Within the framework of the program "Tolerance" of St.Petersburg Government
The delegation of St.Petersburg pupils - winners of the City-wide Youth Festival "The Culture of the World – for the Cultural Capital" paid a friendly visit to Latvia during their spring vacations.
Within the framework of the program "Tolerance" of St.Petersburg Government
The delegation of St.Petersburg pupils - winners of the City-wide Youth Festival "The Culture of the World – for the Cultural Capital" paid a friendly visit to Latvia during their spring vacations.
Organizers of the Festival: International Centre for Arts and St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations.
The pupils from Petersburg and Riga discussed the ways of cultural interaction between the young people of both cities. The program of the sojourn was heavy-scheduled and included activities that enable to learn more about the culture, traditions, contemporary life, and the inhabitants of Latvia, as well as to meet with the Latvian youth.
The opinions and ideas were shared, and the result was the project of joining the youth initiatives aimed at the development of civil society under the conditions of an open dialogue.
The young people talked about the development of affordable education, the organization of employment for young people during the recession, the development of cultural and leisure activities - establishing various dedicated youth clubs. It was decided to establish a Committee for the problems and suggestions of young people, as well as a field youth camp for children from Riga and St.Petersburg. The senior pupils from Riga are already planning a return visit to St.Petersburg in September of 2010.
"We can and must go together, because this way, the distance to the destination is halved", one of the Riga pupils emphasized. Cooperation within the framework of joint youth programs, according to Ei?enija Aldermane, Chairman of the Education, Culture and Sports Committee at Riga City Council, is extremely important and necessary for Latvia in the modern world. "We are open for cooperation with St.Petersburg. This is a city that gives the sensation of strength", as she put it, "and we are always happy to get a piece of its unique culture".
St.Petersburg was represented by three teams of senior pupils, winners of the Festival: Grammar School № 41 of Primorskiy District, School № 211 of Central District and № 525 of Moscovskiy District. From Latvian side, the children were met at the schools № 34, 28, and 13, Grammar School "Maxima", Pushkin Lyceum, Evening School № 18, representatives of the Riga Pupils' Duma, and youth organization "Culture. Tolerance. Friendship".
At the Riga City Council, there were meetings with students, teachers, and representatives of St.Petersburg media.
For further information, contact Natalia Aleksandrovna Chadina, Director of International Centre for Arts, +7 (905) 261-8701.
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The Youth Festival "The Culture of the World – for the Cultural Capital" has a good tradition to provide the visits of the winner teams to the neighboring friendly cities and countries. Last year, the St.Petersburg pupils visited Belarus. Such visits provide an opportunity to build an open dialogue of young people and find friends and partners who share to the ideas and values of an open, socially responsible society beyond the borders and beyond politics.