VIII International Youth Camp «Dialogue» passed from 22th to 26th of September in the Kaluga region on the territory of cultural and educational tourist center «Ethnomir». The main objective was the creation of educational space, combining youth leaders and activists of different cultural identities and experiences, in order to develop and apply their competencies to promote intercultural dialogue and peace in today’s society.
The participants were representatives from 28 Russian regions and 13 countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine. The camp brought together representatives of youth and ethno-cultural organizations, representatives of the European Cultural Convention and member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States of the Council of Europe, who are actively involved in the implementation of international and interethnic youth projects.
Each day of the camp had its main theme — «The theme of the day»
On the first day, the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe Patrick Hennelli and Deputy Chairman of the National Youth Council of Russia Olga Popova welcomed those, who was present, at the opening ceremony. After that, participants did fascinating exercises for acquaintance and teambuilding and, after that, educational blocks of intercultural dialogue and preconditions for it were waiting for them. General discussion and work in small groups affected the personal relationship of each to the agenda and at the regional, country and the world ratio. Educational dialogue smoothly moved into the dialogue of cultures at the evening artistic representation. The evening was filled with Ethnic flavor; participants were able to practice traditional dances from different countries.
The second day was devoted to the cooperative work on relevant problems and challenges in the field of intercultural dialogue, the participants worked together to visualize their ideas, talked about the causes and consequences of problems, as well as about the role of young people in their decision. In the evening, the networking Fest was organized — a space for communication and exchange of tools and good practices in the field of intercultural dialogue. Participants become unique resources of new ideas and inspiration for their future work for each other.
The morning of the third day began with individual work during the session on the formation of personal motivation and presentation of the Council of Europe pan-European campaign on fighting with hate speech on the Internet «Movement against hatred.» During the day, participants had the opportunity to work in thematic workshops on approaches to youth work and youth policy to the theme of the promotion of peace and intercultural dialogue in the society in the following areas: non-formal education; education in the field of human rights; youth participation; intercultural education; social inclusion; responsibility for the activities of young people in the online space.
The fourth day participants spent visiting the workshops on competency: critical thinking; nonviolent communication; creation and implementation of intercultural projects and initiatives; working with the motivation of young people; conflict transformation.
Forum ended with the presentation of the World Festival of Youth and Students, which Coordinator of the International Programs of the National Youth Council of Russia — Alexander Bolotnov conducted for participants and meeting with the head of «Ethnomir» project, the President of the International Charity Fund «Dialogue of Cultures — United World” — Ruslan Bayramov.
International Youth Camp «Dialogue» is the part of the Action Plan for 2016-2017 on implementation of the Framework program of cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the Council of Europe in the field of youth policy.
The National Youth Council of Russia and the Youth Department of the Council of Europe with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education «Moscow Technological University» jointly organize the camp.