This competition, held annually since 2011, will take place in nine cities in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Luhansk regions. The competition is focused on improving social activism and supporting relevant projects that help improve the quality of live in all cities where Metinvest operates.
Projects related to land improvement, business environment development and the establishment of new workplaces can participate in this competition. Social projects can also promote sports and healthy lifestyles or support socially unprotected people. During the first stage of the program, participants will be trained in social design and preparing applications and required information.
Expert panels that include representatives of local communities, enterprises and organizations and leading experts in sustainable development will determine the winners. Every winner will receive a maximum of UAH 100,000 from Metinvest to implement their projects. All of these projects will be implemented by the end of 2014.
Polina Shaganenko, head of Metinvest Group's Sustainable Development and Organizational Support Department:
"The 'We Improve the City' program has been very popular in the last two years. More and more people have taken part in this competition and provided many interesting ideas. The program engages concerned residents and gives them an opportunity to feel that together we are powerful and can change life for the better in our cities. This year we are ready to support more projects: program financing was increased by 1.5 times."
The program received 287 applications in 2012 and Metinvest invested UAH 3.5 million to implement 61 winning projects. The program received 480 applications in 2013, of which 95 social projects were supported. Metinvest's investments in the best initiatives amounted to about UAH 4.6 million.
Most of the winning projects last year were focused on healthy lifestyles, sports, ecology, child development and recreation. For example, projects resulted in the creation of two bicycle paths in Kryviy Rih, a streetball court in Makiivka, and child's wind orchestra in Yenakiieve. Entrepreneurs in Komsomolske can now learn in a new training centre and Avdiivka children in a psychological art studio.
You can read the Regulation on the competition and download an application by clicking the link.