Conference "Youth in support of the ideas of tolerance" in Petrozavodsk

From November 29 to December 1, 2007 in Petrozavodsk (Karelia) a conference "Youth in support of the ideas of tolerance" was held. It was organized by the Center for Interethnic Cooperation, the Ministry of National Policy and Relations with Religious Associations of the Republic of Karelia and the pan-European network UNITED for Intercultural Action. The conference was held within the framework of the interregional information session "Towards Excellence: A Culture of Peace and Harmony".

The event was attended by representatives of authorities and leaders of youth public organizations from Astrakhan, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Perm, St. Petersburg, Pyatigorsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Smolensk and Yaroslavl. As well as representatives of the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Norway and Belgium, as well as volunteers of the Center for Interethnic Cooperation from Canada, Ireland and Austria.

On the first day, representatives of various public and state organizations spoke at the conference, First Deputy Minister for National Policy Elena Antoshko, Head of the Department of Interethnic Relations of the Administration of the Irkutsk Region Svetlana Plakhotnikova, representative of the European Union Delegation to Russia Bernie McNally, representative of the UNITED network Hirt Atens, Mirek Prokesh.

Director of the Center for Interethnic Cooperation Ashot Hayrapetyan spoke about the results of the implementation of the project "Using the Network of National Organizations to Counter Xenophobia in Russia", funded by the European Union.

On the second day of the conference, the participants talked about their experience in holding an action in support of the ideas of tolerance. As part of the event, the participants met with young people in Kondopoga. On the third day of the event, leaders and activists of youth organizations held tolerance lessons, in fact mini-trainings, in four educational institutions of Petrozavodsk.

Sources

• Youth in support of the ideas of tolerance // Interethnic. 2007. December 11.