On November 5, 2026, St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design hosted the XIV All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Spiritual and Moral Culture in Higher Education. Freedom, dignity, responsibility of the individual and the challenges of modern technologies".
The district stage of the conference brought together representatives of the Northwestern Federal District: those responsible for cooperation with universities in dioceses, vice-rectors for educational work and representatives of the educational community.
The forum was attended by Metropolitan Evgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhotursky, Chairman of the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis, head of the Council for Cooperation of the Russian Orthodox Church with Organizations of Higher and Secondary Vocational education in the field of spiritual and moral education.
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Metropolitan Eugene emphasized the importance of spiritual tradition as the basis for interaction between the Church and the university community. After the plenary session, he met with representatives of the dioceses of the Northwestern Federal District and headed the section "Interaction of the Russian Orthodox Church with universities."
At the breakout sessions, the participants discussed the legal foundations of cooperation between the Church and higher education institutions, the status of the clergyman responsible for interaction with the university, issues of professional development, prevention of neo-Paganism and prospects for joint projects.
Abbot John (Rubin), Deputy Chairman of the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis, spoke about the preparation of events at universities dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Russian Synodal Bible translation and possible formats for working with students.
The conference was part of a series of district meetings dedicated to spiritual and moral education and personal development in the higher education system. Earlier, a similar forum was held in the Southern Federal District.