Kotos seminar in Zavodsky district: how ordinary courtyards become the pearls of Minsk

A seminar for chairmen of collegial bodies of territorial public self-government (COTOS) was held in the administration of the Zavodsky district on September 24, the correspondent of the Minsk-Novosti agency reports.

The event was attended by the Assistant to the President of Belarus - Inspector for the city of Minsk Dmitry Reutsky, Chairman of the Minsk City Council Artem Tsuran and representatives of the district administration.

Opening the meeting, Tsuran noted that the task of the seminar is to study practices that have already proven their effectiveness.

- Visiting the yards, we see that people are quite active in the life of their yard. There are several interesting examples in the work of COTOS, including those involving young people. We will only welcome that, he said.

According to A. Tsuran, the Zavodskaya district actively cooperates with public associations that offer participation in joint projects for the renewal of courtyard territories.

- Today we will gladly bring this experience to other districts, he said, adding that the seminar allows us to assess the system of work with the population as a whole. This is a kind of slice of how work with people is organized. It is important to understand how the vertical is built and how effective it is.

From “service provider” to partnership

The key message of the seminar is a change in the philosophy of interaction. The “service provider – passive consumer” model is a thing of the past. Partnerships are being replaced, where the resident is the co-author of the urban environment and the COTOS is the key link between people and utilities.

As noted in the report of the housing and communal services of the Zavodsk district, where dialogue is established, decisions are made faster, accidents are eliminated more quickly and an atmosphere of mutual respect is formed. Interaction with residents becomes a valuable resource that allows you to jointly create improvement facilities and ensure their safety.

COTOS has a special role in this work. In the factory district there are 18 committees, each includes up to seven people. The main support is more than 200 seniors in the yards.

The first project exceeded expectations

Chairman of COTOS No. 2 of the Factory District Nikolai Karpovich spoke about the first results of the work. Heading the committee in 2024, he from the first meetings set the task for activists: to identify yard areas in need of improvement.

The first in sight were the yards on the street. A. Bachilo, 21 and 19. These are large areas that required additional equipment for children. Activists came to the population with a proposal: 10% of the cost of the project is financed by residents, 90% from the city budget. People supported it.

- This was the first trial project in the Zavodsk district, said N. Karpovich. Funding was collected at the expense of the population, six civil initiatives were submitted, all of them won the competition and were implemented in the district in 2026.

The result exceeded expectations.

- Residents were very satisfied, felt confident that they can influence the improvement of yard areas, landscaping, putting yards in order and make their lives more comfortable, the chairman of the KOTOS emphasized.

This example inspired citizens:

- People from other yards pulled up, wanted to get their beautiful and cozy yard. We already plan to submit new civic initiatives taking into account the interests of all segments of the population: children, adults, the elderly. To make the yard modern!

The courtyard that became a pearl

The specialist in charge of the work of TOS, Nikolai Kryukov, spoke about the transformations that were implemented this year. It's two projects. The first is local: on the street. Baikal, 70, installed a power street simulator for 10 types of exercises.

The second project changed the courtyard near houses No. 29-41 to street. Gerasimenko. The cost of the civic initiative was 75,900 BYN. On the site of the wasteland, the center of attraction of residents appeared: a treadmill, three trampolines, large swings for six people. For young tourists - two playgrounds. The territory was completely rebuilt, 21 benches were installed, sidewalks were replaced.

The project was implemented with the active participation of citizens. The quality of the work was highly appreciated: the commission of the Minsk City Executive Committee headed by Deputy Chairman Oleg Korzun held a review contest of courtyards, following which the courtyard on the street. Gerasimenko took first place among the courtyards of Minsk.

- People believed that we were able to do this, felt cared for. They said to each other, “Did this all come to us, is it really not necessary to pay money and buy tickets to train on simulators?” - They were uplifted. From the usual courtyard territory we managed to create a real pearl of the city of Minsk.

At the end of the seminar, D. Reutsky addressed the activists. He thanked those present for their community work.

Photo by Sergei Pozhi