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 Russian-Japanese youth exchange Commission dated March 15, 1999.
Japanese-Russian Youth Forum is one of the main events of the Russian-Japanese youth exchange plan for 2021 approved by the Russian-Japanese youth exchange Commission.
It was decided to hold the forum online because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The purpose of the forum is the development of Russian-Japanese youth cooperation.
The topic of the forum is "Russian-Japanese cooperation – together in the future", the topics of the working sections of the forum are "Environmental problems", "Young scientists", "Young family", "Energy problems".
Participants are students of educational institutions of higher education, young professionals and representatives of youth public associations from Russia and Japan aged 18 to 30 interested in the development of Russian-Japanese youth cooperation on the topics of the forum, representatives of organizations assisting the development of Russian-Japanese youth cooperation. In total 56 people participated there.
Results: The program of the first day of the forum included the presentation "Russian-Japanese youth cooperation" presented by the Coordinating Bureau of Russian-Japanese youth exchanges and the Japanese-Russian Centre for youth exchanges as well as introductory reports by the forum participants, viz. the student of the Irkutsk State University E. Kizhvatova and the student of the Waseda University E. Bashutskaya. Introductory reports of the experts on the main topics of the forum were also presented. The forum experts were the Deputy Head of the Department for work with young scientists of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia A.G. Asadov, the Director of the Japan Information Centre, the Head of the Department for the Development of International Cooperation and Education of the Orenburg State University L.V. Dokashenko, Professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Kobe Gakuin Y. Okabe, the Chairman of the Student Union of MSU, the co-chair of the Russian-Japanese Student Union E.I. Zimakova.
On the second and third days of the forum within the framework of the working sections the participants exchanged experience and discussed possibilities of bilateral youth cooperation on the topics “Energy problems”, “Environmental problems”, “Young scientists” and “Young family”.
As a result of the forum, the participants proposed ideas for the development of Russian-Japanese relations in various fields including the development of cooperation between youth of both countries.
Participants of the Energy Issues section noted the cooperation in the field of hydrogen energy as a potential area of the bilateral cooperation.
Participants of the Young Family section stated the importance of such measures by the state as preferential mortgage lending and infrastructure development (construction of kindergartens, etc.) as well as the need to improve the quality of medical support and provide psychological assistance to young families planning to have children, the need to support young families from universities. They also highlighted the significant of role of the creation of favourable image of a young family in the media and the way to raise awareness of young families about the possibilities of state and non-state support. In addition, it was proposed to create an association to support young families in the format of a network of centres providing various free services including psychological consultations, babysitting services, courses on the upbringing and care for new-born children.
As a part of the Young Scientists section such issues as the lack of links between the academic communities of Russia and Japan, the lack of opportunities to travel to Russia or Japan to take part in short-term or long-term internships as well as career centres, where students who connect their future with science could get necessary skills, the lack of information about the possibilities of financing young scientists in Russia and Japan, the existence of a language barrier between young Russian and Japanese scientists. It was proposed to develop a mentoring system for students interested in science, create Russian-Japanese student scientific communities within the framework of the Russian-Japanese Student Union, hold regular online meetings with the invitation of students who have already participated in bilateral academic exchange programs as well as events in Science Slam format, etc. In addition, the participants stressed the need to intensify the exchange of information about events and programs for young scientists through international social networks (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) and through contacts of international departments of universities.
Participants of the section "Problems of the Environment" discussed such problems and issues as air and water pollution, the disappearance of certain species of flora and fauna, deforestation, the impact of global warming. It was proposed to conduct joint youth exchange programs in the field of ecology, for example, in the format of eco-camps with the participation of volunteers, joint educational projects on environmental protection in order to increase the level of environmental culture and awareness of existing problems and ways to solve them.
