CITS Holds Roundtable on Topical Issues of Developing Inclusive Linguistic Environment

On April 21, the Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation held plenty of useful and interesting events within the framework of teambuilding We Are Together, and one of these events is worth describing separately.

The roundtable on the topical issues of developing an inclusive linguistic environment brought together both hearing and deaf experts willing to discuss the current issues and to bring forward possible solutions.

ASU Rector Konstantin Markelov, who was the first to deliver his speech at the roundtable, highlighted the necessity to develop an inclusive environment at university and said what had already been done and what else should be done in this sphere.  

Vitaly Gutman, the First Deputy Chairman of the Astrakhan Region Duma, who also participated in the roundtable, provided information on difficulties the region faces in developing an accessible environment in education. The deputy expressed his readiness to support the project implementation, pointing out the social significance of the project for Astrakhan Region.

The roundtable also involved deaf experts – Tatyana Borisova, Chair of the Astrakhan Branch of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf, Vera Shamaeva, Deputy Chair of the Saint Petersburg Branch of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf and the Youth Policy Advisor to the President of the Central Board of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf, and Antonina Shikhova, a trainer at Moscow State Linguistic University. Like nobody else, these people are familiar with the challenges deaf and hard-of-hearing people face. The experts not only shared their experience, but also made proposals on breaking the existing barriers.

Arslan Dzhumartov, Director of the Astrakhan Province College, Irina Perova, Director of the Astrakhan State Art Gallery named after P.M. Dogadin, Irina Strashko, The Color That Sounds project leader, and Natalia Sergeeva, a CITS senior staff member also participated in the roundtable and spoke of the projects on developing an inclusive linguistic environment in various fields.        

It should be noted that the issues of inclusive environment development are being brought up more and more often at different events, the existing challenges and ways to address them are discussed at various levels. Developing an accessible environment is a long and complicated process, and there are still many open questions. Therefore, an integrated solution is required to ensure progress. At the end of the roundtable, a respective resolution was drawn up to be submitted to the Astrakhan Region Duma and public authorities.