Organized by such respected establishments as the MIREA Russian Technological University and the Japan-Russia Youth Exchange Center in Tokyo, the event also enjoyed the support of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Among those who were selected to represent Volgograd and Hiroshima during the Forum, one could see the ex-participants of the International Youth Conference for Peace in the Future, and members of the "Russia – Japan" Society in Volgograd.

The Forum's main goal was to search for and find the new ways of cooperation between the Russian and Japanese twin-cities.

During the first day, the city teams demonstrated their video presentations, and their participants introduced themselves.

On the second and the third day, the young people exchanged their personal cooperation experiences, and suggested ideas for the development of cultural, ecological and youth initiatives in their cities.

The Forum culminated in the elaboration of the "City of the Future" image, which the participants put together with the help of experts and lecturer.

At the Forum's opening ceremony, the Director of the Department for state's youth policy of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education Mr. Denis Ashirov emphasized that "the development of youth exchanges is one of our priority tasks within the frame of the Russian-Japanese Year of Interregional and Twin-City Exchanges" and expressed his anticipation that the Forum would become a recurring platform for fulfilling this task.

Ph: vuzopedia.ru