1 The issues of youth from the former Eastern Bloc as well as other regions are increasing in importance. The recent events of the Euromaidan in Kiev and a wave of demonstrations and protests in North Africa as well as the rise of the Indignants Movement in Western Europe and America indicate that something alarming is happening among youth and the society in general. A great deal of tension is observed, which, as Robert Merton puts it, can be referred to as a state of anomy [1]. In the circumstances of conflict between cultural aims, which are: success, high social status, self-realization and the institutionalized means of achieving them (meritocracy, higher education), the society employs deviatory strategies. Among those mentioned by Merton, the most noticeable one is rebellion. The youth in rich countries rebel against the crisis affecting them. Ukrainian youth were hoping that the signing of the Association Agreement will bring Ukraine closer to the European Union and will give them chances to fulfil their aspirations, which are high and no different from those of the youth from other European countries. [2]

2 On the initiative of Polish and Ukrainian sociologists of youth, a conference, in which approximately 50 researchers from Poland, Ukraine and Russia took part, was held in Przemyśl, which is situated in the Polish-Ukrainian borderland. The conference titled The Lost Generation? Youth and its problems in the beginning of the 21^st century took place on the 20^th and the 21^st of May 2014. Apart from the hosts, i.e. the Institute of Sociology of the East European State Higher School in Przemyśl (PWSW) and the Institute of Sociology of the University of Rzeszów, the following institutes joined the organization of the conference: the Department of Sociology of Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University, the Section of Sociology of Youth and Education of the Polish Sociological Association, the Chair of Sociology, Political Science and Jurisprudence of the Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University in Drohobych, The School of Sociology of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and the Sociological Association of Ukraine.

3 Not only did the experts in sociology gather in Przemyśl, but also specialists in psychology, pedagogy, geography and economy, which enriched the discourse with a variety of theoretical and research perspectives. It was a meeting of researches from various countries, representing various branches of science and different methodological and theoretical paradigms. The main aims of the conference included: presentation of results of research in youth, exchange of opinions and thoughts about the discourse on the sociology of youth, evaluation of current problems of youth and tension in the former Eastern Bloc, integration of the society of researchers of youth from Ukraine and Poland, the promotion of cooperation and the preparation for future extensive research in youth in the East-Central region.

4 It appears that the aims were achieved, as the Postconference Proceedings have been issued [3] (all the papers have been published at the conference website as well) [4]. Moreover, a research project concerned with youth by prof. Maria Zielińska from the University of Zielona Góra and prof. Ludmiła Sokóriańska from the Kharkiv National University is being prepared.

5 The conference lasted two days. The proceedings began with plenary sessions. On the first day, Marian Niezgoda talked about the theoretical dilemmas of the analysis of generations. Ludmiła Sokóriańska gave a lecture about the potential of rebellion among Ukrainian students. Maria Zielińska presented the current state of affairs of the research in the Polish youth. Swietłana Shuchdlo dealt with the youth from the Polish-Ukrainian borderland and the great problems they face: unemployment and emigration. Teresa Sołdra-Gwiżdż presented the living strategies of the youth from Opole and the impact it has on the region. The two latter lectures showed the strategies for dealing with difficulties employed by the youth from the borderland. The aforementioned lectures, as well as the Piotr Długosz’s speech on the lost generation in the borderland, have shown that the youth have no developmental potential on the outskirts. In this case, the youth who have a modern personality, that is those who are the drive for modernization, are set to emigrate. A well-known phenomenon called brain drain occurs, which is responsible for the lack of changes on the outskirts. In the second plenary session, Witold Jedynak showed the changes in religiosity among Polish youth at the turn of centuries. Marta Zahorska-Bugaj made a speech on popularity and groups of reference among lower secondary school students. At the end of the plenary session Rafał Boguszewski presented state-of-the-art results of the research in Polish youth deriving from the Centre for Public Opinion Research. Witalij Dokasz showed religious attitudes among Ukrainian youth, whereas Larisa Chyżniak discussed various aspects of protests organized by young Ukrainians.

6 During the two days of proceedings the partakers were working in seven thematic sections. The first section, Emigration, social capital on the outskirts, gathered the researchers of youth from the borderland. The second section, Free time, lifestyles, focused on the daily life of the young. The focal point of the third section, Around the problems of generation was the analysis of generation and a search of the symptoms of generation among modern youth. The section Youth and society discussed the mutual impact of social changes and youth. The fifth section, Youth and politics, enjoyed popularity among the rest of participants, who wanted to learn about the reasons for rebellion (Ukraine) and withdrawal from politics (Poland). The sixth section, Youth and Education, dealt with the fundamental questions of youth, since their future and life chances depend on education and the solutions the state is going to adopt regarding this field. In the last section, Youth in the labour market, the researchers focused on youth entering the labour market and the strategies of youth for finding a job.

7 To sum up, during the conference the discourse about the problems of the youth was focused on, so to say, the strategies of youth for dealing with crisis. In Poland as well as in other countries of the former Eastern Bloc the inflation of education and aspirations which cannot be satisfied become the biggest problem. On the one hand, the percentage of people with higher education is increasing, but on the other hand a modern service sector, which could involve young specialists is weakening. Unemployment is growing – currently in Poland 13% of the unemployed have higher education, while in the Ukraine the number is 38%. This situation leads to frustration and unrest. These emotions in Ukraine were aimed against the authorities, which has been shown by the events in the Euromaidan. In Poland and other countries dissatisfaction manifests itself by the emigration of youth. Emigration serves as a “safety valve” for the system and allows for maintaining status quo. The situation of youth is difficult and unenviable, which has been indicated by Henry A. Giroux [5]. The problems with adaptation may in fact be even more difficult in the Central-East Europe countries facing post-socialist transformation, as the revolution in Ukraine has shown.