Master degree students of the International Institute of Economics and Linguistics of Irkutsk State University took part in the Baikal Youth Forum. Yu Wenshuai and Ma Dequan, students from China, majoring in Commerce and Linguistics, visited the educational sites and practiced their Russian language.

Yu Wenshuai, forum participant:

I am very happy to be a participant of the Baikal Youth Forum. I met representatives of youth from different countries here. We talked, played, sang and danced together. I have improved my skills of the Russian language. This is a completely new experience for me. Now I also like to take part in various activities which can help me in learning the Russian language as well as to understand Russian culture better.

The Baikal Youth Forum was held in Buryatia, in the village of Sukhaya on the shore of Lake Baikal from 16 to 19 of August. Young people aged 18-35 from BRICS, CIS countries, Mongolia, the Republic of Cuba, as well as representatives of different regions of Russia took part in the Forum. The participants are heads of public organizations, specialists in youth policy, working youth. There are 300 young people in total.

The program of the Forum included the following educational sites: “Patriotic Education”, “Volunteerism”, “Creativity”, “Youth Media” and “Career”. Leading federal and regional experts in the field of public youth policy and non-profit sector, opinion leaders held seminars and workshops for the forum participants.

The goal of the Forum is to form international youth teams that will cooperate in implementation of joint projects aimed at strengthening relations between countries. As a part of the Year of Volunteer Movement in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Forum became a platform for increasing cooperation between CIS countries in the field of volunteering.