The solutions proposed by the students on the topic of youth cooperation within the CIS will be transferred to the Commonwealth Secretariat for possible implementation in practice
On November 12, 2024, a business game “The CIS Model: Humanitarian Cooperation through the eyes of Youth” was held at N.I. Lobachevsky National National University. The meeting is organized by the World Public Summit, a global discussion platform for discussing the prospects for constructive interaction between representatives of the international community.
The event was attended by more than 90 Russian and foreign students studying in law and economics, as well as at the Institute of International Relations and World History of the National University of Economics.
At the beginning of the meeting, Sergey Lebedev, Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Independent States, addressed the audience via video link. In his speech, he greeted the participants of the game and said: “The Commonwealth of Independent States has been in existence for more than 30 years. During this time, we have traveled a long, difficult and at the same time fruitful path. Currently, special attention in the Commonwealth is paid to intercultural dialogue and the preservation of a common humanitarian space. Numerous educational projects are being implemented, congresses of scientists, forums of creative intelligentsia, sports games of the CIS countries, film festivals and book competitions are being held. All these are in–demand platforms for young people to communicate, to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between the citizens of our countries. The CIS is a space of opportunities, and your suggestions, your aspirations to act and change the world for the better are of great importance for its future. And, who knows, maybe soon your names will be heard at real higher-level meetings, and your proposed solutions will become the basis for new international initiatives.”
Alexander Bedny, Vice-Rector for International Affairs and External Relations of Lobachevsky University, also welcomed the participants of the business game.
“Students from almost a hundred countries study at UNN. This is a unique opportunity to communicate, discover new cultures, and learn different languages. You, representatives of the younger generation, are called upon to seek and implement new ideas, create new projects and develop skills in finding joint solutions that will advance cultural and humanitarian cooperation between the CIS countries. Today’s business game “The CIS Model: Humanitarian Cooperation through the eyes of Youth” provides you with such a unique opportunity, since the competencies that you develop will be transferred to representatives of this international organization for consideration,” said the Vice–rector.
The moderator of the business game at the UNN site was the head of the CIS Model, Natalia Zabolotskikh, a political scientist, author and coordinator of international and All-Russian projects, head of the Eurasian Center for Project Initiatives.
During the event, students acted as representatives of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The topic under discussion was “Youth cooperation within the CIS at international forums and conferences”, which the future parliamentarians chose by a general vote. In a playful way, the participants modeled the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS and organized their work within it. The discussion was very stormy and informative, the guys offered a wide variety of ideas on youth cooperation within the CIS.
“Such events are a very good platform for sharing experiences. Today, my team included students from various faculties of our university – economists, international experts, lawyers. It was very interesting for me to consider the topic of this meeting from different sides, work out a joint solution with colleagues and subsequently present it to the rest of the participants,” David Manukyan, a third–year student of the Faculty of Law, shared his impressions of the business game. The young man spoke at the event as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. David is studying at the Faculty of Law of Lobachevsky University and plans to connect his life with international relations in the future.
The winners of the business game were the teams representing Turkmenistan, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Reference. The project “Business Game “CIS Model: Humanitarian Cooperation through the Eyes of Youth” is being implemented by the Directorate of the World Public Summit, established by the International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations “Assembly of Peoples of Eurasia and Africa”. The project is supported by the CIS Executive Committee and the Presidential Grants Fund.
The partner of the Assembly of the Peoples of Eurasia and Africa in the development and conduct of the Business Game “CIS Model” is the ANO Eurasian Center for Project Initiatives. The project has high political and social significance and is able to unite a large number of foreign students from CIS countries studying at Russian universities around the idea of mutual cooperation in the humanitarian field through the development of unified interstate approaches.
