Youth participation in the country’s construction industry development discussed at the National Centre RUSSIA

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On 28 October, the expert discussion "The Role of Youth in the Construction Industry" was held at the National Centre RUSSIA. It brought together representatives of federal and regional authorities, educational institutions and youth organizations. Attendees discussed key challenges related to attracting and training young professionals for one of the most important sectors of the country's economy.

Konstantin Mikhailik, Deputy Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation, moderator of the meeting, addressed the young participants: "Construction means building a future where it will be interesting, safe and comfortable to live anywhere in our large country, be it the Omsk, Perm or Kaliningrad region, be it the Far East. And if you don't build that future yourself, you'll never achieve it. I hope that each of you will take a piece of this thought with you." 

Vitaly Khotsenko, Governor of the Omsk region, and Alexei Chernikov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Perm region, shared their regions' experience in implementing youth policy, and successful practices in involving young people in the construction industry.

"Youth policy in the Perm region is very developed, and we are among the top 10 regions in this area. We have been systematically involving schoolchildren into labor teams' activities, and inviting students of construction colleges to take part in real projects, including the development of master plans for cities. This is a huge amount of work, and young people are already making a significant contribution to it," said Alexei Chernikov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Perm region. 

Representatives from the country's leading construction universities — Guzaliya Fazylzyanova, Vice-rector for Youth Policy, Educational Activities and Interaction with Government Authorities at MGSU, and Pavel Zhbanov, Vice-rector for Project Management and Education at MARCHI, shared modern approaches to personnel training, and spoke about the specifics of professions in this field.

In turn, Dmitry Paramonov, Chairman of the Committee on Youth Policy, and Head of the Central Headquarters of the Youth Public Organization "Russian Student Teams", emphasized the role of the student teams as an effective social lift, which both provides invaluable practical experience and helps with further employment. 

Special attention was paid to the role of the Youth Council under the Ministry of Construction of Russia in terms of shaping an active youth agenda.

"The youth wanted to be heard and their ideas to be realised. Currently, the Council has almost 250 representatives from various fields, and we are actively developing three key areas: educational, patriotic and cultural activities. We are spending our time and resources on this work, so that in the future we’ll enjoy living in the country and the cities that we are helping to create today," explained Yekaterina Lupol, Chairman of the Youth Council at the Ministry of Construction of Russia.

The discussion showed that combining the efforts of the state, business, education and the youth themselves is the main condition for the emergence of a new generation of builders who are able to implement large-scale projects and build comfortable infrastructure for residents of the whole country.