11 September 2018 EEF 2018 venue hosted the opening of the Social Impact Lounge (NPO LAB) in the Far East.
The NPO LAB: Social Impact Lounge is a project from the Roscongress Foundations social platform to integrate a social agenda into its major business forums. It aims to promote socially significant projects and bring together the participants of the social ecosystem: government, business, society, non-profit organizations, and the media.
Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Alexander Stuglev, CEO of the Roscongress Foundation and Yelena Marinina, Deputy CEO, Head of Social Programmes of the Roscongress Foundation all spoke at the event.
In her remarks Ms Golodets said: «A historic event of the EEF today is the opening of the NPO LAB. No projects are successful unless theyre supported and shared by the civil society. Its noteworthy that this event takes place at FEFU so that the students can get a new venue to create social initiatives and implement them in the social sphere. Its a chance for any student of any year to find self-fulfilment in addition to creating something interesting and important. It particularly matters in sport, tourism and culture. We rely on NPOs, on their initiatives that are very much in demand today. The development of culture in Vladivostok and formation of a special cultural development vector in the Far East are important questions and initiatives in this field have to grow substantially. We await new projects and new solutions. I invite everyone to get involved with the lab.»
Alexander Stuglev noted: «The Roscongress Foundation traditionally provides a platform for the NPO LAB understanding the importance of social communications for business development, for development of the economy and social projects. Were confident that developing this project further will bring a new impetus to expand the number of new formats within the forum, as well as new initiatives presented at this venue today.»
Yelena Marinina thanked everyone who came to witness the opening of the NPO LAB at the EEF. «Our platform was launched a year ago and it stirred a good deal of interest from different organizations. Government structures, business circles and civil organizations all came forth. The platforms agenda focuses on the development problems of the Far East social economy, as economy nowadays cant develop without improvements in peoples quality of life. As such, we pay special attention to the issues of demographics, environment and social inclusion. One of the Labs key events is the upcoming launch of Innosocium, a centre for social communications as well as a competition of projects in education. We hope for support from interested government and business structures to continue forming the culture of social inclusion and consciousness among young people. Were planning seminars and educative sessions at universities. I invite everyone to join in.»
NPO LAB at EEF 2018 consists of several topics, each one covering a particular sphere: creating an inclusive environment, strengthening the role of women, supporting an active lifestyle in old age, developing human capital, and environmental protection.