the province.

During the plenary sessions the scientist and experts discussed the concepts of ‘extra-economical’, the factors of culture and social policy in economic growth, the features of provincial universities, political patterns of interaction within the universities and their relations with the outward society, urbanism and  social and economic set-up of settlements in the depth of the country.

Ken Lingston, British-Canadian economist and researcher, conducted a longer discussion on transport, social and economic policies in urban development, exemplifying his statements with practical experience of implementing these policies in Greater London.

Growth of tourism, development of city image, museums and authenticity of cultural memories were discussed by Hannelore Philippi (Saarland, Germany), Boris Kagarlitsky (Moscow), leading Penza sociologists and scholars in cultural studies.