Natalia Virtuozova and Steven Seagal announced the best projects in the "Sustainable Future" category

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A solemn award ceremony for the 2025 International Prize #WEARETOGETHER was held at the National Centre RUSSIA on 3 December. The laureates of the national and international "Sustainable Future" category were announced at the event. The honorary awards were presented by Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA Natalia Virtuozova and Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for humanitarian relations between Russia and the United States Steven Seagal.

"It is a great honour for the National Centre RUSSIA to welcome such beautiful, sensitive, kind, courageous, and bold people who, day after day, help others step by step. This Prize has been held at our venue before, and I can say that I have never seen so many tears of joy, pride and love at any other event. Because only in this way – with faith in our hearts, with faith in our country, in people and in kindness – can we build our happy future together," said Natalia Virtuozova.

In the national track of the "Sustainable Future" category, the first-degree laureate was the project "Clean City – Healthy Child" of the Belgorod charitable foundation "Obychnoe Delo" ("An Ordinary Matter"). Thanks to the initiative, more than 20,000 residents of Stary Oskol take part in plastic waste sorting and recycling. The city has installed 39 plastic collection containers, with an expansion planned to 67 units. Forty tonnes of plastic waste have been collected and recycled, allowing more than 450,000 rubles to be allocated to help children with disabilities from low-income families. Two tonnes of soft toys were also recycled, which were used to create 1,500 pillows for participants in the special military operation.

"Thank you very much for this Prize, which highlights and recognises social projects. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to my family – my parents, my wife and my son – who have supported me. And enormous thanks to the team of the charitable foundation 'Obychnoe Delo', to our movement's team, and to the city of Stary Oskol, which supports our project," said the Head of the charitable foundation "Obychnoe Delo" Arkady Kosyuzhev.

The second-degree laureate was the comprehensive programme "Adaptive Quadrathlon" of the Tver charitable foundation "Mama". The project delivered more than 750 rehabilitation sessions for children with disabilities, including swimming, hydrotherapy, adaptive physical education, roller sports, and alpine skiing. The number of families with children with disabilities involved in the programme has more than tripled.

The third-degree laureate was the "Green Spring" project, implemented by the Vernadsky Charitable Foundation. Since 2014, the project has brought together 20 million volunteers who have planted 33.6 million trees, cleaned 73,000 hectares of land and eliminated almost 99,000 illegal dumps. Participants have collected 440,000 tonnes of waste and improved 16,000 public spaces.

"Thank you, dear friends, for allowing me to be here with you today. Our unity, our mutual support and the very fact that we are all here together are incredibly valuable. We must continue working in the same spirit and supporting one another. This is exactly what reflects Russia. I am proud to be Russian, and I am proud to stand here with you today at this wonderful event," said Steven Seagal.

In the international track of the "Sustainable Future" category, the International Prize #WEARETOGETHER was awarded to Maryam Amin from Egypt for her project "Patches for Environmental Improvement", which provides training for economically vulnerable women and people with disabilities in recycling, environmentally responsible production and financial literacy. Each year, 50 women receive professional training in sewing and carpet weaving using recycled materials. The project has already recycled 1,500 kg of plastic and produced 100 blankets for the homeless.

Another laureate was Rodearni Purba from Indonesia, representing the Bali Water Protection project. Over seven years, the project has installed 74 infiltration wells, planted more than 5,000 trees to restore watershed areas, and involved more than 130 schools in educational programmes on water conservation.

The third laureate in this category was Alejandra Bonito from Colombia, representing the Reciclando un Mundo Mejor Foundation. The foundation is a civic and educational platform that mobilises environmental initiatives across Colombia through digital tools, local leaders and community-based research. The project has reached more than 24 million people across the country. A particular point of pride is the "Water Warriors" programme, which has brought together more than 300 schools.

The founder of the #WEARETOGETHER Prize is Rosmolodezh. The organiser is Dobro.rf. The general partner of the Prize is Alfa-Bank, and the strategic partner is the Rosatom State Corporation.