As 2016 draws to a close, Gazprom Neft has reviewed the outcomes of its “Your Town in Your Own Hands” project laboratory, organised as part of the company’s “Home Towns” corporate social responsibility (CSR) project. More than 110 people took part in urban design training in Omsk and Khanty-Mansiysk last year (the “project laboratory” being led by the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture, and Design), with more than 40 independent initiatives for local residents being undertaken as a result. The best of these initiatives will become candidates for grant awards from Gazprom Neft.
The project laboratory was run in Khanty-Mansiysk for the first time in 2016 — the key objective for the organisers being to launch informal creative forums through which young people could implement experimental initiatives in education and culture, with representatives from various cultural and local creative organisations being involved in the work of the “Your Town in Your Own Hands” initiative. Some of the most outstanding outcomes was the set-up and staging of a performance, “Khanty TRAVEL”, the development and implementation of an educational programme in one of the city libraries, and the installation of a work of “land art” on the Irtysh embankment.
The “Your Town in Your Own Hands” initiative was held in Omsk for the second time, with the project laboratory in “full-cycle” operation from April through September — covering all stages from research, concept development and planning grant applications. As well as training local activists in project management, they were also provided with various informational materials on urban planning and developing community initiatives. The proactive engagement and creative approach of participants, together with specialist support, saw a wide variety of ideas brought to life, from the launch of an “edu-tainment” forum and local initiatives from residents of individual apartment blocks, to the first ever staging of a performance highlighting a specific area of Omsk — the Neftyanikov district, with participants putting the outcomes of their research into a dedicated website, http://neftyaniki.rodnyegoroda.ru.
Alexander Dybal, member of the Gazprom Neft management board commented: “The project laboratory is a new format through which we can collaborate with local residents, something we use in order to stimulate specific ideas directed at neighbourhood enhancement in those regions in which Gazprom Neft operates. We also support the further development and implementation of these ideas, proving that viable initiatives can and should be brought to fruition. And a great many young people took part in the project, both in Omsk and Khanty-Mansiysk — which is a great outcome, demonstrating young people’s high motivation for taking responsibility for positive change in their surrounding area rather than moving to another region.”