Youth Time

The Youth Time International Movement is a nonprofit, noncommercial, nongovernmental and nonpolitical organization.^[4] It was founded by youth representatives from Greece, India, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, France, Italy, and Russia. The mission of the organization is to share experience and search for common ways of development for the younger generations of different countries. The headquarters of the organization are in Prague.^[5][6] The movement and its Youth Time Magazine have been labelled as a "sophisticated form of Russian propaganda" by Czech media such as the servers Echo 24 and Neovlivní.cz.^[7] Sabina Slonková of Neovlivní.cz has called Julia Kinash (president of the Youth Time movement) the "secret first lady" of Russian propaganda.^[8]

History of the movement

The Youth Time Movement was founded in December 2010 in Prague, Czech Republic. The idea of creating Youth Time belongs to the participants of the youth section of the World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations".^[6] They formed an initiative group and decided to establish the organization. Julia Kinash was elected president of the movement.^[9]

Representatives of world religions, "Dialogue of Civilizations" meeting (Rhodes)

In 2011 Youth Time opened a branch in Moscow, Russia. The movement holds an annual forum for the youth of the world – The Rhodes Youth Forum. Greece. This is one of the main events among the movement`s activities.^[10] For the first time, in 2012, a number of outstanding social projects, presented at the Rhodes Youth Forum, received financial grants for their realization. The jury of the forum included: Vladimir Yakunin, the Founding President of the World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations"; Kamran Mofid, the founder of “Globalisation for the Common Good” initiative; Fearghas O'Beara, the Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of European Parliament; Martin Kugler, the founder and director of “Kairos Consulting” nonprofit organizations; Calvina Fay, the executive director of the "Drug Free America" Foundation. The Youth Time community focuses its attention on current changes that challenge modern society. To be able to face these challenges participants were asked to present their own projects. The fields of interest were: “Education and Employment”, “Intercultural Projects”, “Media and Social Projects”, and “Improving the Quality of Life”.^[5] Members of the Jury have selected three projects, which received support and are to be implemented in 2013. The last day of the forum was dedicated to the workshop “Global Roadmap of Youth Initiatives 2021”.

The movement unites members from around the world.^[11] Some of them are leaders of nongovernmental organizations.^[12] Besides the main agenda, the movement organizes public lectures and conferences for students from various universities in the EU^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]} and other countries^[20] under the initiative "Education of My Dream". The French daily newspaper Le Figaro pointed out the positive contribution of the movement in the development of inter-cultural communication and the youth’s ability of creating “the world of my dream”.^[5] Main partners of Youth Time are: World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations", Alstom SA, Siemens AG, Motor Sich, Association Dialogue Franco-Russe.^[21]

Movement Manifesto

The Youth Time Movement declares to support the following values: equality, tolerance, solidarity, active participation, community involvement, sustainability, security, responsibility, respect for family, spirituality, an active approach to the future, intercultural and intergenerational dialogue.^[22]

The main goals of the movement are to promote an active inter-cultural dialogue based on the principles of transparency and equality, to exchange knowledge and experience between the generations, to save the national and cultural identities with common and original values. The global aim of the organization is to coordinate the efforts of young people in different ways in the development of world society in culture, education, and media.^[10][22]

Rhodes Youth Forum

Logo of the Rhodes Youth Forum

The Rhodes Youth Forum is the main youth event, organized by Youth Time. The Forum is held annually on the Greek island of Rhodes in the autumn.^[23] Traditionally, it is attended by some 150 young activists from around the world. The main purpose of the forum is to develop a road-map of initiatives to address social, economic, and political problems. In 2012, the following problems were discussed: education and employment of young people, the problems of active participation in public life, intercultural dialogue, and interaction. Young people presented 50 projects, three of which were granted financial support for their realization.^[10]

Youth Time Magazine

Youth Time magazine presents information and analyses dedicated to the actual problems that are interesting to the young people in different countries all over the world. 25,000 copies of the magazine are published every two months in Russian and English. Currently, the list of distribution countries includes the Czech Republic, Germany, and Russia.^[24] The target audience of the magazine is students, youth activists and organizations, young creative people, and employers who are interested in young talent.

Awards

The international movement Youth Time was among the finalists in the prestigious EMEA Gold SABRE Awards 2013.^[25] The global communication campaign of Youth Time was nominated for the award in the “Public Education” category. The communication campaign, aimed at promoting the organization’s ideas and values, shaping active intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, and drawing attention to the organization’s activities, takes place in 60 countries around the world.^[25] The SABRE Awards 2013 finalists were selected from amongst a record number of entrants, with over 2,400 applications submitted from every country in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa^[26]

References