During the meeting of the Coordinating Committee for UNESCO Chairs in Kazan, two Russian universities received tentative approval for establishment of such departments.
On April 6, Kazan hosted a meeting of the Coordinating Committee for UNESCO Chairs chaired by the Secretary-General of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO. The attendees considered applications from Russian universities for the creation of UNESCO Chairs. The applicants included the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, the Tomsk State University, the Khanty-Mansiysk State University, the Kursk State Medical University, the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, MIREA — Russian Technological University. Each university presented their applications for the creation of UNESCO Chairs, focusing on the alignment of the chosen topics with the priorities of the organization.
Members of the Coordinating Committee discussed all applications, made suggestions and comments, and noted the benefits of each of the submitted projects. Following consultations with experts, it was decided to forward applications to UNESCO headquarters for the creation of UNESCO Chairs at the Khanty-Mansiysk State University and the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
UNESCO Chairs are a crucial element of the Global Plan of Inter-University Cooperation and Academic Mobility adopted at the 26th session of the UNESCO General Conference in 1991. There are currently 67 UNESCO Chairs operating in Russian colleges and universities.
Russia hosts 67 UNESCO Chairs. Among them, 22 are in the field of education, 20 work in natural sciences, 17 represent social sciences, 5 focus on culture, and 3 conduct research in IT and communications. The Russian network of UNESCO Chairs is expanding each year by including new universities.