building andits functions sincethe 1920s.Butat the time
of the Forumit wasunderrenovationandwasnot access-
ible.He furthersaidthatoverthe years, the “sincerity and
servicescales”providedby the centres of publicservices
hadundergonea transformationandbecomemore pos-
itive.Otherfacilitiessuchas “HealthPavilions”, “My
SocialCentre” and“DigitalPalace”werealsohoused in
Soviet-erastructures.Thelatterfacility’swallsweread-
ornedwithcolourful engravingsof Lenin.Eventhe
centrethathostedthe Forum hadbeenin use during the
Sovietperiodanda massivestatueof Leninstoodon its
grounds.An businessman of Indian origin whohasbeen
livingin Russia forthepast30 years saidthatlarge
sectionsof thecurrentRussian leadership, including
PresidentVladimirPutin, do not believein blindrepudi-
ationof the gainsthatthe Soviet era brought to Russia.
“Putin’sfirm rejectionof callsto move Lenin’sem-
balmed bodyfromthemausoleumto a grave,asserting
thatsuchan act wouldbe tantamount to statingthatthe
Russianpeoplehadnot gained duringthe 70 yearsof the
SovietUnion, clearlypointsto thisperception,”he said.
Goingbeyond showcasingthenewinitiativesbased
on socialinnovationsandthehappiness project,the
Forumbecamea settingfor widespread interaction
acrossdifferentstreams of stakeholders.Theseincluded
drivers of governancesuchas seniorpoliticians andoffi-
cialssuchas Chairpersonof theFederationCouncilof
Russia ValentinaMatvienko;MoscowMayor Sergey
Sobyanin;Presidential Representativein theCentral
FederalDistrictSergeyShchegolev; StateDumaChair-
manVyacheslavVolodin;DeputyPrimeMinisterof the
RussianFederationfor Social PolicyMattersTatyana
Golikova;HealthMinisterof theRussianFederation
VeronikaSkvortsova;representativesfromacademia;
socialinnovators;non-statesocialserviceproviders;and
performers of sociallyusefulservices.
Theinteractionsat theForumhada goodturnout,
withwidespreadparticipationby volunteersassociated
withvarious “well-beingprojects”andmembers of the
public. AnastasiaRakova,oneof the key organisers of the
Forum, statedtheevent hadbeenthrownopento the
public for thefirst timeandthe responsewasoverwhelm-
ing.Anestimated35,000peopleparticipatedin the
event alongwith200 publicandpoliticalfigures and 24
leading expertsfromthe UnitedStates,France, the U.K.,
Germany,Sweden, Switzerland,Israel,the Netherlands,
Argentina, Greece, Denmark, Finland, Bhutan and
Azerbaijan.
Some65 sessions wereheldduringthe three daysof
the Forum. Theexpertsandacademicswhoparticipated
includedMichioKaku, the renownedtheoreticalphysi-
cistandfuturologist;JennLim,CEOof DeliveringHap-
piness; MelitaVuinovic,WorldHealthOrganisation
Representativein theRussianFederation;andNyuta
Federmesser,whose workat the grass-rootslevelin palli-
ativecareis widelyacknowledged.
Discussionsat theselevelswitnessed repeatedasser-
tionsabouttheimbalanceof “happiness-oriented”ser-
vicesbetween Moscowandotherpartsof Russia.Even
theMayor of Moscowacknowledgedthiswhenhe said
thatRussia neededto makesurethatgoodsocialservices
reached otherpartsof the countrytoo.
Thefinal declaration of the Forumtookthisandother
limitationsintoconsiderationevenwhilehighlighting
thegains andpositivesof theengagementwithsocial
innovationandthe happiness project.Thefinal proclam-
ationindicated thatthe existingscaleof the projectsand
theirfuturescalability neededto be studiedcloselyand
enhanced.
It alsoreiteratedthe needto continuewiththe new
frameworkandthenewscientific direction on theeco-
nomic theory of happinessbasedon an alternativeto the
economyof consumptionandthe ideologyof the mind-
less,unsustainable development. It alsoemphasisedthe
needto connectobjectiveeconomiccriteriawiththe
subjectivefeelings of peopleanddeterminethesocio-
economiccategoriesthatcouldensurebalancedeco-
nomic growth.It underscoredoneof thefactorsthat
changesthe focuson the “economy of happiness”in the
decision-makingsystem, whichin turnneedsto actively
perceive the keytrendsof the lastdecades, especially at
thelevelof theuseof informationtechnologyandthe
transitionto digitalplatformsolutions in the provision of
socialservicesandotheractivities in the socialsphere.$COUNSELLINGgoingonat theYouthJobCentre.
SHUKUTROMAN,Directorof theYouthJobCentre
in Moscow.