For 2 months of accepting applications for the contest «Sustainable Development Goals and me», more than 250 people have shared their ideas for improving the urban environment of the regions of southern Russia in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals. Applications will be accepted until September 1, 2021 at the website www.17sdg.ru. The prize fund of the contest is RUB 1,000,000.
All projects of the contest solve various problems of the region and correlate with the Sustainable Development Goals. Among the participants, the most popular goals are «Good health and well-being» (Goal 3) - 18.1%, «Industrialization, innovation and infrastructure» (Goal 9) - 12.2%, and «Responsible consumption and production» (Goal 12) - 8%.
«During the competition, we saw a great interest among students and young scientists to create projects in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals. It's nice to know that young people not only know and talk about problems, but also generate new solutions. I would like to thank the Rostov State Economic University and Don State Technical University, which helped with information support and also involved their laboratories in solving problems. Only through joint efforts of business, education and government we will be able to solve urgent problems in our region», - commented the head of the Center for Financial Literacy of Center-invest Bank Mr Vladislav Solyony.
Among the applications there are unique projects, including development of the disposal of industrial waste, optimization of transport accessibility and traffic jams in the city. Original projects for the installation of smart stops in Rostov-on-Don were proposed, as well as the opening of the first branch of the Center-invest Bank, fully functioning at the expense of renewable energy sources.
Vice-Rector for Prospective Programs and Sustainable Development of Don State Technical University Ms Innessa Efremenko, noted the importance of implementing youth projects: «The contest “The Sustainable Development Goals and me” focuses on important problems of society and helps to find solutions that are relevant for our region. The young generation always has a lot of ideas, but it is not always possible to correctly express or present them. This contest is a positive example of the implementation and promotion of youth initiatives».
The developed projects will receive targeted development grants from Center-invest Bank, and will also be selectively implemented in the region, with the possibility of scaling to the whole of Russia.
«Today we are setting an ambitious and challenging task - to identify trends that affect socio-economic processes, identify what professional skills will be in demand in the 21st century, understand the processes that are changing society, and show how these changes will affect specific people. All that make this contest very actual among young people and determines the timeliness of the Center-invest Bank's initiative in organizing the contest», commented Ms Natalia Vovchenko, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation of the Russian State Economic University.
Formulating their ideas and visions of the future in terms of the SDGs allows young people to realize their role in the new world, to offer new local solutions to global problems. Participants of the contest will receive consulting support from mentors and specialists of the Accelerator of Center-invest Bank, partner universities. The competition includes an extended educational block, a hackathon and mentoring sessions on projects with curators.
The contest «Sustainable Development Goals and me» participates in the «Sustainable Environment Ideas» category at the Paris Peace Forum. In the implementation of this project, Center-invest Bank relies on the successful experience of holding the first Forum of Positive Economy in Russia, a competition of ideas from citizens in the microcluster format «Project for a Beloved City», as well as 20 years of experience in doing business based on ESG principles and sustainable development.
Details of participation and application for the competition is available at the website www.17sdg.ru.