On October 30, the Russian Geographical Society will hold the Geographical Dictation for the eighth time. This year the motto of the educational campaign is "My land. My country. My discoveries."
The jury of the contest "Come up with a Slogan for the Geographical Dictation – 2022" received about 500 ideas from 175 participants from Russia and foreign countries. Each of the proposed slogans played on the connection of geography, Russia, the world, and travel. As a result, Alexandra Sapozhnikova from the city of Turinsk, Sverdlovsk Region, became the winner of the competition. The second place was shared between Ekaterina Sitnikova from Voronezh and Kirill Serebryakov from St. Petersburg.
Ekaterina Sitnikova came up with the slogan "Knowledge of geography is the beginning of a great journey!", and Kirill Serebryakov from St. Petersburg proposed an option with historical and geographical overtones: "With interest in the world, with love for the Motherland!"
Both runner-ups note the role of school education in awakening interest in geographical science and, as a result, in the projects of the Russian Geographical Society. According to Kirill Serebryakov, geography fits very well into the system of sciences, from where you can get answers to various questions.
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In the slogan "Knowledge of geography is the beginning of a great journey!" Ekaterina sought to show the breadth of the concept of "geography". It is the generalized perception of geography that the runner-up of the competition sees as the basis for learning new things. The author of the second slogan reveals two aspects in it at once. First, a true lover of geography is a person open to the world, since the first interest in geography comes with the first interest in the world as a whole. Secondly, such a person grows up and socializes in a certain country. And this experience of personal development forms in them the most important life values, including love for their Motherland.
Speaking about personal geographical discoveries, Ekaterina and Kirill also agree that, first of all, you need to explore your hometown. After all, it often turns out that people practically do not know the history and geography of their small homeland. Ekaterina loves walking around her native Voronezh, where a monument to the famous Russian soil scientist Konstantin Dmitrievich Glinka was first erected.
“Everyone knows Divnogorye – a unique place with limestone outcrops, a temple, and underground passages in the chalk rock. There are the same passages in Belogorye, only much longer! It is interesting that in addition to white chalk there is also completely black earth in our region. In the village of Panino, a monument to chernozem was erected. It was from the Panino District that a piece of earth was taken and declared the gold standard of Russian black soil at the World Exhibition in Paris,” Ekaterina Sitnikova shares the history of her native land.
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Recognizing the importance of knowing the native land, Kirill Serebryakov thinks big. As a professional political scientist, he sees how politics and geography always influence each other:
“For example, turning to geography in the form of a description of the Steppe phenomenon in the works of Russian historians helped shed light not only on the migration flows of many peoples, but also determined the processes of political decisions being made.”
The winners will receive commemorative gifts with the symbols of the Russian Geographical Society. Also, Kirill Serebryakov was invited to the Geographical Dictation at the headquarters of the Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg, and Ekaterina Sitnikova to the Russian State Library.
Ekaterina Maksimova