The inauguration of the scientific and practical forum was held at Penza State University on Wednesday, September 13, 2017.

The plenary session was opened by the rector of PSU A.D. Gulyakov. As a sign of respect for the delegation from the Federal Republic of Germany, he delivered a speech in German.

“We are pleased that the Flensburg-Penza congress has become a tradition. Today we meet for the fifth time. We are pleased to welcome the participants of the congress on the Penza land”, the head of the university stressed.

PSU now works to push the international research and innovation. For this reason within the frames of HARMONY project the equipment for simultaneous translation has been ordered and purchased. After obtaining its first portion early 2017 PSU was able to organize a large-scale Russian-German Penza – Flensburg Forum to both practice organization of significant events requiring proper translation service and put scientists and researches of two countries at one table for discussion of cooperation possibilities. The Forum which promoted HARMONY project and was co-financed by Penza State University resulted in a series of  new initiatives and projects.

Counselor of the German Embassy in Russia, Mrs. Ellen von Zitzewitz delivered a lecture, “Current Issues of Environmental Protection and Energy Saving Policy in Germany”. Students with great interest listened to a foreign guest, asked questions about geopolitics, energy and global warming, recycling of garbage into fuel, about renewable energy sources.

Mrs. Ellen von Zitzewitz shared: “Now I see real innovative projects in Russia that are of interest to the German side, for example, in Yakutsk and the Leningrad Region. And, if there are similar projects in Penza, then you can invite specialists from Germany who can come and evaluate and help with implementation. The development of your country, of course, is proceeding at a good pace. But we must not forget that science starts from universities, the younger generation needs to see the best world examples of the development of science”.

Another outcome of Fofum's meeting was the decision to hold a joint project for energy efficiency students. As the distinguished guest stressed, it is planned that this project will be financially supported by the German side.