Russian-German youth cooperation is carried out in accordance with the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of youth cooperation dated December 21, 2004.
One of the priority areas for the implementation of the Agreement is the conduct of youth exchanges within the framework of relations between sister cities and regions of Russia and Germany.
Cooperation between cities and regions is an important component of Russian-German relations. At the same time, due to tensions that have existed for several years in high political circles and the aging process of significant players in the framework of the partnership of cities this area needs to be constantly revitalized.
In 2016 the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Fund took the initiative to hold a youth forum of partner cities of Russia and Germany.
The concept of the forum involves its holding within the framework of the Conference of partner cities of Russia and Germany that is held every 2 years alternately in Russia and Germany.
The first forum was held from June 26 to 30, 2017 in Krasnodar as a part of the 14th Conference of partner cities of Russia and Germany and under the auspices of the Russian-German Year of youth exchanges 2016–2017. Due to the fact that in 2017-2018 the Russian-German Year of Regional-Municipal Partnerships was held, it was decided to hold the second forum "out of schedule" under the auspices of this cross-year. The second forum took place from September 30 to October 5, 2018 in Hamburg. Third Youth Forum of partner cities of Russia and Germany "City in motion: your project is important!" was held from June 21 to 28, 2019 in Düren under the auspices of the 15th Conference of partner cities of Russia and Germany.
At the 16th meeting of the Russian-German Council in the field of youth cooperation it was decided to hold the 4th Youth Forum of partner cities of Russia and Germany in June 2021 in Moscow and Kaluga in person.
The purpose is development of youth cooperation within the framework of the partnership between the cities of Russia and Germany to ensure continuity in the implementation of sister city relations.
The main topic of the 4th Youth Forum of partner cities of Russia and Germany is "Digitalization as a chance for cooperation".
The forum was the first event in person as a part of the Russian-German youth, school and professional youth exchange program since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Participants were young people aged 18 to 35 united in Russian-German teams representing partner cities (3 participants from Russia and 3 participants from Germany including 1 person from each side with personal participation and 2 people with online participation, only 9 teams): Vladimir-Jena/Erlangen, Gatchina-Ettlingen, Kaliningrad-Bonn, Perm-Duisburg, Krasnodar-Karlsruhe, Nizhny Novgorod-Essen, St. Petersburg-Hamburg, Tver-Osnabrück, Ufa-Halle, representatives of organizations assisting the development of Russian-German youth cooperation. 89 people participated there.
Results: On the first day of the forum the grand opening was held with the participation of the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation M.E. Shvydkoy, the Secretary of State – the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation P.S. Kuchernko (online), the State Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany for Foreign Cultural Policy M. Müntefering (video message), the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Russian Federation G.A. von Geyr, the director of the Institute of Youth Policy and International Relations of RTU MIREA G.V. Petushkov, the executive director of the German-Russian Forum M. Hoffmann. There were also a presentation "Russian-German youth cooperation in new conditions", a discussion "The importance of youth cooperation for the development of partnerships between Russian and German cities" with the participation of the director of the Institute of Youth Policy and International Relations of RTU MIREA G.V. Petushkov, the Deputy Head of the Administration of the Kirovsky District of Rostov-on-Don, the member of the Russian-German Council in the field of youth cooperation A.V. Kosenko (online), the project manager "Seminars for young leaders" of the German-Russian Forum S. Gross. In addition, on the first day of the forum the press conference was held on the occasion of the resumption of youth exchanges in person and introductory reports on the topics "Digitalization of the city" and "Digitalization of youth exchange". Reports were presented by experts – the head of the State Public Institution "New Technologies" A. E. Pishchelko and the Chairman of the Board of wechange eG M. Mishke.
On the second day of the forum participants were trained at seminars "Opportunities and methods of digital cooperation", "Opportunities for financing Russian-German youth exchanges" and discussed ideas for joint projects.
On the third day of the forum participants were trained at the seminar "Possibilities of digitalization in Public Relations" and presented intermediate results of the work of teams. Additionally, the meeting was held with participants of the 16th Conference of partner cities of Russia and Germany to exchange experience and discuss prospects for cooperation between young and older generation within the framework of twinning ties.
The forum participants also took part in events of the 16th Conference of partner cities of Russia and Germany held in Kaluga from June 28 to 30.
Results of the forum were presented at the closing ceremony of the 16th Conference of partner cities of Russia and Germany on June 30.
Project ideas developed by forum participants:
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Ufa-Galle – creation of a podcast about the development of city partnerships.
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Tver-Osnabrück – creating an online quest to get acquainted with the history and development of partnerships dedicated to the 30th anniversary of partnerships between these cities.
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Krasnodar-Karlsruhe – a 3-party youth forum with the participation of youth of the sister cities of Krasnodar - Karlsruhe and Nancy (France).
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Vladimir-Erlangen and Jena – creation of an excursion route for young people.
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Nizhny Novgorod-Essen – a festival of street art, young artists and urbanists, creating an Instagram page about urban street art.
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Kaliningrad-Bonn – creation of an online discussion platform "New bridges connect old cities".
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Gatchina-Ettlingen – bike ride.
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St. Petersburg-Hamburg – an educational project to increase the level of environmental culture.
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Perm-Duisburg – an online project to promote volunteering among youth.
On the initiative of the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Fund it was decided to hold in 2022 the Year of youth exchanges between partner cities of Russia and Germany.
