#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. 208 applications from 133 organizations were submitted this year from Norilsk and Taimyr. 54 projects from 52 organizations became winners. The amount of financing from the Nornickel company amounted to almost 75 million rubles. In general, for the projects of Monchegorsk and Pechenga district, Norilsk and Taimyr, Chita and Gazimuro-Zavodskoy district, the grant fund in 2021 was determined in the amount of 154 million rubles. Publicly useful initiatives from caring and active residents united in non-profit organizations will again be directed to the development of the territories.

The winning projects this year are very diverse, they covered a large number of areas of public life: from the center for adaptive classes for children with disabilities to teaching the elderly in digital literacy, from the anniversary of the First House of Norilsk to museum performances, from scientific collaboration of schoolchildren with university teachers to craft workshops for sewing northern indigenous boots, from robotic tournaments to a digital self-study guide to Nenets language lessons through VR applications.

It is not the first time that a young Norilsk resident Alina Maltseva and her team Ursa have taken part in the competition. The leader of the organization told about her Green Center project:
“It is aimed at landscaping and improving courtyard areas. Its task is to provide information support to courtyard collectives and initiative groups of the city, as well as to organize thematic events for the improvement of territories”.
In general, the organizers say that most of the applications this year were submitted for the Pole of Revival category. It focuses on cultural, educational history. The next most popular is the New Pole category – projects of schoolchildren.
The projects included in the final will receive financial support from 100 thousand rubles to five million rubles, depending on the nomination and complexity of the idea. All of them should become part of the Norilsk reality during 2021–2022. The contestants will provide a report on the stages of activity within the framework of the project to the curators of the World of New Opportunities, and residents of the city will be able to see the usefulness of certain ideas of the northerners.
Text: Marina Khoroshevskaya, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko