Bringing Latin America Closer: Talking Public Diplomacy in Volgograd 💬🤝 🌏 Maria Prokofieva, Director of the Center for International Interaction and Cooperation (CIIC), took part in the School on Latin America, currently taking place in Volgograd. The School is organized by our friends at the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund together with the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ILA RAS) and the Center for Public Diplomacy of Volgograd State University. This year, the programme has brought together more than 30 students and young professionals to discuss the future of Russia–Latin America relations and develop their own project ideas. Maria spoke at the workshop “Bringing Latin America Closer: How Public Diplomacy Is Transforming Relations with Russia.” The discussion focused on formats that help build lasting ties between people and organizations: youth and expert exchanges, educational programmes, joint research, internships, volunteer initiatives, and humanitarian projects. Drawing on CIIC’s projects, Maria shared our approach to this work. For us, participation in an international programme should not end when the final session is over. A strong project should give participants a clear next step — a new professional contact, a joint publication, an internship, a research project, or an initiative of their own. The discussion also addressed some very practical questions: how to reach beyond the same familiar audiences, overcome language and logistical barriers, and, most importantly, maintain connections between participants after a project has ended. 😌 Many thanks to our colleagues at the Gorchakov Fund for the invitation and for creating a space where Russia–Latin America cooperation is discussed not only in terms of major international trends, but also through concrete projects that can be launched today. ¡Gracias, Volgograd! 🇷🇺✨