Successful Examples of Volunteer and Local Government Cooperation Presented at Seminar in Saint Petersburg

Successful examples of cooperation between volunteers and local authorities were presented at a seminar in Saint Petersburg.

In Kolpino, an industrial district of Saint Petersburg, the seminar “The Role of Volunteering in the Life of Municipalities” was held. MPs from the CIS countries and experts discussed successful volunteer projects and shared their views on volunteer activities as an element of state social policy, among other issues. The event was held as part of the Year of Volunteering in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The seminar was organized by the IPA CIS and was attended by members of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Practices of State-Building and Local Government, led by Chair of the Commission, Chair of the Standing Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on State-Building, Local Government, and Regulations Valentin Semenyako.

Before the seminar began, MPs and experts laid flowers at the monument to the city of military glory, Kolpino, in the Heroes of Izhora Square.

A greeting to the seminar participants was sent by Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy. He emphasized that volunteering played an important role in addressing socio-economic development issues in municipalities. Thousands of volunteers participated in the beautification of cities and villages in the Commonwealth countries.

Head of the Kolpino District Yuliya Logvinenko also addressed the participants with a welcome speech.

Valentin Semenyako detailed the legislative foundations of volunteer activities in Belarus, after which seminar participants discussed successful practices of cooperation between local authorities and volunteer organizations.

A detailed report on this topic was presented by Head of the Kolpino Municipality Nadezhda Maksimova.

Chair of the Grodno Regional Council of Deputies Elena Pasyuta spoke about the importance of volunteering for the development of civil society using her region as an example.

Volunteer activities as an element of developing civic engagement and implementing state social policy in municipalities was the topic of the speech by Chair of the Expert Council of the Union of Russian Cities Alexandra Ignatyeva.

Representative of the CIS Executive Committee Vadim Gimer presented the work with volunteer movements as part of youth policy in the CIS.

The speakers’ presentations sparked great interest and lively discussion.