OREANDA-NEWS. The Biblio Space national competition for socio-cultural projects was founded by the Volnoe Delo charitable foundation, with the aim of promoting and supporting socially-significant projects developed by children. The competition received 520 entries from 61 Russian regions. The projects were assessed by an independent panel of experts that comprised prominent representatives from the library and cultural community in Russia. 26 projects from 19 Russian regions made the final for five awards; the nominees included the School of Communal Good’s I Love Novotroitsk project. The creators will receive grants from the foundation to implement their projects and will present the results at the end of 2015 at the Non-fiction intelligent literature annual exhibition.

Having won the “Memorable Place” category, the I Love Novotroitsk project was developed in Moscow by participants of last year’s summer session of the SCG. The idea is to create a positive image of Novotroitsk, a town celebrating its jubilee year where people live comfortably, develop and work. Thanks to the knowledge gained in designing social projects and attracting investments from the School of Communal Good, the participants not only won a national competition, but also received a grant of 700,000 roubles to implement a project to create a logo and symbol for Novotroitsk.

Karina Porgasheva, an SCG project volunteer, commented: “The majority of major towns and cities in Russia and around the world have various works of art associated with them. These monuments and places encourage a feeling of love and pride in local residents and spike interest from tourists. Such pieces of art will help to re-position Novotroitsk as something other than “a town in a boilersuit” as it is called. For us, it is a unique link that unites all generations of Novotroitsk.”

Students from the Kolorit art school have already provided designs for the artworks to the SCG office in Novotroitsk. The future installation and its location will be chosen from the designs by vote. In addition, the SCG plans meetings for the students to meet eminent Novotroitsk personalities.

Yulia Lenkina, one of the SCG mentors in Novotroitsk, said: “The SCG has completed a number of projects in Novotroitsk. Social partners play an important role and there are more and more of them each year. Thanks to their support, our projects are implement in full and the quality increases. We are grateful for Metalloinvest’s support! Over the last three years, we have gained valuable experience in developing and implementing positive socio-cultural projects. The Novotroitsk administration always fulfils our requests. The youth affairs committee, education department, culture committee, and the Palace of Steelworkers provide support for SCG projects. As of this year, the town and children’s libraries are actively working with us, which will help us to implement the I Love Novotroitsk project. I am sure that together we can make our beloved town better.”

Note to Editor:

The School of Communal Good (SCG) is a corporate social programme implemented by Metalloinvest for schoolchildren in the four towns where the Company operates: Stary Oskol, Gubkin, Zheleznogorsk and Novotroitsk. Its main aim is to develop an active approach among children not just towards their own lifes but also towards the life of the town where they were born and grow up.

The programme undertakes to promote community engagement among schoolchildren and their parents in social, ecological, educational and cultural spheres, and is aimed at finding solutions to the problems which not only matter to them but are also important for the development of town and social problems.

During winter, autumn and spring sessions and during open door days, children learn to design, manage and implement new projects.

School of Communal Good has been running since 2011 with the support of the town administration as part of the socio-economic partnership agreement with Metalloinvest in the areas where the Company operates. The students of 6-11grades are invited to participate in the programme, where they can study social project management, fundraising, media communications, as well as acquire volunteering experience.