On April 12 through 14, Youth Palace of Kronstadt hosted an international forum.
On April 12 through 14, Youth Palace of Kronstadt hosted an international forum.
About 400 students from St.Petersburg, Kronstadt, delegations from Messina (Italy), a twin city to Kronstadt; Feodosia (Ukraine); Osipovichi (Belarus); Tallinn (Estonia); Kotka (Finland) met for the second time to discuss joint projects.
The major purpose of the Forum is the formation of the active attitude to life in young people and promoton of a positive image of St.Petersburg abroad. The project is conceived as a part of the concept of Kronstadt development until 2025 and implemented in line with the national youth policy and the program to support the compatriots abroad.
Kronstadt is actively developing its twin-city relations.
For over 10 years, friendship with the Japanese city of Sumoto has been strenghtening. Last year, when Japan suffered from a strong tsunami, the delegation of Kronstadt visited Sumoto partners to render the support. This summer, the Japanese youth delegation arrives in Kronstadt.
The delegation of Tallinn suburb Põhja took part in the Youth Forum in Kronstadt for the first time. However, the Estonian city officials expect to sign a cooperation agreement with the Administration of Kronstadtskiy Ditrict in May of this year. Younr people from Tallinn liked the reception very much. At the opening of the Forum on April 13, Priit Kuttser, alderman of Tallinn City Council, even compared Kronstadt with Palm Beach and Rublevka near Moscow.
Dmitriy Shcherbakov, a delegate from Feodosia, offered to young people from Kronstadt to develop tourism and festival trend in urban living. He believes that the personal card of Feodosia and Kronstadt is the sea that never fails to attract and inspire most of the people.
The Finnish city of Kotka also holds the annual Maritime Festival at the end of July. Helena Kempas, Director of Youth Department at the City Adminitration, head of the delegation of Kotka, told about the broad participation of Finnish youth in municipal government. Members of the Finnish delegation provided at the Forum an interesting project called “Food Brings People Together”. For 20 years, Kotka and Kronstadt have been developing the twin-city links.
The great interest among Forum participants wa called by the visit of the delegation of the Italian city of Messina. Giuseppe Barga and Antonio Spagare, students of the University of Messina, the central city of Sicily, spoke in Russian, and told about Russian scientists, artists, and writers who visited the famous Italian island. The students from Messina are aware what it was Sicily where Metchnikoff discovered phagocytosis, while A.Block and M.Tsvetaeva described Messina, Sicily, and the famous Volcano Etna in their poems.
The Italian delegation has told that, historically, Kronstadt and Messina have a lot in common. On December 28, 1908, Sicily suffered from a strong earthquake. The sailors of the Russian Baltic Fleet that stayed in Sicily at that time came to the rescue to help the island residents. But only in 2010 the authorities of Messina and Kronstadt signed a protocol of intentions, and expect to sign a cooperation agreement this year.
The Second International Forum “Kronstadt-2025 and Youth” included in its program the youth tournament “Kronstadt: Step by Step”, a round table on "Youth and Youth Policy in the Modern World”. The forum presented a photo exhibition on the twin-cities of Kronstadt, children's art exhibition “The City and the Future. A Letter to a friend”, and the art of Ikebana as a part of the festival “Japanese Spring in St.Petersburg”, organized with the support of the Consulate General of Japan.
Information Source: St. Petersburg Committee for External Relations