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World Heritage Youth Forum (2002) Russia

International World Heritage Youth Forum : first WHY Forum organized in Russian Federation at Velikiy Novgorod, 24-29 August 2002.

The working program of the Forum included three round tables:

Associated Schools of UNESCO - Integration of the Experience of Dealing with the World Heritage into the Education System
Objective was to work out recommendations based on the experience of UNESCO Associated Schools in preservation, studying and promotion of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in the mainstream system, as well as vocational and extra-curriculum education.

Young People's Participation in World Heritage Preservation and Promotion
The participants of the round table shared their experience and mapped out further joint prospects of the realization of the project under the same name.

Youths and the great Volga Route Heritage
The round table was aimed to discuss possibilities and prospects of joint work on involvement of youths in studying and preservation of natural and cultural heritage located on the waterway from Northern Europe to Asia across the Baltic, the Black Sea and the Caspian Seas.

  • Attracting attention of the world community to the issue of preservation of the cultural and natural heritage as a basis of the stable development;
  • determining the objects of the cultural and natural heritage of the Great Volga Route, embodying the mutual influence of different cultures and nations;
  • creating the common information space and system of exchange of the historical, cultural and other information;
  • developing forms and methods of attracting youths from various countries to the process of preservation and exploration of the cultural and natural heritage of the Great Volga Route;
  • creating a system of interaction between the members of the project in the scientific research sphere;
  • creating a system of cultural bonds and exchange between countries - participants of the project;
  • forming conditions for development of the youth tourism within the territory of the Great Volga Route:
  • developing forms and methods of interaction between the state and municipal bodies of youth affaires and children's and youth voluntary units of the countries - participants of the project in the field of preservation and exploration of the cultural and natural heritage of the Great Volga Route.

Outcome

The participants managed to learn more about the cultural and natural sites of Russia and other countries. They obtained new skills which could help them in the preservation of the World Heritage. The participants showed their determination to take an active part in the preservation of cultural and natural variety. And now they could cooperate at an international level.

The participants of the Forum expressed their numerous ideas on the further development and transformation of the project "Youth and the Great Volga Route Heritage", proposed by the Russian Federation. It was decided that the initiative would form the basis for the international educational project "From Europe to Asia across the Three Seas". We expect the project to unite the countries of Northern, Central Europe and Asia located in the area of three seas: the Baltic, the Black and the Caspian.

It was mentioned at the Forum that the key objectives of the project coincide with the aims and problems of the "Education For All" program, which is a priority problem for UNESCO. That is why the project "From Europe to Asia Across the three seas" can be included in the program as an important component. The co-operation in the frame of the project can be at a sub-regional or regional level. And a variant of the co-operation was the proposal to unite the efforts of the countries of the Caspian region and engage young people in the process of the preservation of the ecological equilibrium and the heritage of the region.

Aiming to spread the ideas of the Forum, the representatives of the Organizational Committee informed the participants of the Second Northern Research Forum (Russia; September, 2002) of the outcome of the Forum. The meeting was run by the President of Iceland and gathered researchers, statesmen, businessmen, representatives of the governmental and non-governmental organizations from Northern countries and regions to discuss the problems of sustainable development and promotion of the Northern Society.

Novgorod Recommendations

  • Support the initiative of the World Heritage Youth Forum (Karlskrona, Sweden) to declare November, 16, the Day of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage as a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Heritage;
  • Consider it necessary to implement the experience of the UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network in exploration and preservation of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage into the system of general, vocational and extra-curriculum education;
  • find it expedient to implement the further development of the UNESCO Special Project Young People's Participation in World Heritage Preservation and Promotion taking into account the concept which is targeted on assistance to the dialogue between civilizations and was proposed during the International Conference "World Heritage in Young Hands - Dialogue between Civilizations" (Cairo, Egypt, 2002);
  • express their assurance that implementation of the project "Youth and the Great Volga Route Heritage" suggested and supported by the participants of the UNESCO World Heritage Forum in Veliky Novgorod will help unite the efforts of the youths in their activities on exploration and preservation of the cultural and natural heritage;
  • find it advisable to submit materials, documents and appeal of the participants of the UNESCO World Heritage Youth Forum to the session of the Northern Research Forum (September; 12-16, 2002, Russia) and the International Congress of Experts on the World Heritage (November, 14-16, Italy);
  • are inclined to submit the Forum materials to the organizers of the project "Great Volga Route" with the purpose of discussing the possibilities of co-operation in various trends.

Organizers

Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation;
UNESCO Moscow Office;
National Commission in the Russian Federation for UNESCO;
The Ministry of Foreign Affaires of the Russian Federation;
the Administration of the Novgorod Region

Participants and observers

85 participants, including students, teachers and representatives from the NGOs
Students and teachers: Armenia (4), Azerbaijan (2), Belarus (4), Estonia (4), Finland (4), Germany (3), Hungary (3), Latvia (3), Lithuania (3), Republic of Moldova (4) , Russian Federation (34) and United Kingdom (4)
UNESCO HQ (1), UNESCO Moscow Office (2), Ministry of Education of the RF (1), Novgorod Region Administration (2), Commission of the RF for UNESCO (1).

Countries represented

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Russian Federation and United Kingdom

Co-Sponsors

UNESCO WHC;
UNESCO ASP;
Section for UNESCO Clubs and New Partnerships;
UNESCO Moscow Office

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