The Youth Day – an international student event took place from 13th to 15th of September as part of the official program of the XI St. Petersburg International Gas Forum (SPIGF) for the eighth time.
For the past two years the Youth Day has been held online. This year 35 talented students from 11 countries, who have been pre-selected from over 250 candidates, were finally able to meet each other and the leading experts in the energy industry in person.
As is the custom the event was organized by the Higher School of Economics of the St. Petersburg State University of Economics together with the International Business Congress (IBC), Gazprom, and Expoforum Exhibition and Convention Center. Since 2016 the Youth Day has had the status of an IBC Working project
The three-day program included many interactive activities offering young people an opportunity to demonstrate their professional skills and, at the same time, to establish business ties with industry experts and other students of different majors.
The opening ceremony marked the official start of the Youth Day. Dr. Elena Kasyan, Head of Department of Gazprom, Mr. Igor Maksimtsev, Rector of St. Petersburg State University of Economics, and Ms. Yana Klementovichus, Director of the Higher School of Economics of St. Petersburg State University of Economics addressed the participants in their welcoming speeches.
Divided into four groups after the official part, the invited students participated in the teambuilding activities to know each other better and build a strong team spirit. While working in the groups they have been given various task, such as building an even square with a rope with their eyes tied or crossing the hall stepping only on the limited number of paper sheets placed on the floor.
In the afternoon, the formed teams participated in the first quest dedicated to the SPIGF exhibition. They have been given a task to attend the exhibition and ask representatives of the attending companies about the presented projects for sustainable energy development in the context of the climate and environmental agenda. Each team later presented the most interesting and promising projects found at the exhibition. The winner has been announced upon the evaluation by the team members.
The “Climate Intelligence” business game - the main quest of the Youth Day took place on the second day of the event. In general, 5 teams, 5 jury members and 3 hosts played an interactive board game. Each team represented a particular energy company. Each round of the game represented one conditional investment year. By rolling a dice the teams chose a project for implementation, which they later presented to the potential investors - the jury. After two rounds each team presented a declaration addressed to the financial community.
After this challenging intellectual competition, the participants of the Youth Day have been invited to a sightseeing tour, feasting their eyes on the autumn landscapes of St. Petersburg.
On the final day on 15th of September the participants were able to attend the plenary session of the Forum before coming to the official award-giving and closing ceremony. In his speech Dr. Sergey Khomyakov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Chairman of the Youth Day Executive Committee recalled the history of the project and its practical importance as well as named and awarded six winners of the Youth Day 2022.
The Youth Day alumni, who created a Global Energy Community - a new independent international project earlier this year, prepared a special surprise. Six representatives of the project’s Executive Committee organized a Youth Debate. Seven teams discussed various energy sources including nuclear, coal, oil, gas, wind, solar and hydro energies. In pairs, the teams debated about the importance of the selected energy type for the energy transition. At the end of the debate the audience voted for the winner. The team presented the nuclear energy won.
The Youth Day was wrapped up by a farewell party organized on a boat sailed along the rivers and canals of St. Petersburg.
