I. Conference of Noncommercial Organizations in Voronezh
II."Greens" of St. Petersburg Unite
IV. A Library Has Been Opened at the Andrei Sakharov Peace, Progress and Human Rights Center
I. Conference of Noncommercial Organizations in Voronezh
"Noncommercial Organizations and Business Work Together"--a two-day conference by this name took place in Voronezh on December 13-14. The Voronezh office of Body of Peace ["Korpus mira"] and the regional foundation Lawyers in Defense of Glasnost ["Iuristy v zashchitu glasnosti"] organized the conference, in which representatives of 60 noncommercial organizations of the city working in various areas took part.
The following topics were considered at the conference: legislation in the area of charitable activity, features of the women�s movement, the activity of organizations of persons with disabilities, the gathering of resources for noncommercial projects, grant application writing, financing NCOs, creating coalitions at the local level, and informational support including local sources of electronic information.
Liudmila Slavina (Deloitte & Touche BSC, Voronezh) conducted a seminar on the principles of grant application writing, and Galina Chernykh from "New Union" (the Voronezh chapter of Opportunities International) gave a review of the condition of the local noncommercial sector and discussed ways in which her organization can provide assistance to small business.
Alla Tolmasova of Charities Aid Foundation, Svetlana Aivazova of the Consortium of Women�s Organizations [Konsortium zhenskikh organizatsii], and Alexander Borovykh of World Learning, representatives of organizations from Moscow, also took part in the conference.
Body of Peace volunteers Jennifer O�Shi of Riazan� and Laura Takaks of Nizhnii Novgorod provided essential assistance in running the conference and shared their experiences in their cities.
The Voronezh organizations "Sunday School" [Voskresnaia shkola] and Moscow�s "Operation Smile"[Operatsiia Ulybka] opened an exhibit of children�s art at the conference.
The chief result of the conference was that noncommercial organizations of Voronezh were able to get to know each other and to exchange experiences. They decided to meet monthly in the future.
II. "Greens" of St. Petersburg Unite
The "Greens" of St. Petersburg have, at last, been able to overcome their differences and unite their forces in the struggle to preserve the environment. On the initiative of the Green Party of Petersburg, "Biocenter," the conservation department of the Russian Geographic Society (RGS), and the International Graduate Students, Students and Pupils Club of the Baltiisko-Ladozhskogo Region [Mezhdunarodnyi klub aspirantov, studentov, i shkol�nikov Baltiisko-Ladozhskogo regiona] the decision was made to create a Unified Council of social environmental organizations in the city.
A conference took place on December 24 at the RGS in which representatives of 46 social environmental organizations of St. Petersburg, which is to say practically the entire "Green" movement in the city, took part. The conference participants outlined the fundamental direction of the council�s work, namely, the coordination of the work of social environmental organizations, cooperation with the [city] administration, and the search for resources. A working group was formed to develop a charter and other foundational documents for the council. It was decided to rotate the leadership every two months.
Contact telephone: (812) 298-2832 (Evgenii Popov of Biocenter).
III. A Round Table on "Developing Volunteer Initiatives in the City" Was Held on December 20 in Novosibirsk
The Novosibirsk Civic Charitable Society for Aid to the Needy [Novosibirskoe gorodskoe blagotvoritel�noe obshchestvo pomoshchi nuzhdaiushchimsia], as part of a pilot project of the Siberian Social Initiative Support Center [Sibirskii tsentr podderzhki obshchestvennykh initsiativ], organized the round table. This project aims to create and finance an Agency for Volunteer Aid [Agentsvo dobrovol�noi pomoshchi].
The round table included an exchange of opinions and experiences. In addition it was proposed to begin development of a common strategy for attracting pupils and students to volunteer activity.
Contact telephone: 383-2- 464532/ 465477 [email protected]
IV. A Library Has Been Opened at the Andrei Sakharov Peace, Progress and Human Rights Center
The chief aim of the work of [this] museum and center is to assist in the development of civil society in Russia. The permanent exhibitions include "The Totalitarian Past," "Conditions of Peace--Contemporary Issues in Russia," and "The Life and Work of A. D. Sakharov."
The guiding principle of the work of the new library is to provide open and accessible information at no cost.
The library�s collection is made up of publications on the culture and history of Russia as well as on contemporary civil society and of unique reference materials in Russian on the work of noncommercial organizations and on social management and marketing.
The library has a rich documentary collection. A special section consists of "samizdat" literature and literature not submitted to the censors.
A reading room is now open in the library. Subscription services are planned in the future.
The library is ready for readers and is prepared to provide assistance.
The address of the museum and the Andrei Sakharov Peace, Progress, and Human Rights Center [obshchestvenii tsentr "Mir, progress, prava cheloveka" im. Andreia Sakharova] is ul. Zemlianoi val, d. 57, str. 6.
Contact telephone: 917-2653
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