The Roscongress Foundation Will Bring Together The Participants of The Social Ecosystem on a Unified Digital Platform
The Roscongress Foundation sets out to develop a social platform, which would consolidate and engage all participants of the social ecosystem, promote the social agenda, and summarize and replicate the best practices. Representatives of business, leading public and Russian non-profit organizations came together at a roundtable in Moscow to discuss this project.
Key experts and representatives of the Third Sector has already pointed out the need for such platform during Roscongress Foundation panel sessions at the Russia House in Davos and at the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi. Lack of systematic dialogue and collaborative effort between the state officials, business and NGO representatives must be addressed to solve social problems, while insufficient information about NGOs, best practices and innovative social projects in Russia should be replicated and expanded. Panellists discussed the criteria for qualifying social projects for the NGO Lab at the Rosscongress Foundation events. They identified the development strategy and proven results of the projects, as well as partnership with government, business and NGO as the main criteria.
“Russia today demonstrates its increased potential and social responsibility of the civil society to the entire world. It’s essential to transform this human positive energy into real action. The Roscongress Foundation social platform is designed to facilitate this consolidation and to reach out to the social ecosystem activists, to promote the social agenda, and to summarize and replicate the best practices”, said Elena Marinina, Head of the Roscongress Foundation’s Non-Profit Organizations Communications Directorate.
“The Opportunity for public organizations to present their projects on the Foundation sites is a timely and very important initiative. The need for the Third Sector support resonates across he board, and the Roscongress Foundation has actually made positive steps to organize a dialogue between non-profit organizations, state authorities, leading businesses and the media. This effort takes place continuously, even outside key business events. As a representative of the non-profit sector, we will do our utmost to make this story a practical success and demonstrate a powerful synergy”, noted Anastasia Tsvetkova, CEO and Director for Development and International Cooperation at the Lake Baikal Foundation
Having specified the criteria of success, the Roscongress Foundation together with the roundtable participants agreed on holding social projects competitions that would result in development grants and a possibility to enter the international arena.
“It makes sense to reward non-profit projects that are implemented in partnership with business and government. Projects that are aimed at addressing and resolving important social issues, that have already proved their effectiveness and are in need of expansion. One of the major challenges of such projects is lack of resources for further development, so grants would be highly anticipated and appreciated”, said Yelena Topoleva-Soldunova, Director of the Agency of Social Information, member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Integration of the social agenda within the framework of the upcoming Roscongress Foundation events was an equally important subject for the roundtable, particularly with regards to the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will take place on 24-26 May in the Northern capital of Russia.
“It is heart-warming to see today that through the Roscongress Foundation effort the NGO matters are put on the agenda of the country’s largest business forums, thus jump-starting a positive cooperation between various branches. Such platforms are an excellent opportunity for the Third Sector to present a consolidated vision, to bring up current trends and to replicate best practices. It is important to work together to develop an appealing format for presenting social issues. The more resources we manage to pull together, the stronger the effect will be”, emphasized Maria Krasnikova, Director of the Art, Science and Sport Charity Foundation.
“Roscongress today organizes the best and the most reputable forums in the country. It’s important that apart from state and business communicating, NGOs would equally participate in key issues discussions. Charities and NGOs in general have their own suggestions and know-hows that are on par with the ideas of authorities and corporations. More importantly, NGOs are often pioneers in enlisting the best international practices. Thus, the forum should become a platform for a meaningful dialogue between the three sectors”, said Dmitry Polikanov, Chairman of the Board of the Donor’s Forum, President of the Deafblind Support Foundation So-Edinenie.
