​Traditionally, the Forum is timed to coincide with the World Cities Day (October 31), designated by the UN General Assembly in 2014. The venue of this event is the hero-city Volgograd, which, in 1944, together with the British Coventry became the founder of the international twinning movement.

The Forum in question is meant to serve as a platform for members of local governments, academic circles, business community and people’s associations from Russia and its international partners to interact and cement their cooperation, expend international public connections and contribute to the efficient resolution of today’s global and regional problems, thus providing for the peaceful and safe development of nations and peoples.

Due to the sanitary measures taken against the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020, the event was held completely in the distant format and organized with the help of online platforms.

Its organizers were Volgograd administration, the Administration of the Volgograd region and the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo).

Among the Forum’s participants, who represented 25 countries, there were officers of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Rossotrudnichestvo, members of diplomatic missions, officials of Russian and foreign local governments, leaders of Russian and foreign organizations for intercity cooperation, research fellows of prominent academic and analytical centers, institutions of higher institutions and civic organizations.

All together, within the frame and under the aegis of the Forum (including on the preceding days), there have been 11 round tables and 3 panel discussions, although the main events were held on October 31 and November 01.

On October 31, the opening ceremony of the Forum took place. Among the speakers who extended their words of greetings to the event participants, there were the Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) Mr. Evgeny Primakov, the Governor of the Volgograd region Mr. Andrey Bocharov and the Mayor of Volgograd Mr. Vitaly Likhachev.

The experts of the Forum were also given a warm online welcome by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the United Nations and the UN Security Council Mr. Vasily Nebenzya, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Bulgaria in the Russian Federation Mr. Athanas Krystin, the Chair of the German-Russian Forum Mr. Matthias Platzek, the Co-Chair of the DIE LINKE parliamentary group Dr. Dietmar Bartsch, the Honorary Chair of the Board of Directors of Sister Cities International Mr. Bill Boerum, the Mayor of Hiroshima and the President of the “Mayor for Peace” International Organization Mr. Kazumi Matsui, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador, Representative of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities at the United Nations DPI-NGO Dr. Sylvester E. Rowe and the Lord Mayor of Coventry Cllr Ann Lucas.

The program of October 31 also featured:

- the panel discussion “Lessons of World War 2” (moderator – Dr. Yana Leksyutina, member of the “Valdai” discussion club, Associate Professor of the Center of American Studies of St. Petersburg State University), the experts of which were diplomats, historians and museum staff, Rossortudnichestvo officials (in Belgium and France) and NPOs representatives (including the “Meridian Association” from the twin-city of Liege);

- the panel discussion “International relations during the times of change: ways of development” (moderator – Dr. Hans Köchler, President of International Progress Organization, Professor), the experts of which has been the leading officials of the German-Russian Forum Messrs. Wilfried Bergmann and Alexander Rahr, a “Valdai” discussion club expert Dr. Ján Čarnogurský, and Mr. Anton Varfolomeyev, Head of the New Challenges and Threats Study Center of the Acute International Issues Institute at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

On November 01, the Forum featured:

- the round table “City diplomacy in the name of peace and sustainable development: from the past to the present (dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945)” (moderator – Mr. Vladimir Selivanov, Executive Vice-President, Director General of the “International Assembly of Capitals and Big Cities” Association), which brought together city officials from Russia and abroad. The table’s organizers were “International Assembly of Capitals and Big Cities” Association and Volgograd administration. The result of this round table was a joint decision to hold in 2021 an online Youth Theater Festival – “MAGIC OF THE THEATER”, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945;

- the round table “City diplomacy in the name of peace and sustainable development: modern trends in international cooperation” (moderator – Mr. Andrey Liakh, Deputy Mayor of Volgograd), which gathered city officials of Volgograd’s twin and partner-cities, the leaders of international and Russian organizations for intercity cooperation: Sister Cities International, China International Friendship Cities Association, International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, “Twin-Cities” International Association, Eurasian section of the “United Cities and Local Governments” World Organization, Volga Region Cities Association and the Union of Russian Cities;

- the round table “Rehabilitation after the COVID-19” (moderator – Mr. Vladimir Shkarin, Rector of Volgograd State Medical University), organized by Volgograd State Medical University and uniting its numerous partners and graduates from the whole world;

- the round table “Russia and the young compatriots living abroad: meeting on the Volga” (moderator – Ms. Evgenia Guliayeva, Head of the Department of linguistics and intercultural communication of the Volgograd Institute of Management – branch of the RPANEPA), which united Russian government officials, representatives of educational institutions and leaders of compatriots associations from 7 countries. Organizers of the round table were Volgograd administration and the Volgograd Institute of Management – branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration;

- the round table “Russian-German dialogue: problems and opportunities for cooperation” (moderator – Dr. Tatiana Evdokimova, Head of the Department of general history and the methodic of teaching social studies of Volgograd State Social and Pedagogical University), the experts at which were the representatives of the state and local governments, members of the academic community, public organizations and media of Russia and Germany.

In the event’s Resolution, the Forum’s participants called upon the international organizations, government officials, members of the expert community and all actors in the area of people’s diplomacy to actively contribute to the process of strengthening peace in the international relations in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to galvanize international cooperation and cement global partnership in various spheres to overcome the current problems and challenges, preserve objective historical memory about World War 2 and its heritage.

Additional information about the Forum and the video-recordings of its round tables and discussions can be found at the website http://dialognavolge.ru/