Abstract:

Cultural heritage conservation and preservation are at the forefront of the most important UNESCO activities. The World Heritage Convention adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972 encourages States Parties to strengthen the appreciation of the public for World Heritage properties and to enhance their protection through educational and information programmes. The international student scientific Congress "Problems of cultural heritage preservation in multicultural education" was held on April 19, 2018 at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Financial University and the 100th anniversary of the St. Petersburg University of Culture in the form of a telecommunication session – ‘bridge’ between Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Congress was attended by the Embassy representatives of several countries. Around 100 students of the Financial University, Peoples ' Friendship University, St. Petersburg University of Culture, Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University from Russia, representing Mongolia, Vietnam, Montenegro, the USA, Italy, Latvia, China, Kazakhstan, Venezuela took part in the virtual and real dialogue of cultures.

The main objectives of the article are:
- to prove that the English language plays a truly unifying role, creating a comfortable environment for collaboration in the dialogue of cultures;
- to investigate what is necessary for the effective formation of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies in order to acquire professional linguistic knowledge, skills and abilities implementing a broad worldview culture, organic and tolerant perception of human values;
- to contribute to the students ' awareness of the cultural heritage of different countries and Russia cultivating their citizenship, especially in the current political situation.

The relevance of the research problem is due to the growing needs of the modern Russian society and, in general, the world community in the development of polycultural education as one of the main factors in the conservation and development of the global cultural heritage and the strengthening of international cultural cooperation. The article considers the ways of solving this problem. We are convinced that the study of world Heritage Sites is an essential strategy for bringing people of different cultures together and for intercultural dialogue. Today we need a new approach to the transformation of cultural heritage into an innovative force that plays a leading role in the establishment of intercultural dialogue and sustainable development. One can conclude on the basis of the given experience results that it is necessary we have an open platform to unite theory and practice and to promote the development of dialogue among cultures within the framework of the main theme of Cultural Heritage on the Planet belonging to all of us.

Keywords:

Polycultural education, cultural heritage, English language learning, collaboration, dialogue of cultures, telecommunication project, communication strategies, presentation skills.