Participants in youth day at International Arctic Forum discuss wide range of issues

ST. PETERSBURG, April 8. /TASS/. Participants in the youth day at the 5th International Arctic Forum "The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue" have discussed a wide range of issues on Monday, from particularities of working with the youth in the North and involving young people into efforts to resolve social-economic issues in Russia's regions, to prospects for developing alternative energy and climat change issues. The 5th International Arctic Forum will be held in St. Petersburg on April 9-10. On Monday the forum's youth day was held. In 2019 the forum is called "The Arctic: An Ocean of Opportunity." The event is organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the forum's general information partner and official photo host agency. Young people from Arctic regions are becoming more and more active when it comes to participation in country-wide contests. "Over 16,000 participants from the Arctic zone took part in contests organized by the platform 'Russia - Land of Opportunity'. At the same time, I have to say that all projects implemented by the platform are realized on the whole territory of Russia," deputy head of the "Russia - Land of Opportunity" platform Vladislav Davankov said at the International Arctic Forum. The growing number of participants from Arctic regions was also noted by Larisa Pastukhova, chairperson of the Council of the Russian Union of Public Associations "Youth Social-Economic Initiatives." Our contest 'Our Country - My Russia' relies on the institution of public participation. Last year we had 7,000 projects encompassing the whole spectrum of issues of social-economic development of Russian territories. This year we expect around 20,000 projects, including those from northern territories and related to development of regions traditionally included in Arctic regions," Pastukhova said. President of the Architecture and Design Fund Ivan Moskvin suggested to create the World Youth Center for Earth's Sustainable Development. "We have come up with an initiative - to create the World Youth Center for Earth's Sustainable Development. The center will be tasked with determining main goals and coordinating them with regions via telecommunications," Moskvin said. Some experts complained that young people are leaving Arctic territories in growing numbers. Head of Sapfir Ltd. Pavel Lenets noted that talented young people are leaving the Arctic because of the lack of social opportunities. "Social transformations are needed. If city infrastructure is not updated, everything will continue stagnating," he said. Forum participants also talked about climate change. President of the Russian Hydrometeorological Society Alexander Bedritsky said that mechanisms of adapting to climate change need to be developed as soon as possible. "Experience showed that adaptation is an issue of international significance. No country can independently overcome those massive effects that are happening, that we observe," Bedritsky said. Read more