In Universitetsky, territorial public self government has become an effective tool helping residents influence neighborhood improvement and solve long standing problems. Thanks to the activity of the TOS, playgrounds, a sports ground and hockey rinks appeared here, and after long efforts six pedestrian stairways were repaired from the city budget. Vera Novikova notes that the main achievement is the change in residents attitude toward their district and their readiness to take part in its development.

Chairwoman of the University District territorial public self-government council, Vera Novikova, noted that in University District a system has been established in which no appeal from residents goes unnoticed. On Monday and Friday, the Council of the territorial public self-government council receives residents at the public reception office of deputy Yevgeny Stekachev, and on Tuesday and Wednesday, the deputy’s assistant does so.
Thanks to territorial public self-government, residents of University District have gained the opportunity to influence plans for repairing the courtyard area and installing playgrounds. Activists make proposals regarding the layout of the territory, the placement of sidewalks, pedestrian paths, and parking areas. During the time the territorial public self-government council has existed, playgrounds have been installed near 8 buildings in the neighborhood, as well as a universal sports court with a polyurethane surface near building No. 112. In addition, there are 2 hockey rinks operating in the neighborhood.
Residents of University District are active people and often make proposals that pose difficult tasks for management companies and city authorities. At the very beginning of its work, the newly formed territorial public self-government council faced the absence of technical passports for the stairways, which made it impossible to repair them. For two years, the public and the deputy worked to have the stairways and the underground passage granted the status of municipal facilities—and now 6 pedestrian stairways in University District have been repaired at the city budget’s expense.
“It is impossible to do everything at once,” says Vera Novikova. “But it is encouraging that with the emergence of territorial public self-government, residents’ attitude toward their neighborhood has changed, and now they care about order not only in their apartment and entrance. The field of activity for activists is the courtyards and the entire neighborhood.”
Based on materials from the press service of the administration of the city of Irkutsk