2nd edition of the Eastern Congress of Young Leaders
How to avoid online threats, artificial intelligence in education and challenges in the activities of International Meeting Houses are just some of the issues discussed during the second edition of the Eastern Congress of Young Leaders. The event was attended by young leaders from Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania.
The Congress were held on 13-14 June 2024 in Lublin Conference Centre. The inspiration for its realization was the 18th edition of the Economic Forum of Young Leaders (FEML), the largest international socio-economic conference in Central and Eastern Europe organises by Foundation as an accompanying event to the Economic Forum in Karpacz (formerly in Krynica).
The mission of this year’s Congress was to lead the debate and create space for it, and to strive to adequately prepare young people to participate in the discussion on the future of Poland, Europe and the world. Various types of problems faced by young people, such as employment and the labour market, in order to look for effective solutions was analysed. Special attention was paid to this issues. Mariusz Wiktorowicz – Head of the Information and Career Planning Center in Lublin, in his speech, presented to young people what and how to learn to become a leader on the labor market. The Chief emphasized that time is the greatest capital of young people. According to him, it is also worth taking up a job while still studying to gain experience that is useful and sought after on the labor market. Through solid work at a young age, young people also make a name for themselves. In turn, in the panel entitled “The corporation – imagination vs. reality”, almost all participants emphasised the role of studies in the context of acquiring soft skills. Maciej Dudkowski, a manager from PwC Poland, advised Congress participants to persistently pursue their goals and not to worry about possible failures. In addition, he emphasised that opinions about working several hours a day are untrue.
One of the most interesting panels at this year’s Congress was the panel entitled “Interculturalism a challenge in the activities of International Meeting Houses?” Rev. Dr. Stefan Batruch – President of the Foundation for Spiritual Culture of the Borderland – talked about the young people from Ukraine whom his Foundation took into its care after they fled their country following the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. “We are trying to enable refugees from Ukraine so that by their own involvement and their own activity they can discover the potential they have within themselves. Also, we are not so much trying to teach the newly arrived young people in Lublin, but we are trying to give them, to create opportunities for them, so that they themselves, better understand their needs when they look at them from their own perspective.”
In turn, Agata Dziubińska-Gawlik, President of the European Meeting Center – Nowy Staw Foundation, emphasized the role of the National Institute of Freedom in the activities of International Meeting Centers. “For many years, the International Meeting Houses, which were established in the 1990s, were impoverished both in terms of infrastructure and programs. This situation changed after the appearance of this program, dedicated exclusively to MDSs. Moreover, President Gawlik emphasized that “we have to help the residents. Lublin and beyond, to get used to the fact that strangers or people with a different national, linguistic or cultural identity are not a threat to us, that this stranger is not a competition to be afraid of.
Ludmila Zubarieva – President of the NGO Great Idea mentioned, that over the last year, despite the ongoing war, it was possible to establish an International Meeting House in Ukraine in the city of Kovel in the Volyn Oblast, close to the Polish border. Ms Ludmila highlighted the role and opportunities offered by international youth exchanges. “Young people return from such trips inspired, with additional energy to further their own development, interested in discovering the world. Thanks to such exchanges, young people experience other cultures”.
Congress was the great opportunity for young Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Lithuanians for discussions about cultural heritage, national identity and also cooperation between their countries e.g. In terms of international exchanges.
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