GeoUrbo student science club commended during meeting of winners of Student of the Year in Tatarstan 2025
The club’s work, recognized with a laureate diploma in the Student Research Organization of the Year category, was presented to First Vice-Rector for Research Dmitry Tayursky, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Moral Education Arif Mezhvedilov, and other participants of the event, which was held as part of the republican science festival Territory of Knowledge, by Denis Kasimov, the club’s deputy head and a PhD student of the Department of Theory and Methods of Geographical and Environmental Education.
At the meeting, the winners and laureates of the award received letters of appreciation for active work and high results achieved through participation in the 21st Republican Award ‘Student of the Year of the Republic of Tatarstan 2025.”
GeoUrbo was founded in 2010 at the initiative of Associate Professor Svetlana Khusnutdinova, who serves as its academic supervisor, “We analyze urban space, the socio-economic processes taking place in cities, and the use of geo-information technologies in urban research. The club conducts research and educational and outreach activities and also organizes and co-organizes events at the city, regional, all-Russian, and international levels,” Kasimov said after the meeting. “In talking about the club, I emphasized our research work and informed them about the projects Comfortable School Grounds and Urban Mobility. I would like to note that we devote a lot of attention to working with school students: under our guidance they carry out their first research projects and present them not only at school and city conferences, but also travel to landmark events such as the Big Geographic Festival in Saint Petersburg. The club serves as a kind of bridge between school and KFU.”
He added that in 2025, the club won KFU’s competition for the best student research club in the category “For active work in improving the urban environment,” and that Dr Khusnutdinova received a diploma as best mentor of a student science club in the KFU Student of the Year contest.
At the Territory of Knowledge science festival, held across six floors of KFU’s UNICS Sports and Concert Complex, GeoUrbo was presented by its chair, Kirill Dolganov, a fourth-year student of teacher education in geography and environmental studies.
“Our club organizes events on urban studies and the geography of cities for university students from different institutions as well as for school students. We also conduct research, the results of which we successfully present at all-Russian and international scientific and practical conferences. We cooperate with schools and with the leading universities of our country – Moscow State University, Saint Petersburg State University, HSE University, Ural Federal University, RUDN University. In addition, we work with leading organizations dealing with urban issues – the Kazan City Development Institute and the Institute of Spatial Planning of the Republic of Tatarstan – as well as with the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences,” Kirill shared.
The club members are currently preparing to present papers at an International scientific and practical conference for students, postgraduates, and young scientists, which will take place in April as part of Saint Petersburg State University’s Big Geographic Festival.
“The club’s main focus is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary study of the geography of cities through the lens of geographical science and education, as well as popularizing urban practices and events among geography teachers in the Republic of Tatarstan,” says Svetlana Khusnutdinova. “We analyze urban space and socio-economic processes in cities at the micro level, study how geo-information technologies can be applied to examine and solve urban problems, and also use our developments to organize the educational process and introduce them to school teachers.”
According to the head, the club has three main objectives: conducting research in geography, particularly urban geography and geo-urban studies; developing and piloting modern methodological approaches to teaching geographic disciplines, including work with students preparing for contests; and methodological and outreach activities within university events such as Russia Opens Its Doors and round tables for other universities of Kazan.
“We are not only organizers and co-organizers of events for schools and universities, but we also develop teaching methods for geography lessons for school students and speak at teacher conferences, for example those held in Saint Petersburg at the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia,” Khusnutdinova specified.
She also noted that club members win startup competitions. For example, the club hosts the UrboGIS Urban Laboratory, which develops cartographic materials and analyzes urban processes. The head of this startup project is Mr Kasimov.
“Absolutely all undergraduate and master’s students of Kazan University can join the GeoUrbo student research club,” Svetlana Khusnutdinova assured. “And of course, we are also happy to welcome school students who actively work within the scientific and technological project Geo-information Technologies in Urban Research and the Sirius project. In autumn 2025, we created an alumni club of the student research club. At our events, we meet with those who have already graduated from KFU but have retained their interest in urban issues and in communicating with like-minded people.”
