On December 3, 2020, within the framework of the “Woman Leader” program and the “Embassy of the Future” project (organized by “Business Achievements and Diplomacy Advocate” (BAnDA)), with the participation of the Eurasian Children's Community, a round table “CHILDREN'S DIPLOMACY. A NEW LOOK" tool place. The goal of the "Embassy of the Future" project is to create a sustainable, actively developing international platform that will unite the best initiatives in the field of children's diplomacy. To implement such a promising and ambitious initiative, a frank discussion is needed, which will outline ways to resolve existing problems and ways of further development.
Therefore, the preamble to the round table was the thesis that in modern conditions the formation of the skills of "people's" diplomacy, intercultural communication, a culture of trust acquire a new meaning in the world - for both children and their parents. According to the co-organizer of the discussion, business analyst, participant of the "Women - Leader" program Aliya Maulesheva, taking into account the low culture of communication and the demand for its revival, as well as significant losses in live communication during the transition of humanity to the online world, society needs to quickly resolve issues that will affect the upbringing and development of the new generation.
The round table was opened by Lyubov Glebova, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia. Lyubov Nikolaevna noted that a woman's, maternal view is very important when discussing problems of the world and childhood. At the same time, with a general drop in the level of interaction between states in conditions of political confrontation, the role and demand for intercultural communication, for informal communication between people, for the development of public diplomacy, increases. According to the diplomat, the global crisis associated with the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the disclosure and implementation of objective conditions for development.
Speaking about children's diplomacy, Lyubov Glebova singled out the main, in her opinion, feature: it is very difficult to deceive a child. The sincerity, emotional truthfulness of children is widely trusted. Children do not deceive either each other or adults, and their appeal to adults who decide the fate of the world is most effective. Lyubov Nikolaevna cited the International Holidays program in Livadia as an example, when children from 30 countries staged a play based on Pushkin's tales, without even knowing Russian - conveying meaning through gestures, facial expressions, and costumes. In conclusion, the children turned to the adults with a request “to make for us the same wonderful world as our performance was - as a fruit of joint work, friendship and mutual understanding”. The task of the participants in international projects, according to the parliamentarian, is to look for and master new formats for children's diplomacy - in conditions of various “barriers”, as well as to involve children themselves as experts.
Then the floor was taken by the captain of the “Business Achievements and Diplomacy Advocate” team Alexandra Sukiasyan, who introduced its participants, as well as the goals and objectives of the project. The main mission of BAnDA is to form the principles of international communication for children and adolescents from 10 to 18 years old. Alexandra's colleague and partner, co-founder of the Eurasian Children's Community, Lyubov Karelova, presented a digital platform for the community, which began work in September 2020. This is Compasskids' global resource for career guidance for children and the hottest careers of the future. The Embassy of the Future is a digital platform on the platform of the Eurasian Children's Community, which brings together the best initiatives and practices of international children's diplomacy.
A roundtable on diplomacy would not have been sufficiently representative without the presence of foreign diplomats. Pablo Barahona, Director of the Chilean Trade Mission in the Russian Federation, diplomat of the Chilean Embassy, who has been living in Russia for 10 years, shared his experience of adaptation with his family and children in a new country for him and emphasized the role of a friendly environment for establishing intercultural communication.
Nadiya Cherkasova, Chairperson of the Opora Rossii Committee for the Development of Women's Entrepreneurship, spoke about the experience of the Committee for the Support of Maternal Entrepreneurship, and programs that encourage the combination of business and motherhood. Among the programs supervised by Nadia are international competitions of business projects, some of which are represented by children and adolescents from foreign countries. According to Nadia Cherkasova, mothers-entrepreneurs could become mentors and curators for such programs, contributing to the development of children's diplomacy at the level of international business.
Immediately after Nadia's speech, Jennet Abduraimova, co-organizer of the "Embassy of the Future" project, member of the EDS Board of Trustees, patent attorney of the Russian Federation, solemnly announced the signing of a partnership agreement between EDS and Opora Rossii.
The speech of Andrey Baykov, Vice-Rector for Scientific Work and International Cooperation of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, Associate Professor, Candidate of Political Sciences, turned out to be extremely interesting. Speaking about the phenomenon of children's diplomacy, the political scientist noted the primary importance of teaching children communication skills - as the basis of intercultural communication. The paradigm of correct communication, according to Andrei Baikov, can only be established in childhood, and mistakes in the construction of communication are subsequently costly. The skills of live, direct communication nowadays are inferior to online practice, which negates such skills as carefully listening to the interlocutor, not interrupting, and feeling the personality of the interlocutor.
And most importantly, what is called emotional intelligence - when in his speech a person is able to reflect the interests of the interlocutor, which will ultimately lead to mutual understanding and mutual benefit. In our time, the scientist believes, it is necessary to purposefully teach children, including oratory, the ability to understand someone else's culture and the skill of using information. Therefore, for the development of children's diplomacy in Russia, a professional educational program is needed, on which you need to start working now.
The theme of education and upbringing of children, raised by Andrei Baikov, was continued by Yana Besyadinskaya, Ambassador of the Russian Association for the Assistance to the United Nations, an opera singer, Honorary Professor of Moscow State Pedagogical University. In her opinion, the culture of communication is also formed by world-renowned authorities who concentrate wisdom and deep knowledge in their personality, and one should strive for the possibility of communicating with them. Another important aspect, from the artist's point of view, is knowledge of their roots, their ancestry, family values and traditions. No technology and skills can help you achieve success if you don't know and understand yourself and others. Conscious leadership, inspiration of the creator, creation, fulcrum and the highest goal, interactive tasks form the energy basis for modern learning and education of the individual. In the future, the key role will be played not by information, with which we are already oversaturated, but by personality and what values and energy it transmits.
Yana Besyadinskaya believes that for the formation of a new culture of children's diplomacy in Russia, it makes sense to take into account the Soviet experience, as well as create an institution of qualified mentoring on an interethnic and intercultural basis.
An expert on public diplomacy, a participant in the movement of twin cities, pro-rector of VolSMU Natalya Alshuk, shared her experience of interaction between twin cities of Volgograd and Turkish Izmir - at the level of school education and joint dance culture by the creative team “Volzhanochka”. According to Natalia, the involvement of children from different cultures creates a unique space for non-verbal communication and understanding and penetration into another culture.
The roundtable program was completed by Kishore Mordani, a member of the international youth entrepreneurship community, a member of the board of directors of the International Art of Living Foundation. The entrepreneur spoke about the experience of immersing his children, who were born in Russia, in Russian culture. Kishore Mordani noted that the multilingualism that occurs in expat families is a great incentive for such children to be more open and communicative - they get a lot of knowledge about another culture in a natural way. And thus, the phenomenon of public diplomacy arises as a process of constant education of each other, to which children can make a very big contribution with their spontaneity and sincerity.
In conclusion, Irina Saltykova, a participant of the "Embassy of the Future" project, a member of the Council of the Committee for the Development of Women's Entrepreneurship "Support of Russia" and an expert of the Higher School of Economics, RANEPA, spoke. ideas and a fresh approach to the topic of children's diplomacy. According to Irina, communication should be continued and there are already ideas for the next meeting.
Summing up the results of the round table, Aliya Maulesheva noted that the speeches of the participants convincingly showed the relevance of the development of children's diplomacy - for the conditions of the modern world, for Russia and for global security.