WYF-2024 in Sochi: INRTU Students Share Their Impressions

The delegation of the Irkutsk Region to the World Youth Festival (WYF) included INRTU’s 10 students and employees. INRTU students actively participated in the work of the Forum.

The Festival was held held on March 1-7 in the federal territory "Sirius" under the leadership of Rosmolodezh. The event in Sochi united 20 thousand people from almost 190 countries.

According to the website of the organizing committee, the Forum was opened on March 2 by President Vladimir Putin. He noted that there are no borders for youth. The head of state urged the young generation to create a safe and balanced world, stressing the special importance of friendship between peoples.

The Irkutsk Region was represented at the Festival by about 90 people, including INRTU students. INRTU students Elena Kausheva, Ekaterina Kachimskaya, Artem Kuzmin, Ekaterina Kutyavina, Anastasia Domanina, Alisa Phillipova, Tatiana Badikova and Andrey Ryazantsev passed a strict selection process (portfolio, essay and video business card). They admit that they dreamed of attending the Sochi Festival.

Future city planner Anastasia Domanina came to the forum as a young urbanist. Elena Kausheva, a student of the School of High Technologies, won the competition for her achievements in social activities, work in the media center and trade union committee. Andrey Ryazantsev is a student of the School of Power Engineering and EuroSibEnergo - INRTU Corporate Training and Research Center. He had the opportunity to take part in the Festival by participating in the university's sports life.

The Baikal School of BRICS freshman and future linguist Alisa Filippova has twice been an ambassador of the international award #МЫВМЕСТЕ ("WETOGETHER"), aimed at supporting socially significant initiatives. In Sochi, Alisa Filippova and Artyom Metelev, head of the State Duma Committee on Youth Policy, announced the start of the second season of this project. Alisa's task was to advise authors on the design and submission of applications and to promote the prize. The student also had time to participate in an open dialogue on "BRICS: Union of Equals" ("Knowledge. First" Marathon) which included citizens of India, Brazil and Egypt.

"Discussion with experts of international level is an opportunity to learn how BRICS countries achieve effective cooperation. We have immersed ourselves in the atmosphere of the Festival: there is an incredible number of activities. The first few days have given us a lot of new emotions and impressions," says Alice.

Artem Kuzmin flew to the Forum as the head of the regional branch of the Association of Student Sports Clubs (ASSC) of Russia. The INRTU student visited thematic sports sites, discussed plans for the development of youth sports in the Irkutsk Region with Sergey Kryukov, Executive Director of the ASSC of Russia. Artem also attended a meeting with Olympic champions - sisters Dina and Polina Averin, Nikita Nagorny. 

In addition, the delegation included Alexander Kononov, Vice-Rector for Research, and Olga Morozova, Assistant Vice-Rector for Campus and Corporate Management and a graduate of INRTU.

As Olga notes, it was her longtime dream as a student to participate in such a large-scale event. As luck would have it, she received the letter with the results of the competition on her birthday.

"The Festival is held under the motto of multinational unity. In order to improve communication between foreigners and Russians and immersion in the local culture, each region of Russia was assigned a participating country in the Festival.

Representatives of the Irkutsk Region prepared activities for guests from Jordan and Kuwait. We organized a flash mob with dancing, talked about Lake Baikal and Siberian frost, and then everyone prepared an individual gift. In return, the young people taught us their folk dances. Governor Igor Kobzev visited the Festival. He personally met the participants from the sponsored countries and gave them souvenirs in the form of Baikal seals," - said Olga Morozova.

You can follow the events of WYF-2024 on the official website of the project, in the VK group and on Telegram.