Seminar on democratic youth participation through the development of youth parliamentarism in the Russian Federation (archive event)

Conducting seminars for young parliamentarians and youth leaders in the Council of Europe which held during sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was initiated in 2010 by the National Youth Council of Russia with the support of the Youth Sector of the Council of Europe and the Federal Assembly of Russian Federation.

Seminars have traditionally been a part of the Action Plan for the implementation of the Framework Program for Cooperation of the Council of Europe and the Russian Federation in the field of youth policy. During the period from 2010 to 2014 11 educational seminars were held at the Council of Europe which were attended by 295 people from 67 regions of Russia, 8 member countries of the Council of Europe and 10 CIS countries. The purpose of the seminars was to familiarize youth leaders with the structure and principles of the Council of Europe, to increase their knowledge and competencies in the implementation of youth policy at the national level taking into account the experience and resources of the Council of Europe.

After a break in holding seminars from 2014 to 2018 in 2019 the Seminar on Democratic Youth Participation through the Development of Youth Parliamentarism in the Russian Federation was again held during the autumn session of PACE.

The seminar was organized by the National Youth Council of Russia and the Youth Department of the Council of Europe with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “MIREA – Russian Technological University”.

This event is a part of the Action Plan for 2019 for the implementation of the Framework Program for Cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Russian Federation in the field of youth policy.

The purpose and objectives of the seminar in 2019

The purpose was to familiarize participants with institutions of the Council of Europe, its approaches and standards in the field of youth policy, in particular, on the topic of youth participation as a tool for creating positive changes in society.

Tasks:

• to study priorities and resources of the Youth Sector of the Council of Europe as well as its experience and principles of work in the field of youth policy, 
• to form an understanding of youth participation as a concept as well as to analyze forms of youth participation, their relevance, accessibility, effectiveness and attractiveness for different categories of youth, 
• to get acquainted with various tools for increasing the level of youth participation and their application in conditions of local realities, 
• to promote the development of active citizenship among participants and increase the level of participation in decision-making processes, 
• to create conditions for further cooperation, development of joint projects and networking between participants.

Within the framework of the seminar program participants got acquainted with the structure and activities of the Council of Europe and the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. They took part as observers in PACE meetings, visited the Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation to the Council of Europe and met with representatives of the Russian delegation to PACE (L.E. Slutsky, S.S. Zhurova, E.O. Serova), met with the leadership of the European Youth  centre and the European Youth Foundation as well as representatives of the European Court of Human Rights and the Youth Department of the Council of Europe. In addition to visits and meetings with experts, the seminar program included a number of educational seminars and master classes with the participation of trainers and experts from the Council of Europe and Russia.

Participants 

The seminar was attended by 20 people – representatives of youth parliaments and youth governments, leaders of youth public associations, young deputies, representatives of the Youth Parliament under the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.