Oriented on making people closer

Nowadays, the media increasingly contains materials about events aimed at youth - various conferences, brain rings, forums, exhibitions... Students, schoolchildren, young activists and aspiring workers - they all gather at such meetings to get acquainted and share knowledge and acquire new skills. I, a student at the International University of Humanities and Development, was lucky enough to be among them.

In the first week of March, the largest international youth event took place in Sochi - the World Youth Festival - 2024 (WYF-2024). Organized on the federal territory of Sirius, WYF has become a huge platform that has brought together more than 20,000 enthusiasts from 188 countries, inclding students from Turkmenistan.

During the 7 days of the festival, a rich program was organized for the participants: 850 thematic sessions, concerts of world pop stars, youth forums, master classes and conversations with professionals from various fields - in short, an indescribable communication experience, a lot of positive emotions, new knowledge and immersion in cultures of other peoples.

The opening of the WYF took place on Saturday, March 2, but in fact the festival started the day before - by the time of the solemn ceremony, a number of events had already taken place at its venues. During the opening of the global congress, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the participants with the words:

— Our country has already held such large-scale youth forums three times, and each time they confirmed that for young generations there are no borders or dividing lines. Now representatives of almost three hundred different nations have gathered in this arena. We know well what a wealth such diversity is, what a powerful positive charge of development and spiritual mutual enrichment it possesses. I am sure that you will receive a colossal charge of positive emotions at the festival.

The presenter was an unexpected surprise for everyone - he turned out to be artificial intelligence, which supposedly came to Earth to find out how modern youth from different countries live. Among the guests of the festival are famous actors, directors, singers, comedians, showmen and athletes who shared their experiences and joined the youth movement. The heads of a number of ministries and departments, representatives of leading companies and cultural figures spoke in the pavilions: Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Irina Yarovaya, Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov, actor Milos Bikovich, star of Turkish TV series Burak Özçivit, head of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia, famous actor and director Vladimir Mashkov, conductor Yuri Bashmet, showman Mikhail Galustyan - the line-up was truly “brilliant”.

As a student of the Faculty of International Relations and a graduate of the UNRCCA Academy of Preventive Diplomacy, I became a participant in the VII Global Forum of Young Diplomats. I was also glad to go to the gastrofestival and “taste Russia.” As part of a large-scale program, there was held a thematic evening dedicated to the youth volunteer movement - “The Commonwealth of Good Countries: How the Year of the Volunteer Movement in the CIS - 2024 will take place”, of which I became a participant as a youth activist. It was interesting to attend a lecture by the President and Chairman of the Board of VTB PJSC on accessibility and clarity: about money, business and the global economy. It was a pleasant experience to “try on” the role of a blogger, participating in various master classes, shows, interactive events, as well as in the “Russian Blogosphere” round table.

In addition to speakers from Russia, foreign artists were also present. For example, one of the events was the Open Dialogue “The Magnificent Century: the secret of the global popularity of Turkish cinema.” Another multinational interactive event was the “Big Challenges” hackathon, where, divided into teams by country, we worked under the guidance of foreign mentors - leading experts from high-tech companies from around the world to realize our potential and try to find solutions for real cases in existing companies.

At the panel discussion “Artificial Intelligence in Science and Technology: A World of Opportunities for Everyone,” we learned how we can “decipher” health using AI, and also took part in networking with like-minded people. The secrets of theater and cinema at the creative meeting “Education as the Key to a World of Opportunities” were revealed to the participants by People’s Artist of Russia, Rector of the Boris Shchukin Theater Institute Evgeniy Knyazev. He told us about his creative path, shared his mentoring experience and details of his acting career. They talked about the importance of a good education and the opportunities it opens, about the development of personality and the figure of a mentor.

The continuation of the Global Forum of Young Diplomats was the Working Session “BRICS Youth in Action: New Opportunities and Unlimited Potential”, during which the topics of economics and finance, deepening dialogue and interaction in the cultural and humanitarian sphere, as well as in the field of sports and youth exchanges were touched upon.

As part of delegates from Turkmenistan, we took part in the Procession of the Youth of the World, where all countries presented national attributes and outfits, thereby demonstrating their cultural characteristics and traditions to the whole world.

The organizers did not forget about the “green agenda” - as part of the festival program, there was held an expert session “Eco-community”, at which the role of eco-monitoring as an objective system of observing the state of the environment was noted. In this context, monitoring is not only a tool for informed management decision-making, but also a source of increasing the awareness of citizens.

An example of the involvement of young people in preserving culture was the opportunity for each participant to make a personal contribution to the heritage of the festival and donate books in their native language to the library. Speaking about cultural values, it is important to mention the lecture “Traditional spiritual and moral values in the world and the dialogue of cultures”, in which young delegates from different parts of the planet agreed that well-established moral principles and beliefs passed down from generation to generation, play a key role in shaping the worldview and moral principles of young people, being the basis for dialogue between cultures.

The policy of a state largely depends on its unique culture and the character of its people, and in the modern world, cultural diplomacy becomes the basis for a positive image of a country abroad. Based on bridges of friendship and tradition, it helps strengthen interstate ties. This became the topic of the panel discussion “The Cultural Code of Contemporary International Relations,” which focused on the dissemination of national cultures as a way to strengthen global interaction.

The closing ceremony took place at the Bolshoi Sports Palace, which at the time of WYF 2024 became the International Mall “Art.Youth”. The festival, which took place over the course of a week, gave all guests the most vivid impressions and an unforgettable experience: young enthusiasts from almost 190 countries exchanged knowledge, met, communicated with expert speakers from all over the world and, of course, made plans for the future. With the final speech of WYF-2024, the leader of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin again addressed the delegates:

—I’m sure you will have a lot of success. One of the slogans of today's festival is “Let's start the future together.” Let's assume that the future has begun. But what it will be depends on you. I wish you success!".

Servi Nuryeva
2nd year student at the International University for the Humanities and Development
Faculty of International Law and International Relations

Photo: author