This year, children from Russia and 33 other countries of the near and far abroad submitted over 45 thousand works for the International Children's and Youth Award "Ecology is everyone's business", while in the first year of the project, 9 thousand applications were received. This was announced by the head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Environmental Management Svetlana Radionova.

According to the head of Rosprirodnadzor, for the second year in a row, the Krasnodar Territory retains the palm of the championship in the number of works received, and if 520 applications were received in the first season, this year their number has more than quadrupled and reached 2,293. The guys from the Rostov region sent 2241 works, from Chelyabinsk – 2172, Novosibirsk – 2168, and from Moscow – 2137. Tatarstan (1852 applications), Moscow region (1569), Nizhny Novgorod (1351), Leningrad (1322) and Volgograd (1239) regions also entered the top ten. Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Leningrad and Volgograd regions became new regions in the top 10 in terms of the number of applications this year.

Each work is unique both in format and content. For example, Polina Pavlova (15 years old) from Primorsky Krai told about a project on wastewater treatment using electrochemical methods. Together with her Electrochem team, Polina wants to make a mobile installation in the future so that it can be used at landfills. Eleven-year-old Sofia Cherkayeva from Bryansk raised the problem of the disappearance of the Colchian boxwood and dreams of bringing the boxwood grove back to life. Maria Orlova (14 years old) from the Sverdlovsk region sent a cartoon "Look into the eyes of your fur coat". The name speaks for itself. In a twenty-second video, the author shows the choice that a person faces. 

"This year we received works from 11 new countries – Venezuela, Greece, Indonesia, Germany, Austria, Lebanon, Mongolia, Qatar, Cameroon, Algeria and Bolivia. This year, children from the African continent are taking part in our award for the first time. For example, 16-year–old Kangmo Yeride from the city of Douala sent a video where she said that in her city a lot of sand is collected in the courtyards every half hour, so she regularly cleans her yard so that it is always clean and easy to breathe," Svetlana Radionova said.

She stressed that more than a thousand works from 33 countries of the near and far abroad, representing four continents, including countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Estonia, Peru, Ecuador, China, the United Arab Emirates and others, were received for the award.

"A lot of works came from the Chinese city of Guangzhou, the children, whose mentor is Tang Zhihua, have prepared more than 300 drawings. Guys from Latin America are actively participating in the project, for example, more than 70 works came from Venezuela alone, a participant from Bolivia in his video told about the unique Lake Titicaca, and participants from Panama drew attention to the problem of the carbon footprint in animal husbandry, a family from Peru made a material about the life of the Yanesh Indian tribe, known for that has long protected the pristine nature," said the head of Rosprirodnadzor. 

Svetlana Radionova added that for the first time children from other countries actively participated in such nominations as "Eco-family", "ESG-generation", "Ecoproject", "Ecomultfilm".

She also noted that a high growth – 14 times – occurred in the nomination "Eco-school", and this is especially valuable. According to Svetlana Radionova, the award "Ecology is everyone's business" is actively attended by pupils of orphanages, orphanages, boarding schools for orphans and children with disabilities, compensating kindergartens, and they all go on equal terms. This year, the guys from these institutions have sent more than 2.2 thousand works, which is 12 times more than last year's figure, and the number of such institutions involved has increased sixfold and exceeded 350. So, the head of the volunteer group "Funny Siberians" from Novosibirsk, volunteer of the year-2021 Natalia Stemkovskaya held the action "Good Flower", where adults helped children with cerebral palsy to plant flowers, and in a touching video, children appeal to people to protect nature.

The head of Rosprirodnadzor noted that this year there was very high competition in the award due to the high quality of the participants' work.
"This was especially evident in the nomination "Ecoproject". Children and teenagers sent very serious scientific papers or ready-made projects with calculated estimates. A team from Saratov has developed documentation for assigning Mount Lysaya the status of a specially protected natural area (protected area). A young man from St. Petersburg sent three works at once - an ecobot that monitors water resources, a development for cleaning Lake Baikal and a Cascade–1 device that allows reducing the carbon footprint. A boy from the Moscow region came up with a project to teach crows to separate waste. And the list is very large. It will not be easy for the jury," Svetlana Radionova said.

The jury of this and last years was headed by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation for Agriculture, Ecology and Real Estate Turnover Victoria Abramchenko. The judging panel also included: Head of Rosprirodnadzor Svetlana Radionova, Russian scientist, TV presenter Nikolai Drozdov, famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov, People's Artist of the Russian Federation Nikas Safronov, Deputy Director General of the ANO Center for Arctic Initiatives Rustam Romanenkov, TV journalist Elena Letuchaya, two-time Olympic champion, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources resources and environmental protection of the State Duma Vyacheslav Fetisov, director of the Soyuzmultfilm studio Boris Mashkovtsev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vedomosti newspaper Ivan Eremin, legendary Russian football player Alexey Smertin.

Rustam Romanenkov, Deputy Director General of the Center for Arctic Initiatives, noted that the increase in the number of participants of the Rosprirodnadzor award "Ecology is everyone's business" in the second season and the expansion of their geography shows how the topic of environmental protection is relevant and important for the younger generation.

"Thanks to the Ecology is Everyone's Business award, we have seen a new generation that is not ready to stand aside and be observers. These are active, thinking children who are ready to offer ideas and work through them to solve specific environmental problems. Each of the award participants shows that he cares and that he really wants to change the world for the better," Rustam Romanenkov said.
The International Children's and Youth Award "Ecology is everyone's business" was established by Rosprirodnadzor in March 2021 to popularize the topic of ecology and environmental conservation. This year, children from 6 to 17 years old who applied on the website participate in the project www.экологияделокаждого .Russia in nine nominations: "Eco-family", "Eco-school", "Ecomir", "Ecoproject", "Ecobloger", "Ecorisunok", "Ecofocus", "Ecomultfilm", "ESG-generation".

The results of the II International Children's and Youth Award "Ecology is everyone's business" will be announced on November 24.