FYI--The Znanie.Prize

Last year’s display.

I’ve reported before about the Znanie Society, znanie meaning knowledge in Russian. The Prize or Award is a competition, one of many that happen annually not just within Russia since foreign participants are encouraged to participate, that began in 2021. Before I proceed further, I’ll provide the MFA’s announcement made at today’s weekly briefing:

During our briefings, we talk a lot about cultural diplomacy on a national scale, about how we are fighting the "cancel culture" actively practiced by the "collective West." One of the projects that helps us counter the disinformation of pro-Western media is the Znanie.Prize initiative of the Russian society "Znanie". It was established to recognize the merits of teachers, lecturers, authors in the field of education, popularizers of science, as well as to celebrate various educational projects.

The competition, first held in 2021, is gaining momentum every year. Over three seasons, the project has collected over 27 thousand applications from 89 regions of Russia and 34 foreign countries. Applicants for the award need to go through several stages of selection and receive high marks from experts.

An important part of the project is the nomination "Foreign Educator of the Year", in which citizens of other countries participate, regardless of their place of residence. It is aimed at recognizing those who actively contribute to the fight against the falsification of historical facts about Russia, popularize Russian culture and science, and also talk about new opportunities and prospects in our country. This year, applications have already been received from representatives of the United States, European countries, and other non-CIS countries.

Last season, the award was received by French independent journalist A. Bocquet, now a Russian citizen, who has been covering the hostilities in Donbass for a Western audience for two years now. For the truth about the crimes of the militants of the Kiev regime, he was prosecuted in France and almost died during an assassination attempt on him.

Applications for the Znanie.Award competition are open until September 30. Everyone who strives for justice and wants to benefit their countries can participate in this important and interesting educational project.

The application to participate is located with the “prize” above while the other link goes to its main website. Since most readers are aware of my educator background, I was both pleased and very surprised to learn about Znanie and the mission given it after its rebirth by a Putin ukase in 2015 after it had dissolved itself. What follows is the self-reported history from its website:

History and Modernity

The year is 1947.

As early as 1863, the Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography was established at Moscow University, and in 1947 the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge was established, which, together with scientists, included cultural figures, doctors, teachers, engineers and other representatives of the intelligentsia.

The history of the Society began with the fact that on May 1, 1947, the central newspapers of the USSR published the "Appeal to all scientists, writers and artists, scientists, public and other organizations and institutions of the Soviet Union", signed by the President of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov, prominent scientists, public figures and artists of the country. The authors called on the intelligentsia of the Soviet Union to create an All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge.

On July 7, 1947, the General Meeting of the All-Union Society members was held at the Bolshoi Theater, which was attended by representatives from all over the vast country. The meeting determined the fundamental principles of the organization's activities: approved the Charter; formed the Board of the organization; determined the tasks and membership in the Society; its structure and financial foundations of activity.

The first article of the Charter determined: "The All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge is a voluntary public political and educational organization and has as its goal the dissemination of political and scientific knowledge among the population of the country."

From the very beginning of its activity, the largest all-Union educational network mass organization (5 million members of the Society) has become a significant factor in public activity in the country. The main provision of the Charter defined the Society as a political and educational organization. During this period, his activities were aimed at supporting the post-war reconstruction of the country. At the same time, in these years, the popularization of the achievements of natural sciences began to unfold actively: physics, astronomy, chemistry, Earth sciences, etc.

1955–1975.

The new version of the Charter of the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge, adopted in 1955, proclaims as its first paragraph: "The Society is a voluntary public scientific and educational organization. It aims to contribute to the strengthening of the state by widely disseminating political and scientific knowledge among the population on the following issues: (a list of 25 thematic areas is given - foreign and domestic policy, all branches of science, activities in the field of culture, ending with sports also the dissemination of best practices)." In 1956, the Znanie Society of the RSFSR was separated from the All-Union Society on the rights of conditional autonomy (other republican organizations had been operating since the establishment of the Society in 1947).

The "thaw period" in the life of the country and the Society is characterized by revival and enthusiasm – the ranks of the Society grow due to the formation of groups of its members in production collectives. By 1964, there were already about 90 thousand such groups.

Since 1963, the organization has been called: All-Union Society "Znanie". The Charter was adopted, which provides for the presence of primary organizations as the basis for its structure. The Polytechnic Museum began to play a special role as a scientific, methodological and educational center of the Society. Its halls host exhibitions and meetings dedicated to achievements and best practices.

In the Great Auditorium of the Polytechnic, outstanding domestic and foreign scientists spoke, which became "the nest of the thaw poets of the sixties".

The Znanie Society actively participated in all socio-political and state actions and campaigns, carried out extensive educational work in the field of scientific and technological progress, space, nuclear and other high-tech industries. By the 30th anniversary, the Znanie Society was awarded the highest state award - the Order of Lenin.

