Social challenge and reasons for project’s initiation

Immediacy of the social problem

General immediacy.

Preservation and promotion of the historical and cultural heritage of the Russian North in regional and municipal museums. Museums’ switch in 2011-2012 to a new system of state financing and need to cover part of their operating expenses on own.

Local immediacy.

Focus on modernization and development of museums of the north regions of Russia:

1. Transformation. Transformation from a traditional model of a museum, as a place for storing, researching and exhibiting art collections, to developing a new image of “cultural and educational universe”. The museum becomes a center of public life, a part of the system of cultural tourism, actively uses its resources and opportunities in social media, contributes to the development of the territory and raising the living standards of local communities.

2. Project development. The museum keeps track of social and cultural needs, successfully masters innovative forms of work to become up-to-date and popular among visitors. Project management enables the museum to implement creative and innovative projects, set up partnerships and attract alternative resources (grant contest of museums’ projects).

3. Personnel. Expertise and competence of museum staff play an important role in achieving goals, set by the museum. Key competencies and skills of museum staff should guarantee future positive changes in museology (travel grants contest).

External reasons for project’s initiation

The program was meant to become an additional tool to support regional museums to raise their social status, expand their cultural and educational capacities and motivate them to search for new forms of social and cultural performance at the times of global changes.

Internal reasons for project’s initiation

Russian North is the homeland of “Severstal” company. The majority of company’s enterprises and personnel are located there. A great variety of the historical and cultural heritage is an important resource for social and economic development of the Russian North. Being part of the social and economic landscape of the region, “Severstal” considers social investments into the Russian North an important element of its social responsibility, and invests its resources, technologies and expertise into the development of social and cultural assets of this area. “Russian North Museums” program and grant contest, aimed at supporting and developing Russian culture, one of the key priorities of “Severstal” charitable program.

Project description

From 2015 to 2018 part of the “Russian North Museums” program was aimed at supporting museums’ initiatives in cultural tourism and developing tourist resources of Russian north regions. Major focus of a series of special events was discussing a practice of effective cooperation between regional museums, tourist business and local authorities. Research and promotion of historical and cultural phenomenon of the Russian North, support to museums’ best initiatives and increase of professional expertise of museums staff are key elements of the “Russian North Museums” program 2019.  

Program’s structural blocks:

1. Travel grants contest is aimed at financing business trips of museum staff to various forums, conferences, round-tables, seminars, and other professional events, held at the RF territory. Since 2017 the program has been supporting museum staff trips to participate in professional trainings and career development courses.

Within the Travel grants contest, in 2017 and 2018, 20 museum employees from the Republic of Karelia, Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions completed courses of additional professional education “Specialist for rehabilitation of disabled persons by means of museum specimen and accessible environment in museums” at the Institute of professional rehabilitation and education of personnel of the All-Russia Association of the Blind “Reacomp” (Moscow).

Total grant funding amounted to 1 200 000 RUB. Maximum amount per person within a grant was – 30 000 RUB.

• Creative Laboratories.

In 2016 the “Russian North Museums” program continued the expert dialogue on the museum’s role in the system of tourism. Two interregional laboratories hosted over 100 representatives of museums, tourist business and local authorities of the Republics of Komi, Karelia and Vologda and Murmansk regions.

As a result, during three-day trainings laboratories’ participants developed and presented the ideas of inter-museums cultural and educational routes. Authors of two routes from the Republics of Komi were invited to present their project at the annual round-table “Museums and the Problems of Cultural Tourism” held at the Hermitage Museum. A number of presented routes were implemented by regional tour operators.

Since 2017 mobile creative laboratory “Made in Museum” has been a part of the grant contest of museum projects and closed its first stage. Projects, not selected to participate in the laboratory, can be amended by applicants based on experts’ comments and submitted at the second stage of the grant contest. The laboratory is aimed at raising the quality of project management by museum employees, sharing the expertise and new technologies, analyzing best practices of social and cultural projects’ implementation by museums.

The training is free-of-charge.

• Open grant contest of museums’ projects.

This is the core element of the grant program. The contest has been run since 2007 and is aimed at identifying and supporting museums’ best cultural initiatives, including in tourism, as well as determining social and cultural resources and opportunities of the northern territories

In 2019 the contest was held in five nominations: “Research”, “Collection”, “Communities”, “Tradition” and “Tourism” (special grant from “TUI Russia”).

Total grant funding amounted to 2000 000 RUB. Maximum grant amount per application was – 500 000 RUB.

Expertise of documents, submitted by grant contests participants, winners’ selection and final decision on grant amount are made by the Expert Committee of the “Russian North Museums” program. The Expert Committee members are appointed by the program’s operator and approved by “Severstal”. The Supervisory Board provides consultations on participation in the grant contest, approves voting results of selecting the winners. The Supervisory Board includes heads of social and cultural departments of local administrations and is approved by “Severstal”.

