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A year ago, I would have considered the news of me going to Australia to be completely unrealistic. However, early one July morning, there I was in Moscow International Airport getting on a plane and holding tickets that would eventually bring me to Sydney for the 2nd International Youth Parliament (IYP) sitting. About 24 hours later I find myself in what we call in Saint Petersburg late September (however people in the land Down Under referred to it as winter or moreover coldest months of the year, very weird people).
When I had spent a week or two in Australia I still could not believe that I was there and that I had met so many people from different corners of the world. These young people fought for the voice of the youth to be heard in their countries. Where else, while having kangaroo for lunch, could you have met a Peruvian girl who acts for sustainability in her country sitting next to you? Where else could you meet a girl from Sudan, to whom you can ask questions about the situation in her country and learn what she does to improve it? Where else could you attend a marvelously prepared presentation of Middle Eastern Countries and learn about the singer Fairouz – who people refer to as the Celine Dion of the Arabic World? I could go on forever, but one thing I can say is that all this was possible at the IYP 2004 organized by Oxfam Community Aid Abroad. In 8 days I managed to travel all over the world and moreover learn about each side of sustainability, be it Environmental, Human rights protection or Conflict Resolution etc.
All in all there were about 300 delegates from most countries of the world. Each one was carefully selected by an application process. Most delegates were provided with Oxfam scholarships to go to the IYP or managed to do some fundraising in their home countries. And each delegate represented either a community or an organization in their home country.
I am with Saint Petersburg Students for Sustainability (SSS). It is a student community based in Saint Petersburg State Politechnical University in Saint Petersburg, Russia, of which I am a postgraduate student of. Mainly our activities are about promoting the concept of sustainability and sustainable development among the students at our University and to encourage inclusion of the concept in the student’s research. Also, we have some projects which are aimed at creating multicultural awareness in Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg is quite a multicultural city with lots of people of different nationalities. At the moment the situation is not really safe for minority groups and tourists. Unfortunately, there are quite a few young people who think that Russia is for Russians and sometimes they tend to put their words into practice. To help stop this happening, we occasionally organize lectures in colleges and schools about different cultures.
Also SSS has been a partner of the World Student Community for Sustainable Development (WSC-SD), an organization of which we obtained membership during the conference held at Chalmers University in Sweden last March.
So now we are walking hand in hand with student communities at such world famous universities as MIT in the USA, the University of Tokyo in Japan and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland etc. Apart from assisting in organizing the Annual Meeting of the WSC-SD, in which students who are doing research in the domain of Sustainable Development in different corners of the world may attend, every two months we contribute articles about the Russian culture to the ‘Vision’ – an electronic publication of the WSC-SD.
The trip to Australia was a good chance to visit Australian students who are involved in different actions for sustainability in their country. In one of the IYP newsletters prior to my departure for Australia, I learnt about the Students of Sustainability Conference (SSC) held in mid-July at La Trobe University in Melbourne. A trip to Melbourne for me was like going to late October in St.Pete’s. It was considerably colder there and in mid-summer for me I had to wear a winter coat and shoes. Unbelievable! Another surprise in Melbourne was the fact that the SSC was organized by Australian Hippies. I think it is really great to combine Hippie Culture with the Sustainability concept. You win both in quantity and quality. At La Trobe, I presented Students for Ethnic Tolerance in Saint Petersburg, Russia workshop.
I was a bit exhausted, but filled with positive emotions and satisfaction from self-realization and energized to implement the ideas I learnt at the two conferences in Australia. Bring on the Russian Youth.
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Konstantin Vasilyev
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Moldova Eugeniu Graur | Sep 10th, 2004
Nice article. I was also invited to attend the IYP 2004, but because the lack of funds, was unable to attend, but I am sure that it brought a real change in a few people's lives.
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