Penza, 13 September 2013. PenzaNews. The Humanitarian Forum “Province Search. Meeting of postindustrial practices” dedicated to the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the city opened in Penza on Friday, September 13. Welcoming the participants and guests gathered in the library named after M. Lermontov, the governor of the Penza region Vasily Bochkarev noted the importance of the event for the region and for the development of all the Russian provinces, and outlined the main goals and objectives for the next two days.

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According to Vasily Bochkarev, Penza Forum will be not only a place of fascinating meetings, but also “an influential public platform, a platform for constructive dialogue and fruitful work.”

“The word “province” has a different meaning for different people. Thus, for some it is a work with kind tint of connotation, for others it has something inappropriate. Some young people run away from provinces to big cities, the capital, where many do not find themselves, but never come back to the province What should be done to make Penza, Saratov, Tomsk and Omsk more attractive compared to Moscow? What should be done for young people to not be ashamed to live and realize themselves in the province and be proud of it? We are here today to solve these problems,” the head of the region said.

According to the member of the Federation Council — the representative of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region Lyubov Glebova, the time when the rules of life in the country were dictated by the capital and big cities have passed, and now we need to see what life is actually appears to be like today, and Penza Forum shoul contribute to that.

“We should suggest here different experiences of life, and we, the representatives of the federal government, must choose what is better to support. It’s not about making up something of our own, but about supporting. And I'm sure that all the participants of the forum are well aware — that the province gives birth to the best practices,” Lyubov Glebova noted.

A specialist on communication strategies, marketing and product development Konstantin Garanin, who presented opportunities of adapting crowdsourcing technologies to provincial conditions, suggested that “the province is primarily a mental image created in our minds.”

“In my opinion, today, we are in a wonderful life situation when we have much more tools to turn the area from mental, informational province — what I call “the digital province” — into “the digital capital.” Today, every village has an opportunity to turn itself into a center — either countrywide or worldwide,” the expert stated.

In total, during the period of the forum work in the first two days of the 350th anniversary of Penza, it is planned to organize the work of five sections — “Leaving the provinces: Escape is impossible to remain” [play on words], “Dialogue of society and authority: Interaction technology,” “Eventful shape of area: New activities and traditional infrastructure,” “Ethics of urban life: Education of a citizen,” and “Portrait of comprehensive school: Provincial practice.”