Schoolchildren are programming drones in collaboration with KSTU
The Agrarians of the Future themed camp is taking place at the Zhemchuzhina Regional Centre for Children and Youth Recreation in the Nesterovsky District as part of the BaltArtek.Yunost youth forum.
Kaliningrad State Technical University is acting as a partner to the project for the second year.
The successful experience of 2025 demonstrated the high effectiveness of the useful holidays programme format proposed and implemented by the university, which immerses school pupils in the world of agricultural technology and project-based activities. Last year, participants in the first session, Space of Opportunities: Agrarians of the Future, worked on developing innovative agricultural projects under the guidance of the university’s scientists, supervised by students specialising in relevant fields. Many schoolchildren not only acquired practical skills but also gained a clearer understanding of their future career paths in the agricultural sector.
This year’s programme features an expanded curriculum involving industry experts and attracting a larger number of participants. In 2026, more than 100 school pupils from various municipalities across the Kaliningrad Region are immersing themselves in modern agricultural technologies.
The educational programme includes:
- - Studying digital technologies in agriculture;
- - Practical sessions on operating agricultural and aqua drones;
- - Learning modern biotechnology methods;
- - Developing entrepreneurial skills;
- - Creating their own business projects.
What makes the programme unique is its comprehensive approach. The participants gain theoretical knowledge and immediately apply it to real-world projects under the guidance of university lecturers and practising agribusiness specialists.
The fourth day of the session is entirely devoted to digital technologies. The key objective is to immerse the participants in the world of digital agriculture through teamwork, solving production challenges and practical masterclasses. Experts from KSTU—P.R. Grishin and Mikhail Romanov — played a leading role on this day.
P.R. Grishin, Senior Lecturer at KSTU’s Scientific and Educational Centre of Shipbuilding, Maritime Infrastructure and Equipment, led a masterclass entitled Aqua Drones – A Depth of Possibilities. The schoolchildren gained practical experience in the basics of designing and controlling underwater vehicles, programming microcontrollers and assembling electrical circuits. The session was linked to the topic of remote sensing of the Earth and data collection: aqua drones are equipped with sensors to measure temperature, salinity and depth. The participants learnt how to process these data to make decisions in aquaculture.
“The pupils are throwing themselves into these engineering challenges with tremendous enthusiasm. Aqua drones are not just robots; they are tools for environmental monitoring and the development of the region’s fisheries industry. You can see the pupils’ eyes light up when they assemble the circuits and see the results of their work,” noted Pavel Romanovich.
M.A. Romanov, Senior Lecturer at the Digital Systems and Automation Department of KSTU, held a series of lectures entitled Digital Agriculture: A Leap into the Technological Future. The participants learnt about automation, the Internet of Things (IoT), high-precision agriculture, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and the NDVI vegetation index. They worked on real-world case studies involving yield forecasting and cost optimisation.
“We try to demonstrate that agriculture today is a high‑tech industry. Our sessions give schoolchildren the opportunity to work with industrial automation and programmable controllers and to understand how digital technology is transforming agricultural production. This helps them make an informed choice about their future career path,” commented Mikhail Andreevich.
The pupils immediately put their new knowledge into practice during the final stage of work on their own agricultural projects. Immersion in technologies, ranging from underwater robotics to data collection systems, helped the schoolchildren master in-demand skills.
The BaltArtek.Yunost forum allows school pupils in the Kaliningrad Region to observe the application of modern technologies in real economic sectors. Agriculture today is a field of innovation, entrepreneurship and great opportunities for professional development.
The training session will run until 14 August.
