Ahead of City Day, the Nizhny Novgorod Awards were presented to the 20 winners of this year.

      Projects were nominated in 16 categories.

      Photo provided by the Information Policy Department of the Administration of Nizhny Novgorod

      On the eve of City Day, the Nizhny Novgorod Awards were presented to 20 projects — this year’s winners. A total of 127 projects in the sectors that the city lives by competed for the Award.

      At the ceremonial event held at the Komediya Theatre, the head of the city, Yuri Shalabaev, admitted that participation in the ceremony of presenting the Nizhny Novgorod Award has special significance for him.

      “First of all, I want to thank everyone who is in this hall today — the people who, with their work, ideas, knowledge and initiatives, make Nizhny Novgorod stronger, more beautiful and kinder. We have been presenting the Nizhny Novgorod Award for more than 30 years, and behind every project, behind every winner, there is the energy of change for the better, a desire to serve people and love for our native city,” the mayor addressed those present in the hall.

      The head of the city noted that projects were nominated in 16 categories: “These are science, education, culture, medicine, charity, business, ecology and architecture — all that makes up the quality of life in our city. I am sure that the members of the expert council did very serious and complex work to choose the best.”

      One of the winners in the “Medicine” category was an author collective with the project “Innovative Technologies in Overcoming Infertility and Pregnancy Loss.” One of the authors, Associate Professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Svetlana Kolobova, said that the project submitted for the Award is aimed at increasing birth rates through early diagnosis and effective treatment of diseases that lead to the development of infertility.

      “We have developed an innovative method of treating infertility using scanner therapy. This is a unique method of electrotherapy, non-invasive, without drug burden. It regulates disrupted body functions, and the pregnancy rate among our patients increases to 70–80%. In addition, we have proven that scanner therapy is safe for fetal development. We have been working on this issue for several years now. And, of course, it is very pleasant that our method was appreciated, because it can bring enormous benefits to our women,” she noted.

      An author collective led by the artistic director of the children’s theatre VERA, Vera Gorshkova, received the Award in the category “Original Work in the Field of Art” for the play “The Flower of Seven Colors” (6+), by Toni Yablochkina based on the fairy tale by Valentin Katayev.

      “For us it is a great happiness to receive the Nizhny Novgorod Award. This is one of the main awards of our city, and to win it is not only prestigious and joyful: it greatly inspires further achievements. All the proposals submitted for the Award deserve respect, because they are all aimed at the development and prosperity of our city. Participation in the Award itself is already happiness. We presented the play ‘The Flower of Seven Colors’: this work, written in the 1940s, is still relevant and evokes a lively response in the hearts of our viewers,” she said, adding that she is happy to see how Nizhny Novgorod is being transformed. “Nizhny Novgorod is beautiful and majestic; there is no fuss in it. Any Nizhny Novgorod square, the Kremlin, the Fair astonish with their beauty. When I leave the city and do not breathe its air, I can get sick, so I always return to Nizhny Novgorod.”

      In the “Education” category, one of the winners was an author collective with the project “An Educational Program of Supplementary Education for Children to Promote Experience in the Field of International and Foreign Economic Relations at the Resource Center ‘Nizhny Meets Friends’.” As one of the project’s authors, director of Nizhny Novgorod School No. 70 Anna Rusakova, said, in 2023 an agreement was concluded between Nizhny Novgorod School No. 70 and Secondary School No. 6 named after V.M. Komarov of the city of Sukhumi, Republic of Abkhazia, with the aim of comprehensive and effective cooperation. For three years teachers and students have been exchanging experiences and knowledge, getting acquainted with cultural features and scientific achievements.

      “We presented this project for the Nizhny Novgorod Award and are immensely happy about the victory,” she shared, noting that she loves her native Nizhny Novgorod very much. “I have many friends in different regions of Russia, and they all gladly come to visit us — to Nizhny Novgorod. I am proud of my city. I am glad that I am from Nizhny Novgorod.”

      Recall that the Nizhny Novgorod Award is traditionally presented by the head of the city Yuri Shalabaev on the eve of City Day in August. It is awarded annually to authors or teams for outstanding works that have made a significant contribution to the development of the city and have brought Nizhny Novgorod recognition beyond its borders. For the third year now the size of the Award has been 1,000,000 rubles. The decision to increase the amount tenfold was made by the head of the city Yuri Shalabaev in 2023, the 30th anniversary year of the Award, and the number of categories was also expanded to 16.

      List of winners:

      Category “Education”:

      Additional general developmental program “In the World of Dance.”

      Additional Award: the educational program of supplementary education for children to promote experience in the field of international and foreign economic relations at the resource center “Nizhny Meets Friends” (within the framework of the project “Sister Cities” — “Secondary School No. 6 named after pilot-cosmonaut V.M. Komarov” of Sukhumi (Republic of Abkhazia) and MAOU “School No. 70 with in-depth study of certain subjects”).

      Category “Parental Education”:

      Project for pedagogical education of parents on child-rearing issues “Family Academy.”

      Category “Medicine”:

      Project “New Personnel for Clinical Medicine.”

      Additional Award: project “Innovative Technologies in Overcoming Infertility and Pregnancy Loss.”

      Category “Entrepreneurship and Industry”:

      Support laboratory of FBU “Nizhny Novgorod CSM.”

      Category “Innovation and Digital Technologies”:

      VR simulator “High-Speed Vessel.”

      Additional Award: project “Theoretical and Practical Foundations of Implementing and Optimizing Neural Networks on Low-Performance Devices and Projects Demonstrating the Effectiveness of the Approach.”

      Category “Original Work in the Field of Art”:

      Play “The Flower of Seven Colors” by Toni Yablochkina based on the fairy tale by Valentin Katayev.

      Category “Enlightenment in the Field of Culture”:

      Creation of a permanent exhibition for the 225th anniversary of A.S. Pushkin at the Boldino Museum-Reserve branch in Nizhny Novgorod.

      Additional Award: Project “ABOUT THE STARS: a new educational environment of the Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium.”

      Category “Event in the Field of Culture and Art”:

      “Ars Longa…” (“Art is Eternal”): an educational cycle of solo concerts for bayan (button accordion).

      Category “Local History”:

      Project “Aircraft Builders. Labor Collectives of the Aircraft-Building Complex of the Gorky Region during the Great Patriotic War.”

      Category “Tourism”:

      Project “Pushkin is Alive!”

      Category “Architecture, Design and Improvement of Public Spaces”:

      KM River Park residential complex.

      Category “Ecology and Environmental Protection”:

      Modular interdisciplinary project “The Little Boat ‘Strelochka’ or a Gift from Young Nizhny Novgorod Residents to the Volga and Oka Rivers.”

      Category “Media and Social Media”:

      TV project “Mentors.”

      Category “Social Projects: Volunteering and Charity”:

      Project “Image of Victory. Heroes of Our Time.”

      Additional Award: project “Helping Animals Is Easy!”

      Category “Sports and Healthy Lifestyle”:

      Project “Orientation for Life.”