The All-Union Society "Znanie" was the world's largest public humanitarian organization, which, according to the Charter, had a clear organizational management and hierarchy.

The authority and ability of the Znanie Society and all its structures to organize mass educational work among all segments of the population, primarily young people, were especially clearly manifested.

1975–1991.

Thousands of the most talented, bright and authoritative scientists, artists and cultural figures, military leaders, administrators, writers, film directors, managers, and outstanding athletes were involved in the scientific and methodological management of the organization and practical organizational work with the population. In the USSR, they gave almost 20 million lectures a year. Meetings with young people were interesting and meaningful.

The organization was headed by: academicians S.I. Vavilov, A.I. Oparin, M.B. Mitin, Nobel laureates - academicians N.G. Basov, N.N. Semyonov, famous designers - academicians K.V. Frolov, V.A. Kirillin, I.I. Artobolevsky, I.F. Obraztsov, S.N. Bagaev and G.I. Marchuk, as well as authoritative state and public figures such as O.N. Smolin, L.I. Shvetsova, N.I. Bulaev. The Znanie Society of Russia united the flower of the domestic intelligentsia. The organization numbered about 2.5 million people, who not only carried out specific educational work, but also took an active life position.

This period is considered to be "stagnation". However, at the same time, the main achievements of the organization — the apogee of quantitative and qualitative indicators — were noted in 1987, when a new version of the Company's Charter was adopted. Unfortunately, he unnecessarily politicized the activities of the organization. The thematic structure of enlightenment included the following sections: socio-political; scientific and technical and natural science. Much attention is paid to the first of them.

It should be noted that over the past forty years, the lecture form of enlightenment, as a basic one, begins to lag behind the times. The increased cultural and educational level of the population, a wide range of media services required a deep modernization of the Society's activities, for which it was not ready.

The inertia of the thinking of the party curators of the Society restrained its development, directing the movement along the well-trodden track. The basic statutory prescription to the Society is gradually losing its expediency. The attitudes and guidelines given to the Society do not stand the test of the social and life experience of citizens. Under these conditions, the content and meaning of enlightenment began to be replaced by the cult of ceremonial rituals and protocol forms of its implementation.

The main provisions of the subsequent version of the Charter, registered on February 25, 1991 less than a year before the actual termination of the activities of the All-Union Society "Znanie", are formulated accordingly.

Nevertheless, during the "stagnation" period, work was underway to support continuing education, to promote the professional growth of interested groups of the population, to master the knowledge they needed from related scientific fields. The Society helped a mass of specialists to master the ideology of "computer technology and its application". The first computer club was opened at the All-Union Society "Znanie" in the Polytechnic Museum.

Looking ahead, it is appropriate to note that it was these areas that helped the organization, primarily its regional branches, which received full legal and financial independence, to adapt to the turbulent 90s and survive in the conditions of a spontaneous market and structural turmoil. A worthy role in this activity was played by people's universities, which allowed specialists to replenish and update their intellectual and professional baggage.

This time was marked by the active development of international contacts, for example, with educational organizations of the Federal Republic of Germany (Federal Republic of Germany), which contributed to the computerization of enlightenment and the system of educational structures and institutes under the Znanie Society of Russia.

The role of the Academy of Sciences in the life of the Society is invaluable. The traditions laid down by Academician Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov continued to be preserved until the very end of the activities of the All-Union Society "Znanie". The Society also closely cooperated with the Academy of Medical Sciences, popularizing medical knowledge and a healthy lifestyle, with the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences on the problems of raising children and family building, the Academy of Arts and other scientific and professional institutions. Popular events were meetings of leading scientists and cultural figures with the general public in the Great Auditorium of the Polytechnic Museum and the House of Scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the cycle "Tribune of the Academy of Sciences", etc.

Unfortunately, the Znanie Society of Russia, for a number of reasons, including the problems of reforming the Russian Academy of Sciences and the internal instability of the organization itself, has not been able to properly continue many of these traditions.

1991–2014.

In November 1991, the X Congress of the All-Union Society "Znanie" was held, which actually completed the historical path of this unique educational organization.

The collapse of the USSR, the geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century, left no prospects for the future life of the largest and most effective educational public mass association in history. The legal successors of the All-Union Society "Znanie" were the subjects of the republican organizations of the Society "Znanie"; on the territory of the Russian Federation — the Znanie Society of Russia.

A number of leaders and activists made attempts and concrete steps to transform the all-Union organization into an international association - in the form of an International Association or another form for the consolidation of the movement. However, as time has shown, these attempts did not have much success. The inertial development, formalization, and bureaucratization that had been accumulating since the mid-1980s, as well as the egoism of the national elites and their desire for self-isolation—all that led to the phenomena of stagnation and degradation—became an obstacle to constructive interaction. The discord of all state systems and structures could not but affect the life of the Russian public association: the schemes, methods, business connections and contacts that had been formed for decades were collapsing; most of the considerable property of the organization was lost, including the objects received from the All-Union Society "Znanie".

