Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation Integral to the SCO

Active engagement in international cultural and humanitarian cooperation is a fundamental priority for nations seeking to safeguard their interests and build meaningful connections on the global stage. Within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), this dimension receives significant emphasis. The SCO Charter, adopted in 2002, explicitly defines cooperation across science and technology, education, healthcare, culture, sports and tourism as a central pillar of the organization’s mission.

SCO leaders have continually stressed the growing importance of this cultural and humanitarian vector, which has emerged as one of the most dynamic and productive areas of interaction, both within the multilateral framework and through bilateral channels between member states.

The most successful manifestations of this cooperation are found in the spheres of culture and education. Throughout its history, SCO member states have cultivated deep collaboration extending into science and technology, sports, tourism, environmental protection, healthcare, youth policy and media relations.

Cultural exchange has been integral to the SCO’s identity from its inception. The organization has consistently positioned itself as a platform dedicated to advancing every facet of international cultural and humanitarian dialogue. The SCO Secretariat, as its executive body, has played an active role in fostering connections among cultural professionals. A pivotal moment arrived in April 2007 with the signing of the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation at the Bishkek Summit in Kyrgyzstan. This treaty formally enshrines a broad vision for cultural collaboration, encompassing musical, theatrical and visual arts, cinematography, archival, library and museum affairs, the protection of cultural heritage, folk crafts, and decorative, applied, amateur, pop and circus arts.

This momentum continued in April 2009 at the Meeting of Ministers of Culture in Kazan, Russia, where a declaration was adopted highlighting the role of youth in preserving cultural heritage and boosting multilateral cultural ties. This led directly to the establishment of the SCO Youth Council in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in May 2009. The council’s purpose is to ensure policy continuity within the SCO and facilitate the exchange of experiences among the young generations of member states.

The vitality of these initiatives is confirmed by recent events. In August, Kazan hosted the third edition of the Russia-China “Sprouts” International Forum for Mutually Beneficial Cooperation, uniting approximately 10,000 participants. The forum’s programs were both diverse and immersive. Visitors experienced traditional Eastern games in the sports zone, while the cross-cultural zone offered masterclasses in diverse art forms: Gzhel painting, creating ceramic souvenirs with Russian ornaments, painting Semenov matryoshka dolls and wooden spoons, lace-making, calligraphy and mask painting. These activities were organized around the thematic areas of fire, wood, water and metal, adding a layer of symbolic depth to the cultural dialogue. Alongside these workshops, circus performers and musicians presented theatrical acts on stage. The forum also included lectures on Russian and Chinese cultural features and an extensive business program of about 100 events, with 70 sessions dedicated to economics, industry, education, culture, finance, investment, transport corridors, agriculture and tourism.

Simultaneously, the business program of the SCO Youth Forum commenced in Omsk, Russia, on August 20. Its main theme, aligned with the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, was the contribution of youth to preserving historical memory. The agenda included educational sessions on international business development, investment attraction and intercultural communication, complemented by workshops, intensives and expert lectures. The forum also served as a platform for signing agreements on international economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between the Omsk region and foreign partners, with its proceedings scheduled to continue in Shanghai thereafter.

These events demonstrate a consistent annual increase in the number and richness of joint cultural activities within the SCO, a trend that significantly deepens cultural ties between peoples and bolsters the organization’s international authority.

Educational cooperation stands as another priority within the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era. Key tasks include information exchange, promoting direct ties between higher education institutions, forming networks of partner universities, providing mutual language support for educational programs, and facilitating mobility for students—especially those entering master’s and doctoral programs or participating in short-term exchanges. A successful example is the 2024 short-term program between Kutafin Moscow State Law University and Gansu University of Political Science and Law, which provided students with valuable new academic perspectives.

The institutional foundation for this cooperation was strengthened in October 2005 when the SCO Council of Heads of Government decided to intensify educational collaboration, which included convening regular meetings of education ministers and establishing a permanent expert working group. The formal beginning of multilateral educational cooperation was marked by the signing of the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Education in Shanghai in June 2006. The first meeting of SCO education ministers in Beijing that October established a mechanism for multilateral interaction and defined its main directions: exchanging experience on educational reforms, developing integration processes and creating a corresponding informational and regulatory framework, facilitating the mutual exchange of students and academic staff, cooperating to improve education quality, and creating mechanisms to ensure the transparency, comparability, and mutual recognition of qualifications and state-standard education documents.

Scientific collaboration further enriches this partnership. Educators from Russia, China and Uzbekistan are jointly executing a scientific project titled Dunhuang Culture Goes Global, aimed at introducing schoolchildren and students from Russian-speaking countries to the culture of Dunhuang, a World Heritage site and a major hub on the ancient Silk Road in Gansu.

The work of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization University (SCO University) is also noteworthy. This network university, conceived as a unified international educational program across Asia, was established following the 2008 meeting of SCO education ministers in Astana, Kazakhstan. Its primary mission is the joint training of highly qualified specialists in priority fields such as regional studies, energy, nanotechnology, IT, ecology, pedagogy and economics. Despite complexities in aligning curricula, ensuring compatibility and harmonizing evaluation criteria and credit systems, the university has already established a functioning exchange of students at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels.

In conclusion, the deepening cultural and humanitarian cooperation within the SCO framework plays a key role in strengthening mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of member states, proving to be an indispensable element of the broader cooperation.

The author is a professor at Gansu University of Political Science and Law.