The 7th Annual Readings in Local History took place in Toksovo, a town in the Karelian peninsula in the vicinity of St.Petersburg, Russia, earlier this year. The Readings are an event which is organized and conducted independently, by a group of local historians, writers and educators, based at the facilities of the local secondary education centre, under the auspices of our UNESCO Chair in Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, their Specific Cultures and Interreligious Dialogue (St.Petersburg-Moscow). The main reason for our collaboration is conditioned by the fact that the local population consists of two large ethnic groups, namely, Russians and Finns, which makes both UNESCO strategy of intercultural/interfaith dialogue, and practices of rapprochement, elaborated in its framework, most useful here. Proceedings of the 2021 Readings were published a couple of days ago under the auspices of our UNESCO Chair. They were dedicated to the 70th anniversary of a local poet, Anatoly Ivanen, who died several years ago. Ivanen had both Finnish and German roots and grew into a prominent Russian poet. The Readings provided ample possibilities for us to discuss links existing between tradition and innovation, creativity and cultural diversity.
Read more about the Readings on the website of the UNESCO Chair in Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, their Specific Cultures and Interreligious Dialogue