The winners of the “Let’s Clean Up the City” social advertising competition were announced on 5 June 2015, World Environment Day. The competition was an initiative of the Environmental Protection Committee of the Rostov-on-Don city administration, with organisational support provided by Center-invest Bank and the company Clean City.

The competition organisers believe that the idea of environmental protection must become embedded in the public consciousness and that environmental problems must be brought to the attention of as many people as possible, to both potential and actual consumers.

“Our competition was open to all Rostov-on-Don residents, including students and pupils attending art schools, art studios and creative centres,” said Natalia Alyabieva, assistant to the Chairman of the Executive Board of Center-invest Bank. “We are very pleased that the environmental theme is of interest and relevance to people of different ages, and we hope that the citizens’ environmental initiative will grow.”

A total of 32 entries were submitted. The entrants were aged between eight and sixty-eight. Students of Rostov region universities were particularly well represented. The advertisements, which were produced using various design techniques, covered a broad range of environmental issues.

“Although this is the first such competition that we have run, we are pleased with the results and we are already planning the next one,” said the chairman of the Environmental Protection Committee, Vladimir Vasilenko. “It is important to us that residents show an interest in and care about their local environment and space. We are trying to make environmental awareness an entirely natural part of life.”

The three main winners won tablet computers, and there were seven runners-up prizes.