Reference
The state programme maps out the development of culture and tourism in Russia until 2020 and outlines a series of initiatives and public policy instruments aimed at achieving public policy targets with regard to culture and tourism as part of a general effort to implement key government functions.
The Ministry of Culture is responsible for implementing the state programme, the Federal Agency for Tourism has been designated as its co-executor, and the state programme’s participants are the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Sport, the Federal Archive Agency, the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Media, the Federal Communications Agency, the Federal Agency for Rail Transport, the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport, the State Committee for Construction, Architecture and Housing Policy, the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, the State Hermitage Museum, the National Film Foundation, the Russian State Academic Bolshoi Theatre, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Education and the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The state programme comprises the following sub-programmes: Heritage, Art, Tourism and Creating an Environment Conducive to the Implementation of the State Programme. The Federal Targeted Programmes Culture of Russia (2012-2018) and Developing Domestic and Inbound Tourism in Russia (2011-2018) have been integrated into the state programme.
The state programme is aimed at enhancing the strategic role of culture as a moral and spiritual foundation for personal development and social cohesion, and developing tourism in order to introduce Russians to the world’s cultural and environmental heritage.
The achievement of the aforementioned goals will involve delivering on three objectives:
- preserving cultural and historical heritage and ensuring that items of cultural value are accessible and that people are able to participate in cultural life, thereby unlocking the nation’s creativity;
- improving the quality and availability of services in domestic and international tourism;
- creating a favourable environment for the sustainable development of culture and tourism.
In accordance with the Strategy of Innovative Development of the Russian Federation until 2020, such initiatives as the renovation of the Polytechnical Museum in Moscow, construction of cultural development centres in smaller cities and creating websites for museums and libraries are expected to promote research and innovative activities and introduce school students to recent research and technological developments as part of the Heritage sub-programme.
The state programme covers the development of culture and tourism in Russia until 2020 and is divided into three stages:
- the first stage: 2013-2014;
- the second stage: 2015-2018;
- the third stage: 2019-2020.
The implementation of the state programme is expected to produce the following results:
- strengthening of Russia’s common cultural space and the spiritual unity of the Russian multiethnic population;
- a focus on the key role public cultural policy plays in nurturing a broad mindset, public consciousness, determining behavioural norms and bringing the nation together through civic patriotism and interethnic concord;
- the transition of the industry to an innovative development track, transforming culture and tourism into the most developed and attractive social activities, including by actively implementing IT solutions;
- an improvement in public governance and streamlined spending as a result of creating mechanisms to counter culture-related threats to national security by working together with professional art unions and civil society organisations;
- providing equal access to cultural heritage and art education for citizens of the Russian Federation regardless of their income levels, place of residence and social status;
- developing and implementing a series of initiatives to foster cultural development in smaller cities and villages, creating the relevant cultural environment for meeting growing individual and social demands, improving the quality, diversity and efficiency of cultural services and tourism;
- improving culture-related services and entertainment opportunities, strengthening the material and technical base of the industry, developing grass roots creativity;
- providing every citizen with access to national and international cultural heritage sites by creating public online libraries, and bringing museum and theatre resources online;
- substantially increasing social benefits for cultural workers, as well as the financial support of artistic groups and socially significant projects;
- increasing view of Russia as a country with a great culture and a vibrant and welcoming tourism industry.
The effectiveness of the state programme will be evaluated based on the following indicators:
- the number of visits to cultural institutions compared to 2010;
- the proportion of cultural heritage sites in satisfactory condition compared to the total number of federal, regional and municipal cultural heritage sites;
- the increase in the number of cultural and educational initiatives held by cultural institutions in educational facilities compared to 2012;
- the increase in the number of laureates in international culture-related contests and festivals compared to 2012;
- the increase in the number of people accommodated in hotels and guest houses compared to 2012.
In accordance with the directive, the Ministry of Culture, in cooperation with the Federal State Statistics Service, the Ministry of Economic Development and the federal executive bodies concerned, has been instructed to set up a system for monitoring performance (indicators) under the state programme which will require collecting official statistical data and amending the Federal Plan for Statistics.