Our projects

For the 20th anniversary of Rotary Club Cherepovets -Sheksna a magical tour in the Vologda region was organized. The tour started on the 26th of February in Vologda. Vologda was and remains one of the recognized centers of lacemaking, carefully preserving the age-old traditions of manual lace weaving.People come here to touch the antiquity and admire the ancient stone and wooden architectural monuments, be surprised by the variety of architectural styles presented in the city, as well as visit the “Reznoi Palisad” craft center. After arriving in the city, our travelers were taken on an excursion around the city and in the evening they were treated to a special authentic Russian dinner.

During the second day of the trip they visited the interactive center “Semenkovo” and the complex of the Ferapontov Monastery monuments, experiencing the history of Russian villages from the the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In "Semenkovo", they dove deep into the traditions of the life of the old Vologda region, the origins of the culture and mentality of the Russian people. The complex of monuments of the Ferapontov Monastery holds the painting of Dionisy - a rare example of preservation and style unity, which reveal the typical features of the architecture of the time of Ivan the Terrible. In 2000, UNESCO included the Monastery in the World Heritage List.

On the 28th of February the members took part in a Russian quest - “Beliefs and superstitions”. Then they were transported to Cherepovets. Cherepovets is the largest industrial center of the North-West. Cherepovets was called "North Athens" before the revolution of 1917 because of the number of students. There were 800 students per 4000 inhabitants.

The next day they visited the Museum of the Metallurgical Industry and the interactive and educational Phos Agro Museum (Green Planet). In the evening they celebrated the “20th Anniversary of Rotary Club Cherepovets -Sheksna” with a gala dinner.

Russian Rotary Fellow Aleksei Gridchin (past President of RC Togliatti and Assistant Governor 2018-2019 of the Russian District 2223) was received by Jaap de Zwaan, Chair/Coordinator of the Dutch Section of the ICC, and attended a meeting of RC Pulchri in The Hague on 20 February 2020.

In October 2019 members of ICC The Netherlands – Russia and RC Best-Oirschot gathered in Eindhoven to celebrate friendship and partnership and to attend the Dutch Design Week (DDW) events.

The Russian delegation arrived on the 23rd of October and the activities began with a welcome drink at the “Hotel Pullman Eindhoven Cocagne”. The following morning the group visited events organised in the framework of the DDW which took place in Eindhoven’s city center. The DDW is the largest design event in Northern Europe. It presents work and concepts from more than 2600 designers to more than 335.000 visitors from The Netherlands and abroad. In more than 110 locations across the city of Eindhoven, DDW organizes and facilitates exhibitions, lectures, prize ceremonies, networking events, debates and festivities. Before the planned evening activities, the group headed on a sightseeing trip to the city of Best. The evening activities included a dinner followed by attending the Liberation Concert in the Lidwina church, commemorating 75 years of the liberation of Best. The following day was filled with more sightseeing and some Rotary club presentations. During the final evening of the program, the group attended a nice dinner party and a special concert with music performed by the Libertrio from St. Petersburg.

From 16-19 May 2019 representatives of the Dutch Section of the Rotary ICC The Netherlands-Russian Federation participated in the Russian Rotary District Conference in Sochi (Russia). In the margin of the Conference an intensive discussion about the relevance of Rotary Intercountry Committees and their activities took place.

In May 2019 the Rotary Club Moscow-East invited the Rotary ICC Netherlands-Russia to a cultural visit to Russia to learn about Russian heritage, history and architecture and to come together as Rotarians to strengthen their friendship and partnership.

The tour began on the 20th May in Moscow. The group first visited Sergiev Posad, a historical city being part of the ‘Golden Ring’ of the Moscow Region. Sergiev Posad is closely linked with the UNESCO-protected Troitse-Sergieva Lavra which was founded in the 14th century by St Sergius of Radonezh. The Lavra is now one of the most important religious sites in Russian and St Sergius is one of the most revered native Russian saints.

The next day fellow Rotarians travelled to Suzdal. Suzdal is often referred to as an open-air museum for the number of old buildings that have been preserved and the lack of industrialisation. Several sights are protected by UNESCO such as the White Stone Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal. Highlights include the Spaso-Yefimiev Monastery, which is now a museum, and the museums of the Kremlin.

The next stop of the itinerary was Vladimir – the ancient capital of North-Eastern Russia. As the former capital of mediaeval Russia, Vladimir is historically a very important city. It is somewhat more industrial than its neighbour Suzdal but its Golden Gates, St Demetrius’ Cathedral and the Dormition Cathedral are protected by UNESCO and are masterpieces of the ancient Russian architecture.

On the 5th day of the tour, the group travelled back to Moscow where they took a trip to Kolomenskoe park, the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve and the Parade Chambers and Private Chambers of the Kolomna Palace. During the tour, the guests learned how the palace of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich was constructed, walked through the ceremonial halls and personal quarters of the Tsar and the Tsaritsa and got an understanding of how the royal family spent time in their Kolomna Palace.

In the evening the group took a Romantic cruise on the “Maria Ermolova” ship around the Golden Island of Moscow, passing through a unique section of the Vodootvodny Canal, inaccessible to other ships. During the cruise they saw the Moscow Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Monument to Peter the Great, the amazing floating fountains on the Vodootvodny Canal ("water bypass canal").

The next they a trip to the Tretyakov Gallery was organized. The museum complex exhibits masterpieces of Russian art from the 11th to early 20th century as well as some temporary exhibitions. The gallery housed the collection of the Gallery's founder – Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov (since 1856).

The evening of the 25th of May was filled with happiness and laughter during a special charity dinner attended by all Moscow clubs.

