Abstract. The article describes the experience of a student research group in developing a research project for a grant application to the Head of the Republic of Karelia. It presents the specifics of the region, which negatively affect motivation to learn English in rural schools. The project is based on the following approaches: teaching English as a foreign language, a productive approach, and the potential of a foreign language as an academic discipline to develop universal competencies, particularly intercultural competence. To confirm the principles developed during the theoretical foundation of the project, a questionnaire was created for the target groups of the project (English teachers in the districts of Karelia, students in grades 9-11 from rural schools in Karelia, and international students studying at Petrozavodsk State University). The analysis of the responses confirmed that English is considered a language of international communication by all target groups, and the educational materials used do not meet the requirements set by researchers for teaching English as a language of international communication. More than 90% of English teachers and international students, and approximately 70% of students from rural schools in the Republic of Karelia expressed interest in participating in the project.