“Conserving Common Heritage” – 2019

The Russian-Serbian youth encounter, “Conserving common heritage,” was held in Moscow, Russian Federation in September 2019, as a meeting point of youth stakeholders interested in nurture and study of common historical and cultural bonds between Russia and Serbia. The organization committee consisted of Maria Prokofyeva, Darya Maracheva, and Lyubov Kondrakova.

The project included participants from Serbia, Republic of Srpska and Montenegro, on behalf of the Serbian side, and numerous youth representatives from various regions of the Russian Federation. Thanks to the invitation by the organizer, ICG was represented by Miloš Stolić, secretary-general to ICG, and Stevan Gligorović, ICG advisor for political geography and ecology.

The three-day program agenda consisted of visits to numerous Moscow institutions.

In the Serbian embassy in the Russian Federation, the participants were addressed by his excellency, the ambassador Slavenko Terzić; as well as Nikita Bondarev, assistant professor at the Russian State University of social sciences; Vyacheslav Charsky, on behalf of the Russia Beyond portal; and Nemanja Vukčević, on behalf of the Institute for the Serbian Language of the Belgorod State University.

Within the visit to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the attendees were addressed by the deputy Artyom Turov and the vice president of the youth Duma of the Russian Federation, Elena Erakina.

The third day of the project was dedicated to the visit to the youth innovation center, Boiling point (Russian:  Точка кипения), which functions within the Moscow Agency for strategic initiatives. This center is meant to be the space for young people who, by using its resources, can turn into reality their ideas and projects in various fields, connect with one another and receive advice and various other services, all within civil society, technological advancement, and youth, university, and international work and cooperation.

Alongside presenting the possibilities of the center, the attendees were further greeted and addressed by the representatives of the Gorchakov Fund of the Ministry of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation, the Association of the volunteer centers, the Russian geography society and the Institute for the Serbian Language of the Belgorod State University.

The official program was complemented by cultural activities, together with the possibility of the participants to familiarise themselves with attitudes and ideas presented by numerous lecturers, to exchange ideas and beliefs,  and to receive responses to questions related to the Russian-Serbian youth cooperation. All this together makes the project highly successful and establishes solid ground for the development of further cooperation.

Miloš Stolić

ICG secretary-general