St Petersburg University students develop a ‘green’ image for the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant

For four years, students and educators at the St Petersburg University Clinic have been visiting the town of Sosnovy Bor in the Leningrad Region at the end of the academic semester to present their communication projects. This event is a good tradition, largely due to the partnership agreement signed in 2021 by the University and Rosenergoatom JSC. It was included as a separate item in the special cooperation programme.

This year, 14 first‑year students in the master’s programme ‘Media Communications’ and third‑year students in the bachelor’s programme ‘Advertising and Public Relations’ worked on the projects for the Information and Public Relations Department at the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant. The students immersed in the industry through communication with experts and a visit to the Nuclear Energy Information Centre.

As part of the academic discipline ‘Communicative Project’, some students were involved in developing a PR campaign for branding the territories of the NPP presence using the example of Sosnovy Bor. One team focused on the youth of St Petersburg, while the second team was primarily concerned with tourists. Another group of the University students, as part of the discipline ‘Environmental PR’, worked on a campaign to form a ‘green, low‑carbon’ image of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant. The project mentor was Ekaterina Sharkova, Associate Professor in the Department of Public Relations in Business and Director of the Clinic of Communication Projects at St Petersburg University. The experts were Tatiana Kornysheva, Head of the External Relations Department, Deputy Director of the Communications Department of Rosenergoatom JSC, and Ekaterina Bastina, Head of the Information Department of the Communications Department of the branch of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant.

The three projects were presented to the experts. The committee that evaluated the presentations included Larisa Korneva, Head of the Information and Public Relations Department at the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant; Mikhail Kuznetsov, Acting Deputy Director for Human Resources; Iurii Skok, Adviser to Director of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant; Natalia Voskresenskaia, Head of the Psychophysiological Support Laboratory; and Oksana Shishova, Director of the Sports and Cultural Complex ‘Energetik’.

‘The students have a very clear idea and describe the target audience. I liked the idea of creating a stylised hotel room, the theme of molecular cuisine, ‘atomic’ cups in coffee shops. The students offer new, unique and creative ideas. We are happy to see that the students share a sincere interest in what the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant does, and a desire to make our enterprise even more recognisable,’ said Larisa Korneva, Head of the Information and Public Relations Department at the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant.

Following the defence, all teams were awarded certificates and memorable gifts. The students visited the corporate museum of the Leningrad NPP and were also offered an internship at the enterprise.