The official opening of the Caspian Media Forum-2021 will take place tomorrow, on September 10. The main venue for the event will be the Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theater. The opening ceremony will be attended by the Governor of the Astrakhan region Igor Babushkin.

Representatives of all Caspian countries, which are actively participating in the formation of the media sphere of their regions, will gather on one platform for an effective dialogue. The Media Forum has become a platform for exchange of experience in the journalistic environment for the 6th time. It helps in creating a unified information field for the Caspian countries.

Astrakhan is traditionally the venue for such a large-scale event, since it is the business and political center of Russia on the Caspian Sea. In addition, the region has historically been a place of intersection of the leading trade and transport routes between the Caspian states. Current projects dedicated to information, cultural and scientific cooperation of the Caspian countries are also being implemented here.

A delegation from Azerbaijan has already arrived in Astrakhan. The participants laid flowers at the monument to the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev.

Gulnara Mammadzade, Deputy Director General of the Azerbaijani Trend News Agency and Head of the Caspian Expert Club, called the forum a significant event for the media of the Caspian states.

“The Caspian Media Forum is a serious, fundamental platform for establishing professional communications, defining approaches for journalists and experts. Together with our colleagues, we will look for answers to questions about how to further develop mass media, build communications, respond to the processes that are developing in the modern world, and many others,” she said.

The expert considers the agenda of the upcoming forum for the Caspian region urgent. In her opinion, it is especially important to understand the challenges and risks faced by the Caspian ecosystem and respond to them correctly. The topic of digital transformation is no less relevant.

On September 10, the forum participants will have three discussion panels at once: "Travel journalism in the digital age", "Check-in in the cultural media space" and "Educational media projects in the new information communications system". The plenary session will be devoted to the topic of tourism and ethno-cultural communication in the media sphere. At the end of the day, guests will discuss the development of the digital ecosystem on an open dialogue platform.

Also, the results of the competition for the best journalistic work "Caspian without Borders" will be announced within the framework of the Vi Caspian Media Forum.

Various events held by the Rossotrudnichestvo youth program "New Generation" and a meeting of the Caspian School of Volunteering have started today as part of the Media Forum. An intensive training course "How to work effectively with a media product in a digital environment" is being held on the basis of Astrakhan State University. Young activists, volunteers and journalists get acquainted with useful tools for organizing work, learn to analyze the competitive field, and also study approaches to content planning.

The meeting of the Caspian School of Volunteering "Meridians of Goodwill" is also taking place. Participants from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia came to the major international event. They take part in panel discussions “Best Practices and Approaches in Working with Eco-Volunteering Today” and “Overcoming Key Barriers to Environmental Volunteering”.