The New Eurasia Foundation designed its youth initiatives program area at the time when the government was discussing modern youth policy and actively looking for new approaches to identifying and constructively using youth potential in a country with a nascent democracy. When designing the youth initiatives program, the New Eurasia Foundation took into account the characteristics of the period, such as radical socio-economic changes within the country, the newly available opportunities for international collaboration, and the interests of Russian youth itself.

In 2004-2009 the Foundation, directly and enthusiastically assisted by youth itself, has designed and implemented a great number of projects enabling members of the youth community to identify paths of integration, take an active part in the democratization processes of  public life, and address their own problems on the principles of their choice rather than those imposed by adults.

In order to design a strategy of collaboration with modern youth it was necessary to define the problem area and identify starting points for the development of effective models and forms of  participation in public life.  How does Russian youth view the world? What are its life plans? What kind of problems do young people encounter? What are the causes of socially conditioned illnesses? Looking for the answers to these and many other questions the Foundation supported nationwide sociological research – the first of its kind in the past twenty years.

One of the key conclusions of the research, which remains relevant to this day, is that youth ought not to be viewed as an object of someone else’s efforts, but is capable of resolving its own problems and impacting its immediate environment.

The results of the New Eurasia Foundation projects designed to assist young people in realizing their potential help expand the geography of youth initiatives, promote networking among youth organizations at the international, federal, regional, and municipal levels, and facilitate the exchange of best practices in the implementation of socially meaningful projects.

Implemented Projects:

“ACT!” project

“The road back home” project

“Regional Youth Programs”

“Active youth – for local communities” project

“We are together!”

“Youth-NET CIS”