Samuel Passow, the Director of the Negotiation Lab gave a lecture on "Negotiating Change in a Civil Society" to a Young Russian Leadership Program organized by the Moscow School of Civic Education. Over 150 delegates from all over Russia, and several neighboring countries from the former Soviet Union, took part in the five-day Federal Seminar entitled "Law, Politics, Economy and Mass Media" at Zelenogorsk, near St. Petersburg, April 3-7, 2012.
The MSCE, formerly known as the Moscow School of Political Studies (MSPS) was created in 1992 to promote such values and concepts as democracy, respect for human rights, rule of law, civil society, among an emerging political and public elite in a country in the early stages of transition from communism to democracy.
The School pursues this goal through a yearly series of seminars, a publication program, a website, and an alumni association. It seeks to stimulate discussion and reflection on these topics among its target audience of young political and public leaders from Russia’s regions.
The core activity of the School, its seminars, are carefully designed to achieve a synergy between a young and talented group of participants and top Russian and foreign experts, and ensure the formation of strong networks among participants. The School has designed other activities, including its publication program, website, and Alumni Association, to provide its participants and alumni with further information on the concepts it promotes and to support networking. Both the forum for discussion and horizontal networks provided for by the design of the School appear unique in Russia today.