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 of December 21, 2004.
One of the priority areas for the implementation of the Agreement is the holding of joint youth events in the field of sports (meaning mass sports, since the Agreement does not address issues of youth exchange in the field of elite sports).
In 2017, in order to intensify bilateral youth cooperation in the field of mass sports, the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany initiated the creation of the partnership between the Russian Student Sports Union and the German Sports Youth Association Deutsche Sportjugend (dsj) im Deutschen Olympischen Sportbund e.V. (the corresponding cooperation Agreement was signed on September 14, 2017 in Rostov-on-Don).
Joint forums of organizers of youth sports exchange have become traditional events within this area of bilateral cooperation.
At the XIV meeting of the Russian-German Council in the field of youth cooperation it was decided to hold the special project "Sport Unites" in 2019 with the participation of representatives of Russian student sports leagues and German youth sports associations in addition to the traditional forum.
From October 20 to 27, 2019 the Russian-German project "Sport Unites" took place in Berlin and Hamburg.
The main goals:
- discussion of new formats of Russian-German youth cooperation in the field of mass sports,
- creation of partnerships between Russian student sports leagues and German youth sports associations.
The project organizers were from the Russian side the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Russian Student Sports Union (RSSU) and MIREA – Russian Technological University acting as the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany, from the German side – the association "German Sports Youth" with the support of the Foundation for German-Russian Youth Exchange.
The project participants included representatives of Russian student sports leagues and German youth sports associations in rugby, handball, basketball, jiu-jitsu, sambo, judo, chess, table tennis and rowing. The Russian delegation consists of 9 people.
The key results:
As part of the project the participants got acquainted with the system of sports work in Germany at all levels (from amateur sports clubs at the municipal level to professional organizations), met with specialists from the Sports Committees of Berlin and Hamburg, representatives of the Bundestag responsible for issues of sports and bilateral relations with Russia, representatives of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany and members of the Russian-German Council for Youth Cooperation, took part in the seminar "The Role of Sports in the Process of Sustainable Development and Environmental Improvement" and also visited the Berlin Olympic Stadium and Hamburg Town Hall.
As a result of the project the agreements were reached to conduct new joint projects in the field of mass sports in 2020, namely youth exchange, educational projects, sports camps, training camps, volunteer programs, distant competitions using Internet bridges, coaching seminars. The Agreement consolidating these partnership arrangements was signed by the President of the Russian Student Sports Union Sergei Seiranov and the Chairman of the German Sports Youth Association Jan Holze.
