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 Commission on Russian-Japanese Youth Exchange of March 15, 1999.
In connection with the Year of Russian-Japanese interregional and twin-city exchanges 2020-2021, MIREA – Russian Technological University acting as the Coordination Bureau of Russian-Japanese Youth Exchanges and the Japan-Russia Youth Exchange Center (Japan) took the initiative to hold the Russian-Japanese Youth Forum "Partner cities".
The forum is one of the main events of the Russian-Japanese Youth Exchange Plan for 2021 approved by the Commission on Russian-Japanese Youth Exchange.
The main goal of the forum is intensifying youth cooperation within the framework of partnership between cities (regions) of Russia and Japan.
The participants: representatives of local governments, students of higher education institutions, young professionals and representatives of youth public associations from Russia and Japan aged from 18 to 35 years, united in 6 teams representing partner cities or regions, namely Volgograd – Hiroshima, Leningrad Region – Kyoto Prefecture, Severo-Kurilsk – Nemuro, Vladivostok – Shimane Prefecture, Kholmsk – Kushiro, St. Petersburg – Osaka, representatives of organizations assisting the development of Russian-Japanese youth cooperation. In total, 44 people participated there.
The results: As part of the forum program 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, proposals for youth and environmental protection.
The program of the first day of the forum included the presentation "Opportunities for Russian-Japanese youth cooperation", video presentations of cities prepared by the participants and introductory reports from the experts. The forum experts were the Chairman of the Committee on Youth Policy and Interaction with Public Organizations of St. Petersburg B. Zastavny, the employee of the Department of International Relations, Business and International Promotion of the Bureau of Economic Strategy of the Government of Osaka K. Yamada, the Secretary General of the International Wetland Center of Kushiro Y. Kikuchi.
On the second and third days of the forum as part of a foresight session the participants exchanged the experiences of their cities, formulated the main development trends and created an image of the "City of the Future". This is a city with clean air and water bodies, a large number of parks, "clean" energy sources, electric cars, a waste collection and recycling system, residents who consciously choose an eco-friendly lifestyle and actively participate in protecting the environment, a city attractive to young people, inclusive and a barrier-free environment, the use of IT technologies for development, but with the preservation of live human communication.
It was decided to hold the next bilateral Youth Forum "Partner Cities" in 2022 By the Agreement with the Japanese side.