On the next day, before they headed to Saint Petersburg, the group discovered more interesting places in Moscow, walked around the Red Square, and visited Alexander Garden, Manezhnaya Square, Iberian Gates, Kazan Church and GUM building.

In Saint Petersburg Rotarians went on a sightseeing bus tour to the Nevsky Prospekt, Palace Square, the "Bronze Horseman", Admiralty, Arrow of Vasilievsky Island, the Smolny Сonvent, Tauride Palace and many more. Then visited the Hermitage – a museum of fine, decorative and applied arts, located inside the Winter Palace, in the center of Saint Petersburg. The victory dinner took place in the evening of the 28th of May.

The next couple of days the group took a trip first to Tsarskoye Selo and then to Peterhof. In Tsarskoye Selo they went to the Catherine (until 1910, the Great Tsarskoselsky) Palace Museum, composed of a number of historical important monuments and showing the creativity of the architects who participated in the construction and decoration in the 18th-19th centuries. The Baroque style palace impresses with its size, powerful spatial dynamics and the "scenic" decorations. The group spent their final day of the tour in Peterhof admiring the stunning architecture.

On the 3rd of November 2018 the Dutch members of Rotary ICC The Netherlands-Russian Federation welcomed their Russian colleagues and friends at the Amsterdam Schiphol airport. Among the guests of honor were Pavel Rogovskoiy - past President RC Cherepovets – Sheksna, Таtyana Smirnova - Head of Art children school, Veronica Solodovnikova - winner of contest 05/03/2004, Svetlana Chelnokova - member of RC Cherepovets – Sheksna, Anna Nakleichikova - member of RC Cherepovets – Sheksna, Julia Ganicheva - member of RC Cherepovets – Sheksna, Ruslan Ganichev - Julia’s husband, Nataliy Strigova - deputy mayor for social issues, Nataliy Epifanovskaya - deputy of city parliament.

During their visit the guests attended the Twents Byzantine choir Waterstaatskerk concert and informal acquaintance with members of Rotary Club Hengelo-Driene on the 4th of November. The next couple of days the group visited Hengelo’s Reception City Hall, Cheese Farm, school, Twickel, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Tuindorp, Pancakes, Vriezenveen and many more. A visit to the market was also organized. On the 7th of November they attended the exhibition of all drawings followed by an award ceremony with lots of food, music and treats and a special Dutch-Russian evening. The exhibition of the drawings was on display for 2 weeks.

In 2018 children in the Cherepovets (RU) Art School participated in a contest of drawing and painting images of life in The Netherlands. The images were the result of research they had done on the subject or simply the product of their imagination. All children came up with ideas and the result was a colourful and very diverse display of their talented visions. Prizes were awarded by a jury composed of representatives of from both Russia and The Netherlands and the overall winner won a trip to The Netherlands. This trip took place the following year when children from a school in Hengelo (NL) were competing in a similar contest, this time about the way they envisaged life in Russia. This project was a common project of RC Cherepovets and RC Hengelo-Driene and was met with great enthusiasm, both from the participants and from the audience and press in both cities. A selection of the paintings was exhibited in May 2019 in Moscow.

In May 2018 the Dutch Section of the ICC participated in the Russian 2223 District Annual Conference in Suzdal. In the context of that Conference RC Cherepovets organised a touristic programme over several days allowing the Dutch guests to visit many historical sites in the region.

The Dutch Section of the ICC The Netherlands-Russian Federation organised in September 2017 a multi-day conference and excursion in the Province of Flevoland in The Netherlands. Apart from Rotarians of both countries also experts participated. We visited respectively the world-famous Potato Europe Fair in Emmeloord; the impressive Orchid Exhibition in Luttelgeest; the Fish-Auction in Urk; and attended presentations on food for cattle/grasses and seeds in Lelystad. In the margin of the Conference our Dutch member Niek van Aalst was interviewed and appeared in the Dutch media with an article entitled 'Niek with Russian Eggs'.

The Dutch Section of the Rotary ICC The Netherlands-Russian Federation was invited to participate in the annual Russian District Conference in Kaliningrad in the period 20-22 May 2016. In the margin of the Conference a working meeting of the ICC The Netherlands-Russian Fedearion took place. Next to the Conference the Russian hosts organised several excursions to historical and touristic places in the Kaliningrad region.

The Dutch Section of the ICC The Netherlands-Russian Federation organised in June 2015 a multi-day conference and excursion in Amsterdam and Huizen. The objective was to exchange visions and information about IT navigation systems to support blind and bad eyesight people. Not only Rotarians from both countries, but also experts participated. The Russian partner presented the ‘Speaking City’ project, the Dutch presented the so-called ‘intelligent stick’ project. In Huizen our host was Visio, which is a Dutch organisation providing information and advice as well as services related to research, counselling, rehabilitation, education and living tot the benefit of partially sighted or blind people. The group also paid a visit to the Hermitage Museum (branch of the Hermitage in St Petersburg), located in Amsterdam at the river Amstel.

On 9 August 2013 representatives of Rotary in The Netherlands and Rotary in the Russian Federation signed an Agreement to found a Rotary Intercountry Committee, to be named Rotary ICC The Netherlands-Russian Federation. The ceremony took place in the Office of the Netherlands Rotary Administration (RAN) in Amsterdam. To celebrate this event a luncheon took place in the branch of the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam, located at the river Amstel in Amsterdam. And, of course, the group also paid a visit to the Museum. On 9 and 10 August furthermore working meetings took place of both -the Dutch and the Russian- Sections of the ICC.