04.08.2023
What can young people do for peace? Volgograd expert spoke at the international webinar
2020 marks 75 years since one of the darkest pages in human history: the first military usage of nuclear weapons. Therefore, on August 4, the “Mayors for Peace” International Organization organized the “Future Leaders Peace Activism” webinar. It united representatives of five countries, including the assistant professor of Volgograd State University Mr. Nikita Piskunov.
All young webinar participants had previously taken part in the projects by the organization, and after returning home – continued with their own peace initiatives. Nikita Piskunov himself won a grant for the “Hiroshima and Peace” intensive summer course in 2016 and spent a week studying at the platform of Hiroshima State Universities and participating in an experience exchange with his colleagues from several countries – who were all, too, involved in planning and holding peace initiatives for young audiences.
Let us be reminded that the “Mayors for Peace” unites 7,909 cities from 164 countries, whose main goal is for the humanity to abandon the very idea of ever using nuclear weapons. However, its equally important goal is to make cities sustainable against the face of any crises, including natural disasters and international conflicts.
What are the projects held by the webinar’s participants?
The Brazilian city of Santos started a YouTube channel, where they post interviews with professionals in the area of peacemaking and diplomacy. And their volunteers organized in schools the “Peaceful Resolution of Conflicts” program that teaches to solve your problems in a constructive way – since the very childhood.
The French Grigny has an annual Memory Day, where different diasporas read aloud poems about peace and send floating lanterns along the river.
The volunteers from Hiroshima and Nagasaki write their own city tours and accompany tourists. Their motto is “everyone can become the bomb’s victim, but also everyone can become a part of the solution”.
Volgograd resident Nikita Piskunov shared the best practices of the People’s Diplomacy Center. This institution organizers regular conferences and lectures on international politics, and exchange programs with the other cities and countries.
Among the webinar’s guests of honor there were the Secretary General of “Mayors for Peace” and the executive director of the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (which received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2017).
The full recording of the event can be watched on the "Mayors for Peace" official YouTube channel
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