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Youth Day at the 10th Nevsky International Ecological Congress will bring together more than two thousand ecological and youth association representatives, from students and eco-activists to the representatives of environmental organizations and businesses. This year’s main theme is ‘Ecology is my Ideology’.
Some of the special guests expected for NIEC Youth Day include Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Galina Karelova, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Youth Policy Artem Metelev, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Deputy Director General of Rosatom Tatyana Terentyeva, and Governor of Kamchatka Territory Vladimir Solodov among others.
The 10th Anniversary Nevsky International Ecological Congress will take place on 25–26 May 2023 at Tavrichesky Palace in St. Petersburg, with Congress Youth Day scheduled for 24 May. Youth Day is being organized in conjunction with the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) and the Rosatom State Corporation.
“The environmental agenda is of huge national and global importance, and it is, of course, very important to the Rosatom State Corporation, which bases its activities on green technology,” Tatyana Terentyeva, Deputy Director General of the Rosatom State Corporation, one of the event’s organizers, said. “This includes nuclear power and its effect on the environment, and the development of alternative energy sources like wind power, storage tanks, and hydrogen power. We are working to address issues of the environment and sustainability in all our new business ventures, and we make it a priority to do so in a systematic way. It’s a part of our DNA and the philosophy here at Rosatom. We seek to involve youth in this work because they’re the ones who will have to live on this planet and learn to cherish its riches, the surrounding environment, and to make important decisions for the benefit of environmental safety. So NIEC Youth Day is just the first step on a greater journey and an opportunity for everyone to understand how they fit in to the environmental agenda – be it through the use of environmental technology, a professional vocation as an environmentalist, or service to society through the implementation of initiatives of social importance. The opportunities open to every young person right now are vast and varied.”
Advisor to the Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Oleg Makarov is scheduled to speak at one of the panel discussions: “Participation in the Congress is important to the Federal Agency for Youth because of how important the environmental agenda is to young people. We will discuss just how vast the spectrum of environmental problems happens to be and whether it is even possible to develop a single pattern for involving young people in the environmental agenda. The event will also host the ‘Ecosystem’ All-Russian Ecological Public Movement’s first ever congress with representatives of 50 regional offices taking part and elections to be held for positions within the movement’s governing bodies.”
More than 100 industry experts are expected to speak as part of the business programme, with representatives of many of the country’s regions expected to be in attendance. These include members of the ‘Ecosystem’ All-Russian Environmental Public Movement, representatives of the ‘Ecosofia’ and ‘Forest Volunteers’ youth environmental organizations, volunteer environmentalists from ‘Do it!’ and ‘Russian Waters’, ‘Ecogeneration’ Project finalists, delegations of corporate volunteers from organizations leading the environmental agenda such as the Rosatom State Corporation, Russian Railways, and Norilsk Nickel, and activists from the student community.
Panel discussions planned for Youth Day include: ‘The Environmental Agenda in Universities: Challenges and Opportunities’, a master class on ‘Green Success Stories: From Volunteer to Expert’, and discussion sessions on ‘Environmental Safety Technologies: Key Trends in Nature Preservation’ and ‘Scientific Volunteering: Involving young people in the Search for Solutions to Environmental Problems’. Also being held are the ‘All-Russian Ecological Movement: Business Track’ project session and the ‘Ecology as a Way of Life: Engaging Youth’ round table. And the Rosatom State Corporation will be sponsoring ‘Ecology without Borders: International Cooperation in the Youth Ecosystem’ and ‘Planning Urban Ecocities: Pleasant Surrounding for a New Age’ panel discussions, and ‘Environmental Safety Technologies: Key Trends in Nature Preservation’ and ‘An Open Dialogue among Women Leading Environmental Initiatives’ discussion sessions. A total of 15 events have been planned for the business programme.
The ‘Ecotrend’ All-Russian Project ‘Eco-Generation’ Competition Finals will take place on the same day and are being organized by the ‘Movement of the First’ All-Russian Public Youth Movement and co-organized by the Rosmolodezh ‘Big Change’ Project, which is a part of the ‘Russia – Land of Opportunity’ Presidential platform.
‘Atomic Tastes of Russia’, a joint Rosenergoatom and Street Food Russia Movement project, promises to be another highlight of Youth Day. The project team, headed up by Alexander Isayev and Chef Anisim Braude, will treat guests to the traditional dishes of nuclear cities with a menu consisting of Kursk potato drunka (potatoes baked with eggs, butter, and green stuffing), Rostov Romanov dumplings with braised lamb and soft cheese, sterlet fish soup from the city of Zarechny in the Sverdlovsk region, and so much more.
The Brusnitsyn cultural quarters will host an exhibition with a large variety of ecological activities and entertainment, and in the evening there will be a concert with popular youth performers and rock bands from the nuclear cities.
The 10th Nevsky International Ecological Congress is being organized by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, with the Roscongress Foundation preparing and holding the event.
The Congress Organizing Committee is headed by Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Russian Federation Council and Chairwoman of the Council of the Interparliamentary Assembly of CIS Member Nations, and Viktoria Abramchenko, Russian Deputy Prime Minister.