The Public Chamber of the Russian Federation held the grand opening of VII Educational seminar on the development of international youth cooperation and public diplomacy» Public Diplomacy Corps». 35 representatives from 10 countries: Russia, Armenia, Spain, Italy, Moldova, Kazakhstan, France, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan take part in it.
The Chairperson of the National Youth Council of Russia — Grigory Petushkov, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the International Public Fund «Russian World» — Elena Sutormina, Senior Adviser of the Department for Relations with the subjects of the Federation, Parliament and public associations of Foreign Minister of Russia — Alexey Yudintsev, Head of the international activities of the Federal agency for youth Affairs — Dmitry Ivanov and the spokesman of the Department of state policy in the sphere of education of children and youth of the Ministry of education and science of the Russian Federation — Ivan Tarakanov, Director of the international youth center — Alexey Lubcov and others welcomed participants.
According to the words of Grigory Petushkov, this workshop plays a very important role in establishing a constructive dialogue between the youth of different countries. «For all these years, the PDC was not just meeting, but the school where each participant has the opportunity to develop existing skills in the field of public diplomacy and to acquire new ones. Our meeting is particularly relevant now, on the eve of XIX World Festival of Youth and Students, «- he stressed.
«During the seminar, you expect a lot of interesting events. In particular, the project «Intercultural Evening», where everyone will have the opportunity to present the culture and traditions of their country. This is a priceless experience, because now, during the information wars, the role of «soft power» is increasing stronger than ever! «- Referring to the participants, said Elena Sutormina.
«The Russian Foreign Ministry pays special attention to the involvement of youth in the processes of public diplomacy. It largely depends on your positions and efforts, what future is waiting us! I am sure that in the framework of this workshop, participants will be able to enrich the existing knowledge and, subsequently, use them into their working practice «, — said the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry — Alexey Yudintsev.
After the opening ceremony the first day of the seminar continued with the lecture «Russia in Global Affairs», which the Head of Department policy and the functioning of the European Union and the Council of Europe, European Studies Institute of the MGIMO MFA of Russia — Oleg Barabanov.
«European Studies Institute of MGIMO MFA of Russia supports the project» Public diplomacy corps» from the first workshop. For us it is very important and interesting. For 7 years, this is the seventh generation of young public diplomats that comes to this school. And we can say with certainty due to the past experience that it will be a very rewarding experience for them», — he said.
The NYCR held Public Diplomatic Corps held since 2009. During this period, we trained more than 300 young people, who are the part of a pool of active representatives of public organizations of Russia, the CIS member states, the Baltic States and the Caucasus today, have the knowledge and skills of international communication and implement international projects.
This project is the part of the Framework program of cooperation of the Russian Federation and the Council of Europe in the field of youth policy in the 2014-2018 biennium. The Public Diplomacy Corps includes conducting educational seminars, expert meetings and plans to implement the project in other regions of Russia these days.
