Rhodes Youth Forum. How It Started & What It Gave?
Rhodes Youth Forum
How did it start? First, the idea of organizing the Youth Forum itself was a great chance for us all to go deeper in exploration of the global challenges of the world, which are in the field of interest of older generations. As I could notice they were glad for the chance to pass their ideas, worries and knowledge to us, those, who were going to stand beside, support and step forward with them. It was also great to see, that the youth at the forum was mostly very open-minded and ready to take responsibility and to brainstorm. If we look the declaration of the Dialogue of Civilizations Forum in 2009, we see under point 5 the valuation of the need to give youth chance to get involved in the process. Here is a citation from the declaration:
«But we shall not forget also millions of young people who have not yet access to modern communication tools and are therefore excluded from the global information community...
… Opportunity should be offered to young people to cross boundaries and to break barriers (not only geographical ones, but also social, cultural etc.) and to be educated to a spirit openness.
… Young people from conflict areas should be offered places to meet and to discuss their common interest in peace and reconciliation».
How was the process going? It was obvious that for the most of the participants the forum was a fresh and new experience. Now most of the participants are linked to each other, became friends, partners. They share ideas, skills, thoughts, emotions, friendship. Imagine the geography of that friendship — Russia, Greece, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Latvia, Chad etc… The purpose of the forum was to establish a good platform for the youth to interact. And I guess, I can conclude, that the idea was realized.
What questions were discussed by youth at the forum? There were several main groups of problems discussed at the Forum. But the main purpose was to understand: how to make the civilizations interact without confrontation. The youth vision, system of values, family, internet of things etc… these were just common subjects, which included more concrete problems and ideas.
Eventually, what do we have from the Rhodes Youth Forum? The Rhodes Youth Forum participants had a unique chance to share, make a dialogue with a wide diversity of nationalities of the same age. New co-operation groups were formed on international level. Now we have links, contacts, and finally, just friends from all over the world. This was a wonderful opportunity of networking. Besides, we managed to understand what worries us, we shared our problems.
And, at the end, let me hand you the words from the YOUth Time Magazine: «Turn around, having stripped away the veil of daily routine from your eyes — you'll see all the hidden answers to your questions. They're concealed in the delicate green of grass, in the magic of budding flowers, in the bright colors of the autumn, in the clear lines of architecture from long ago…… You just think for a moment and… WISH IT!»