Every child on this planet has an opinion about the way our world should look like; and every child has the right to decide on a par with adults what is to become of this world.
The “Junior 8” project involving a series of national contests gives children the opportunity to form group who will for the second time present young people's views of global problems to the leaders of the “Group of Eight” (G8).

The first Junior 8 meeting took place in Edinburgh in July, 2005, as part of the summit of the “Group of Eight” in Gleneagles.
The topics for discussion at the J8 are selected in accordance with priorities suggested by the presiding country for the discussion within the G8 summit.

The J8 meeting in St. Petersburg (08.07. 2006 – 17.07.2006) involved 8 students between the ages of 13 and 17 from each G8 country. The majority of the countries organized school contests the winning schools sent their students to St. Petersburg.
The Russian team comprized the representatives of 8 Russian cities – from the westernmost city of Kaliningrad to eastermost city of Vladivostok lying 9,000 kilometers apart. The children who joined the Russian team had to pass two qualifying rounds and to participate in a TV show on one of the Russia’s major TV channels.

The issues young ambassadors of 8 states discussed at their forum formed the agenda of the G8 Summit. They included
• Energy resources and the future of mankind
• Spread of HIV and other socially significant infections and drug addiction among youth people
• Education and values of the young generation
• Spread of extremism and violence in youth culture

Each of these crucial global problems became the focus of discussion for one day. Participants of the forum had a chance to consult and share their ideas with leading experts, ministers of the Russian government, famous actors, athletes and scientists.
The main event took place on July, 16. By this time every team had chosen a spokesperson to join the G8 leaders at the Congress Palace.

Besides discussing crucial global problems, the participants of the meeting visited pop-star concerts, met famous people, attended museums.