Team and partners 

Team

Since 2016 Foundation of Support to Scientific, Educational and Cultural Initiatives “Traektoria” has been the program’s operator.  

Natalia Poppel, Head of CSR and Brans Division of “Severstal”

• Zakhar Azarov, Senior Manager of CSR and Brans Division of “Severstal”
• Tatiana Bolshova, Lawyer, Co-founder of the Foundation
• Anna Radinskaya, Supervisor of “Russian North Museums” program
• Irina Frolova, Expert of the “Russian North Museums” program
• Tamara Slavinskaya, Event Manager
• Natalia Shustova, Chief Accountant
• Expert group on museum social and cultural projects management

Partners

• Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Karelia
• Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Archiving of the Republic of Komi
• Department of Culture and Tourism of Vologda region
• Ministry of Industrial and Entrepreneurship Development of Murmansk region
• Art and Culture Committee of Murmansk region
• Association of Tourist Agencies of Russia
• Company “TUI Russia” (part of “Severgroup”)
• Company “Sveza” (part of “Severgroup”)
• Agency of Social Information
• Social portal “I am Human”
• Information portal “Russian Museums”
• Magazine “The World of Museum”
• Information and analytical portal “Industry and the Society”
• Information agency “Severinform”
• Media Center Vologda
• Portal on Vologra region culture “Cultinfo”
• Information agency “Komiinform”
• Internet magazine “The Sphere of Culture”

Resources

Financial resources

Total program’s budget is 8 000 000 RUB.

Human resources

To implement the program the Foundation engages experts from various fields: museology, marketing, social and cultural project management, tourism, etc. The Expert Committee consists of 9 people, the Supervisory Board includes 4 representatives of regional administrations of the Republics of Komi and Karrelia, Vologda and Murmansk regions. The project team consists of 7 people, including 2 representatives of “Severstal”.

Technological and material resources

Achieved results

Immediate results:

354 projects were submitted for the contest from 2007 to 2018 period. 51 projects were financially supported with the total budget amounting to about 24 mln. RUB.

484 projects received financing from 2015 to 2018 within the travel grants contest with the total budget amounting to over 4 mln. RUB.

During the period from 2015 to 2018, over 180 people took part in the events within the program’s educational block (Museum Forum, Creative Laboratories).  

Social results:

Museums become drivers of territories’ development, including in tourism, initiating projects in partnerships with local communities, local administrations, small and medium business.

Museums bring up-to-date their expositions, based on modern technologies.  

New projects are developed, catering to the needs of different target audiences, including people with disabilities. 

Museums become cultural centers, enabling various target audiences to enjoy them.  

Social impact:

Local communities get engaged into cultural activities, take part in various educational and other events.

The program contributes to easing social tension in the society, creating new employment opportunities, raising the living standards of local communities, developing active life stand of the youths.

Internal project assessment:

Transformation is required to raise program’s efficiency in the conditions of the “fast-paced world”.

External project assessment:

In 2014 “Severstal” engaged Donors’ Forum to perform an external independent assessment of the “Russian North Museums” program. As a result, in 2015 the company presented an updated structure, which included a contest, providing finance to cover professional trips of museum staff, interregional forum, dedicated to challenges and perspectives of integrating Russian North museums into the tourist industry, and a grant contest of museum and tourist projects.  

Project’s distinctive features and know – how

Free-of-charge trainings by highly professional experts in museology, social and cultural project management, tourism and culture management, together with like-minded professionals, provide great opportunities for the development of new competencies and career, contribute to scaling up performance and forming a new responsible attitude to work.

Contribution to preservation and development of historical and cultural heritage of the 12 regions of the Russian North.

Contribution to the development of regional museums with focus on modern trends.

Development of professional skills of museum staff with focus on modern projects.

Contribution to the development of cultural and other types of tourism in Russia.

Development of management skills of cultural institutions’ management.

Challenges and solutions

New technologies create both new risks and new opportunities to raise programs’ efficiency.

Digital economy drives changes into museums’ functions and visitors’ needs.

There is a need for a more professional education for museums’ staff.

Development of media resources and various communication tools is important for communication with the target audience within the program.

Development of professional museum community “Russian North Museums”.

Plans of further development   

Raise program’s efficiency, based on the results of analyses of museums’, as well as cultural, educational and tourist needs.

Transform the program with focus on digitalization and individual approach.

Intensify engagement and development of young specialists.

Add nominations within sustainable development, environmental and demographic targets.

Project’s documents

• Grant Contest Regulations on trips for participation in professional events (including application form) 2019.
• X Open Grant Contest Regulations “Russian North Museums” (including application forms for the I and II stages of the program), 2019.