Women's Contribution to Sarov's Development Discussed at "Women Changing the World" Forum

On 21 March, the "Women Changing the World" forum was held at the RFNC-VNIIEF Center for Culture and Leisure in Sarov, timed to coincide with International Women's Day celebrations and the 80th anniversary of Russia's nuclear industry. The main themes of the event were healthy lifestyle promotion and support for women's initiatives aimed at urban development.  

The forum brought together about 200 participants - women representing RFNC-VNIIEF, local administration, city entrepreneurs, female students, and medical professionals.  

The event was organized by Rosatom Women's Community with support from RFNC-VNIIEF.  
The highlight of the forum was the opening of Rosatom Women's Community's photo exhibition "The Atom Project with a Woman's Face_Sarov", dedicated to women who contributed to the establishment and development of the nuclear industry in Sarov and helped create a comfortable urban environment. Russia's nuclear industry rightfully takes pride in its many outstanding female scientists who found their calling in nuclear technology development. The exhibition opening was attended by its heroines - current RFNC-VNIIEF employees, industry veterans, and distinguished representatives of the institute whose many years of work have become an integral part of nuclear science and technology history - Nina Lavrovskaya, Tatyana Ivanovna Klochkova, Irina Strabykina.  

The forum's business and celebration program was opened with a welcoming speech by Sergey Yerunov, Acting Director of RFNC-VNIIEF and Director of the Institute of Gas Dynamics and Explosion Physics, who noted that what distinguishes our women is their high sense of responsibility, desire to get to the heart of matters, demonstrate creative approaches and achieve set goals: "I want to emphasize that progress, prosperity and harmony can only be achieved with women's participation. Without this, there can be no truly prosperous world."  

Forum participants were also greeted by Sergey Pryakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Municipal Property Management Committee of Sarov Administration, and Alexander Tikhonov, Advisor to RFNC-VNIIEF Directorate and Director of the "People and Cities" Project Office.  

The first session "Women's Initiatives for City Development" was moderated by Yulia Pogodina, Category 1 Automated Control Systems Engineer at RFNC-VNIIEF and Head of Regional Women's Communities at Rosatom Women's Community.  

"Today women are not just keepers of the family hearth. Not only mothers, successful wives, but also excellent professionals. People who become drivers of territorial development and change their cities for the better. The women's agenda is playing an increasingly important role not only in Russia but in the international community. On Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko's initiative, we are implementing a strategy of action for women's interests, which defines various areas of women's development - entrepreneurship, demography, social policy, science and technology. We see how more and more girls are choosing high-tech industries," emphasized Olga Shchetinina, Senator of the Russian Federation from the executive body of state power of Nizhny Novgorod Region, in her video address.  

Aleksandra Riabykh, Head of Rosatom Women's Community, in her speech noted the contribution of VNIIEF employees to the development of not only the nuclear industry but also the Community's "Women and Cities" project: "Today's event is so imbued with history that, speaking about current VNIIEF employees, we remember our veterans, those no longer with us who stood at the origins of the nuclear industry. The large-scale results the industry demonstrates today couldn't have been achieved without these women's crucial contributions. The forum's agenda once again underscores how important it is to support women who create a new quality of life in our nuclear cities. They strengthen the social vector, develop local initiatives and shape the image of territories where people want to live and develop, choosing their unique roles: engineer, entrepreneur, mother, volunteer. And our Women's Community provides this support to girls through various tools, uniting them and creating all opportunities for project implementation."  

Today, the Nuclear Center's staff boasts a high percentage of female employees - 43% of all institute workers. The number of women managers is 583, 81 women are in the master category, 65 are chief specialists, and 207 are senior researchers. Importantly, 626 VNIIEF employees are parents of many children. These statistics about female employees of RFNC-VNIIEF were shared in her speech by Anastasia Ivanova, Category 1 Specialist and Rosatom Women's Community Ambassador at RFNC-VNIIEF.  

The contribution of VNIIEF employees to the development of the women's agenda in the city and implementation of the "Women and Cities" project was recognized by Rosatom Women's Community during a gratitude ceremony - Yulia Pogodina, Evgenia Khodak, Olga Shadrina, Anastasia Ivanova, Tatiana Belina, Natalia Lopatkina, and Karina Utesheva were awarded.  

The club "Women of Sarov's Nuclear Industry", chaired by Evgenia Khodak, Category 1 Legal Consultant at RFNC-VNIIEF, organizes environmental, patriotic, sports events, health education initiatives, webinars and city sports activities. The club's work continues - the "Women Changing the World" forum confirmed its importance and potential.  

The forum continued with a thematic session on best practices for engaging the population in healthy lifestyles, moderated by Olga Shadrina, Leading Specialist for Government Relations at RFNC-VNIIEF, member of Rosatom Women's Community and one of the leaders of the "Women and Cities" project.  
Women medical workers, athletes, volunteers and entrepreneurs presented a diverse landscape of activities conducted in the city on healthy lifestyle topics. Sarov is rich in talents - women win federal sports tournaments, realize themselves as entrepreneurs opening healthy food cafes, volunteer, organize cultural leisure activities for residents and head medical organizations.  

The entire landscape of Sarov women's portraits was presented at the city women's forum "Women Changing the World"!