At most conferences, even those focused on youth, it is not typical to see young people brainstorming changes in youth policy with government officials or young adults playing a lead role in organizing events, but this is exactly what happened at the Youth Initiatives in Action Conference held in Moscow on November 16-17, 2010.
The conference gathered over 180 youth and adults from across Russia, including government officials and those working with young people, to celebrate the success of the USAID-funded Youth Development Competencies Program (YDCP) [7], developed and implemented by IREX. The participants also shared best practices learned while participating in YDCP and worked with adult policy makers to improve youth programming.
The two action-packed, fun-filled days energized both the youth and adult participants and engaged them in serious discussions about positive youth development and how to raise the level of civic engagement among young citizens in their regions. Vera Murzabekova, a member of the Youth Steering Committee, which played a lead role in organizing the conference noted, “My expectations came true! I thought it would be energetic, spirited, spectacular, cool and fun, and it was!”
All of the conference events were organized with the aim of facilitating youth/adult collaboration. For discussion sections, groups were randomly assigned so participants of different ages and people from different regions had the chance to intermingle. In one activity, the groups had to write a Twitter tweet about the conference, while objective observers evaluated participant interaction, and reported their findings to the audience. This activity was insightful because it showed that even though adults and young people understand the idea of positive youth development, putting it in practice can be challenging.
In addition to discussing youth policy and tweeting as equals with adults, the young participants also spoke at the sessions, led master classes, and created a newspaper and a video report of the event. Members of the Youth Steering Committee were on the front lines of all conference activities, organizing evening entertainment for the participants and coordinating the work of the younger school students. As Ana Skvarnik, a member of the youth Steering Committee put it, “The conference was very dynamic and lively, very different from other conferences where everyone just sits and listens. At this conference it wasn’t possible to just sit! And it was very useful because there were so many people, people from the government and youth working on different projects in different regions.”
The conference was a great motivator for the young activists, and they are eager to move forward on community improvement projects, and build on the connections made in Moscow. The adults realized that young people have many valuable ideas about youth programming, and both groups feel more comfortable working together as partners. The young people’s leading role at the conference was a key factor in the building of momentum and energy around the establishment of effective youth policy, and in demonstrating that positive youth development theory really does work in practice.
Charles North, Mission Director of the USAID Mission to Russia [8], spoke to the youth at the opening of the conference, “You are the future of your communities across the country. You are the future leaders of Russia and you are the future leaders of our world. And from what I’ve seen, I’m very positive about what the future looks like.”