The meeting with the Consul General of Great Britain with the League. The topic «Different people — how they are similar»
«Different people — how they are similar» was the topic of the meeting of the Consul General of Great Britain Jorge Edgar with the League, which was held on October 23, 2006 in the new office of the British Council on Nevsky prospect, 32. At the beginning of the meeting, the short movie, devoted to tolerance and intercultural relations in the United Kingdom, was shown. After, the discussion on broad questions took place.
So, the movie. It became possible to show that the problem of tolerance exists in Britain on the example of the two cities — Belfast in Northern Ireland and the Bradford in Great Britain. There is still tension between Catholics and Protestants, and in Bradford a huge number of immigrant communities make this problem wider (immigrants from India, Pakistan, East Africa, etc.)
It is important to mention that nothing has left without attention. For instance, one very effective measure in Belfast is the night patrols of volunteers on the streets and there is a danger of collision between Catholics and Protestants. These streets are also called «twenty seven lines of the world». The great profit is the creation of the youth associations (there was an example with the theater company in the movie), which contribute to the perception of a person, first and foremost as a person and then as a supporter of any particular denomination. As for Bradford, the role of public police is very indicative there. The officers are in the constant contact with the local communities within their jurisdiction. To know each other by sight contributes to a better understanding, and, hence, greater harmony in the society.
Thus, the film prepared the ground for the subsequent discussion, all the more so as George Edgar lives in Bradford and know the city and its inhabitants firsthand. There were also such issues as the level of the tolerance in the Russian society. Do the lessons of Orthodoxy in some regions of Russia are needed? What is the role of youth organizations in the building of a tolerant society? What the Russians can learn by examining the British approaches and methods to solve the problems, which are associated with the cross-cultural interaction? These and many other issues were discussed during the discussion, in which all people took an active part. Thanks them for that.
The final of the meeting was both sad and pleasant. That’s not a secret that the St. Petersburg stage of the diplomatic service of George Edgar is coming to an end. So, before we bid farewell with the esteemed diplomat from the United Kingdom, Kseniia Khoruzhnikova, the director of the League, thanked him for the cooperation, assistance and support, and also presented him a commemorative gift on behalf of the International Youth Diplomacy League.