Hello dear members, volunteers, partners and simply sympathizers of our dear MBO.
2020th year - an important year for our organization in connection with the completion of the large project “Development of urban cycling in Belarus”, implemented with the Center for Environmental Solutions with the financial support of the European Union. Over the three years of work on the project, we have assembled a large and excellent team, have grown professionally, learned new things in the field of both bicycle infrastructure and ordinary management. The scale of our activity went far beyond Minsk and covered the whole of Belarus.
From January 2020, a new challenge for our organization is to learn how to work without the sufficient EU funding, which has been for almost three years.
What actions is our work team taking?
1 step, the most obvious one: we are looking for other grants, but such financial assistance is very limiting the field of activity. Often, projects that can receive grant funding do not meet the real problems and needs of society, and also draw a lot of energy and attention to bureaucratic procedures.
Projects for which grant funding is more suitable: development of cycling tourism and education (designers, cyclists and citizens in general).
Step 2: we will soon launch a crowdfunding campaign (fundraising) for the implementation of infrastructure projects.
These will be projects similar to the reconstruction of Vera Khoruzhei Street. A small experiment proved to be successful. Yes, we know all the flaws, but it takes time to master the best design techniques. The representatives of the traffic police are ready to continue such cooperation, where we develop design solutions, and they implement them. Next in line: the continuation of Vera Horuzhei Street , the organization of cycling on the street. Nemiga, the creation of safe conditions at the intersection of the Moscow Ring Road - Independence Avenue, the construction of ground crossings, where today are underground, for example, at the intersection of Dzerzhinsky Avenue - st. Shchorsa
We hope that the cyclists who have ridden Vera Horuzhei will be ready to invest in the development of other cycle lane projects at the expense of the carriageway.
In addition to infrastructure projects, we need money for high-quality legal assistance to consolidate the best practices in legislation. So that when the administrative executives change in the city, the correct decisions continue to be implemented.
Step 3: we are looking for partners - organizations that are ready to take part of the costs, thereby realizing corporate social responsibility and getting promotion in the media.
In 2020, we are planning to hold 5 large-scale performances from "rock stars" in the world of urbanism. So far, we ourselves are trying to understand who these "stars" are and will be glad to advice. We have a partner who is ready to cover the costs of the arrival of these stars, but we need partners who provide good premises and catering, make high-quality video recordings, and make interesting merchandise. Promoting healthy urban practices has to be cool! And we will try to do it.
Step 4, which everyone is talking about, but it seems that so far no one has successfully implemented: try to start some kind of business that can support not only himself but also a working team.
While we are taking these steps to find funding, in which we really need your support, of course, the volume of our work will be reduced.
Why? Because people working in the social sphere need to eat, pay for housing and all other human things 🙂 If what we professionally do sometimes for 12 hours a day is not demanded by society (neither the city administration, nor the townspeople themselves), then we have less pay attention to social activities. Making a living where our skills pay off.
What about our team?
In the near future (from the end of January to April), the chairman and director of the organization will go on vacation. Pavel Gorbunov and Anastasia Yanchevskaya will not be in the country, they will remotely complete a number of projects, but in general they hope that they will be left alone on a well-deserved rest.
Cycling officer Pavel Nishchenko is on sabbatical until mid-February, where he absorbs the best urban world practices. Then he returns to work on infrastructure projects, but part-time.
Maxim Puchinsky took over the duties of deputy director and during the absence of Pasha and Nastya decides all issues related to the activities of the MBO, relying on the work of the organization's board. You can still contact him for bicycle parking and bicycle garages.
The permanent bright head of Zhenya Khoruzhy remains on guard of urban changes.
Tanya Zharnosek again takes the helm of PR promotion, and tries to volunteer for the benefit of MBO, combining it with motherhood. Yana Bondar and Kirill Kudravets are helping her little by little.
Alexandra Khotko, Mikhail Markovsky and Alexander Buyan continue to work with the organization's bicycle volunteers, remaining volunteers themselves.
Irina Fedorchuk, one of the most important and completely invisible members of the team, our wonderful accountant, continues to help us if necessary.
Anton Ivanov, who has learned to get administrative officials from all secret corners during the year of the Eurovelo-2 tourist project implementation, is ready to make any cycling route with his eyes closed. But for now he is also a volunteer.
Urban development activities will continue anyway.
We have already announced some of the planned cases in the list of steps. What else will we do in 2020:
Volunteers of the Moscow Military District will traditionally take part in the Velokarnravlai “Viva Rovar!” and European Mobility Week. We continue to promote the theme of Minsk and Okolomin recreational routes. The PraRovar forum will be held in October this year. There is already funding for it, and all Belarusian organizations will be able to exchange the achievements and mistakes of 2020. We will continue to work on norms and standards in the field of cycling infrastructure construction. We will try to answer all inquiries from the city administration. The results of 2019 and the three-year project will be announced in the spring. The general meeting of the organization will be held on April 11.
Our cities - this is our business.
Thanks to those who regularly pay membership fees and make donations, those who contribute their time as a volunteer / volunteer.
From year to year there are about 250 such people. In order for our organization to continue its work in full, it is necessary that there be at least 5,000 people who pay membership fees. Considering that in the city of Minsk 112,000 people cycle several times a week, this is not so much.
We are waiting for this support and do not give up!