However, the most significant loss is the degradation of the individual and collective membership base, groups in labor collectives, organizational structures in small and medium-sized cities, municipalities, without which it is impossible to ensure mass educational work with the population in a huge country. All these years, the organization lived in a state of deep crisis and struggle for survival.

It should be noted that the activists of the Znanie Society in Moscow, St. Petersburg, in many subjects of the Federation and regions carried out selfless work to preserve the structural structure of the organization, ensuring its functioning as an all-Russian organization. It is important to emphasize that for a quarter of a century, the public organization "Znanie" Society has been working in difficult conditions, mastering modern educational information and distance technologies, overcoming the inertia and misunderstanding of some officials, as well as the growing barriers of semi-market financing and resource schemes.

2014–2016.

These are the years of critical and constructive analysis of the state of the organization, consolidation of the activists around the ideas of reviving Russia and strengthening its sovereignty. The basic positions and content of the mission of enlightenment in modern Russia are being formed in order to substantiate the need to move to a qualitatively new level of its systematic, organizational and methodological development.

New forms and methods of education are used using modern information technologies, the search for sustainable sources of financing in the changed economic conditions, the participation of organizations and structures of the Company in the implementation of grant projects under the programs of the President of the country and regional authorities.

However, the traditional forms, methods and basic technologies of the regional and central structures of the organization, which had been formed over decades, increasingly lagged behind the processes taking place in the country in the socio-economic, socio-political and legal spheres.

The Znanie Society of Russia, for many reasons, mainly subjective, has lost the bulk of its intellectual and material and technological property. This was the main reason for the slowdown in the necessary modernization of the technological base and personnel system.

Obvious contradictions grew, and in June 2016, the XVII Congress almost unanimously adopted a difficult but justified decision to self-liquidate the largest educational organization.

The Znanie Society of Russia has made a worthy contribution to the history of national enlightenment and its merits to our country and the multinational people, despite all the shortcomings of the recent period, are great and indisputable.

Year 2016.

The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of 11.12.2015 No 617 defines the main conditions, forms and mechanisms for creating a mass educational organization of a modern level in the country, as well as, which is fundamental, the sources and procedure for its financing and resource provision.

It is obvious that there is a lot of work to be done on the organizational and structural construction of the new organization, its personnel, highly professional, methodological and technical support. The organization being created is an association of a new type in terms of organizational, legal, information technology, regional structure and development.

The organization is designed to become a center for the mass educational movement, generating innovative ideas.

Fundamental changes in the information space have radically transformed the opportunities, tasks and goals of enlightenment.

On 6-7 June 2016, the First Congress of the Russian Society "Znanie" was held at VDNH, where Lyubov Dukhanina, head of the working group "Education and Culture as the Foundations of National Identity", member of the All-Russia People's Front Central Headquarters, deputy of the State Duma, was elected Chairman.

Yes, many a phoenix was resurrected by Team Putin, including the venue VDNH where Znanie’s initial resurrection conference was held. Here’s what it does:

The Russian society "Znanie" is a public non-profit organization that carries out educational work in the regions, the formation of intellectual content, the organization and conduct of free lectures, as well as various events in the field of education, social support and social protection of students and pupils of educational institutions and the elderly. Today it is an organization that unites tens of thousands of representatives of the Russian intelligentsia.

Regional branches of the Znanie Society operate in 89 constituent entities of the Russian Federation - republics, territories and regions.

The main goals of the Company:

• Popularization of science, introduction of innovations in the educational process

• Informing citizens about achievements in science in an accessible language

• Support for teachers and students

• Promoting the adaptation of elderly people to the modern information world

• Financing of promising educational projects

• Education of patriotism in the younger generation, promotion of a healthy lifestyle

• Preservation of historical and natural monuments

• Strengthening interethnic unity, combating pseudoscience and falsification of history

One could say that Znanie is an ongoing national project and works with all its kindred associations to promote and present the above. Its presence at the recent World Youth Festival was very notable. But back to the prize.

I see no reason why I shouldn’t enter this competition since what the Gym does is to educate along with providing a platform for discussion on the topics covered which are primarily geopolitics with a specific concentration on Russia since so few have access to reliable information about Russia, its government’s policies and operations, as well as primary documents vital to understanding global events. I would also suggest other substack writers doing similar work consider applying. And since half of my readers are from the Global Majority, I’d imagine you also share what you learn within your communities. An even better suggestion is for readers to consider forming your own versions of Znanie—Knowledge—Society as we all know that knowledge is power and can become wisdom when applied properly.

*
*
*
Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a monthly/yearly pledge to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!