On December 5 the Japanese-Russian Youth Online Forum ended bringing together more than 40 students, young professionals and representatives of youth public associations from two countries.
Within the framework of the working sections of the forum participants exchanged experience and discussed possibilities of bilateral youth cooperation on the topics “Energy problems”, “Environmental problems”. “Young scientists” and “Young family”.
The Director of the Japan Information Center, the Head of the Department for the Development of International Cooperation and Education of the Orenburg State University Lyudmila Dokashenko, the Deputy Head of the Department for Work with Young Scientists of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Ali Asadov, the Professor of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Kobe Gakuin Yoshihiko Okabe and the Chairman of the Student Union of Moscow State University, the co-chair of the Russian-Japanese Student Union Ekaterina Zimakova stood experts.
As a result of the forum participants proposed ideas for the development of Russian-Japanese relations in various fields including development of cooperation between youth of both countries.
In particular, participants of the “Energy Issues” section noted cooperation in the field of hydrogen energy as a potential area of bilateral cooperation.
Participants of the “Young Family” section emphasized 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, create a favorable image of a young family in the media and raise awareness of young families about 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 centers providing various free services including psychological consultations, babysitting services, courses on the upbringing and care of newborn children.
As part of the “Young Scientists” section issues such as the lack of links between 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 centers where students connecting their future with science could acquire the necessary skills, the lack of information about possibilities of financing young scientists in Russia and Japan, the existence of a language barrier between young Russian and Japanese scientists were stressed. 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, participants stated 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 ecocamps 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.
The forum was organized by MIREA – Russian Technological University acting as the Russian-Japanese Coordination Bureau for Youth Exchanges and the Japanese-Russian Youth Exchange Center (Japan) with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
Recall that 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 commission on youth exchanges dated March 15, 1999.
