In Irkutsk, the results of the project Beloved city new parks are being summed up. In 2014 there were 197 greening events with 1660 residents and volunteers, and nearly 14 thousand seedlings were planted in total. The initiative, active since 2010, brings together residents, business and city services to create new parks, improve courtyards and the environment.

Plantings within the framework of the project this year have come to an end. The project itself has been implemented by the administration of the city of Irkutsk since 2010. In the first implementation of the project, in 2010, the city’s greening was carried out exclusively through the attraction of extra-budgetary funds, and starting in 2011, funds for the project began to be allocated separately from the budget of Irkutsk. Under the municipal program “Open City” for 2013–2017, funds were allocated to pay for the transportation of soil and seedlings and for their purchase. Plantings on the residential territory will already be organized by the residents themselves. Applications for participation in the project “To the Beloved City – New Squares” have already been opened for the new 2015 year.
Now, during the spring and autumn period of 2014, 197 greening events have already been held, and 2,700 seedlings have been planted. 1,660 Irkutsk residents took part in the greening events, 24 of them were volunteers. The most large-scale plantings were carried out by residents and volunteers at the following addresses: on Lenin Street, 25 – under a joint greening plan, residents laid out a garden around the playground and near the entrances; in the Zelyony microdistrict, 30 – they continued greening the yard around the children’s and sports grounds, which they installed themselves; in the Pervomaysky microdistrict, 16 – residents together with volunteers laid out a square near the new sports ground; and on Akademicheskaya Street, 4 – elderly residents of the yard invited volunteers and planted a birch grove, and also improved the entire residential area.
The project “To the Beloved City – New Squares” sets itself many tasks, among
which are:
1. to unite as many representatives of the Irkutsk urban community as possible (from grassroots neighborhood initiative groups to large business);
2. to promote the establishment of a tradition of holding greening events on residential territories;
3. to contribute to the improvement of the city;
4. to promote the strengthening of good-neighborly relations;
5. to contribute to improving the environmental situation in Irkutsk.
According to Olga Kurilenkova, head of the public relations department, the main goal of the project is to unite as many representatives of the urban community as possible - from residents’ initiative groups to large business - to create new parks and squares in the city, as well as to green urban courtyards.
To bring the project to life, it was divided into 2 time stages: 1) from May to June 2) from August to November. Based on the results of final approvals and site visits to greening locations, work with initiative groups and applications were divided into several groups:
1) territories where planting work can be carried out this year, but where work with the population has not been carried out or has been carried out poorly, and there is no additional support;
2) territories with a high level of readiness for planting: the area is fenced, work has been carried out with residents, public and commercial institutions located on this territory;
3) territories where preparatory work is needed to fence off the area and prepare it for greening.
At present, the permanent partners of the municipal program are:
- Botanical Garden of ISU
- MUP “Vodokanal”
- Office of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare in the Irkutsk Region
- FBU Roslesozashchita - Forest Protection Center of the Irkutsk Region
- Children’s contact zoo
- Art gallery “Dias”
- GeoPark landscape design bureau
- Design and architectural bureau “DomA”
- Organic Farming Club
- Irkutsk Regional Youth Library named after I.P. Utkin
- Irkutskenergo OJSC.
- SadOptTsentr “Udachny”
- MUP “Gorzelenkhoz”
- Irkutsk Vocational Boarding School for the Disabled
In total, over the entire period of the project’s implementation, 659 greening events were held in various districts of Irkutsk, and 13,926 seedlings were planted. 4,000 city residents and 811 volunteers took part in these events.
A new tradition of the project “To the Beloved City – New Squares” has been to hold a “Greening Week” since May 2013 before the start of each planting season. As part of the week, free seminars, master classes, excursions, educational games on environmental topics, and much more began to be held for the city’s residents. Applications for participation in the project “To the Beloved City – New Squares” for 2015 are accepted at 14 Marata St., office 110, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. until December 1, 2014, or by email at govorova-irk@mail.ru. For inquiries, call: 52-04-14, 52-04-16.
Based on materials from the press service of the administration of the city of Irkutsk.