VSUES student Diana Amelina spoke at the first Russian-Japanese Youth Forum
The first Russian-Japanese online youth forum on the topic "Partner Cities" was held and organized by MIREA - the Russian Technological University, which performs the functions of the Coordinating Bureau of Russian-Japanese Youth Exchanges.
The Forum was held under the auspices of the Year of Russian-Japanese Interregional and Twinning Exchanges 2020-2021. Denis Ashirov, Director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, and Wataru Ishikawa, Head of the Department of Japanese-Russian Exchanges of the Department of European Countries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, welcomed the participants at the opening.
Students, city administration young employees and representatives of youth public organizations, united in six teams representing partner cities or regions, attended the forum: Vladivostok - Shimane Prefecture, Volgograd - Hiroshima, Leningrad Region - Kyoto Prefecture, Severo-Kurilsk - Nemuro, Kholmsk - Kushiro, and St. Petersburg - Osaka.
Diana Amelina, a 2nd year student of the VSUES master''s degree of International Relations, represented Vladivostok at the forum. She prepared the report "Environmental Protection of Vladivostok", highlighting for the Japanese partners from Shimane Prefecture the environmental problems of the city and ways to solve them today.
For three days, the participants discussed living conditions in their cities – the current situation and prospects for development in such areas as culture and organization of free time, offers for young people and environmental protection.
The program of the first day included an introduction to the possibilities of Russian-Japanese youth cooperation, video presentations of cities prepared by participants and introductory reports by experts. On the second and third days, as part of the foresight session, the participants exchanged experiences, formulated the main development trends and created the image of the "City of the Future". This is a city with clean air and reservoirs, a large number of parks, "clean" energy sources, electric vehicles, a garbage collection and recycling system. Also residents who consciously choose an eco-friendly lifestyle and actively participate in environmental protection, a city attractive to young people, an inclusive and barrier-free environment, the use of IT technologies for development, but with the preservation of lively human communication.
– I have gained a lot of experience and learned many new things for myself, and I hope that this forum will become a link for the development of further mutual understanding between Russia and Japan, - said Diana Amelina.
Reference
Russian-Japanese youth cooperation is carried out in accordance with the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Japan on the establishment of the Russian-Japanese Youth Exchange Commission dated March 15, 1999.