On Friday, July 1, voting will begin on the "Crystal Compass" National Award website to determine the winner in the "Public Recognition" category. Until July 31, inclusive, anyone will be able to choose one or more of the best projects from among those who have passed the qualification selection. You can give your vote to the candidates you like once a day.
579 projects from 27 countries of the world are participating in the tenth Crystal Compass International Award. Participants from Belgium, Canada, Kenya and Portugal will compete for the geographical Oscar together with representatives of Russia, Serbia, China, India, the USA and other countries. Among the Russian regions, Moscow (73 projects), the Republic of Tatarstan (39), the Krasnodar Territory (36) and the Kemerovo Region (27) are the most active.
The Murmansk Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society participates in the first award in the field of geography, ecology, preservation and popularization of the natural and historical and cultural heritage of Russia with the "Remember the War" project, the Complex Expedition of the Russian Geographical Society and the Northern Fleet. 12 ships and vessels of search and rescue support took part in the work. Four warships were found — presumably Soviet patrol ships “Passat” and “Tuman”, British destroyer “Matabele” and corvette Bluebell, as well as 12 vessels, including trawler Onega that sank in 2020, two aircrafts — A-20 “Boston” and I-153 “Chaika” and the three bottom mines. The expedition also confirmed and specified the location of the 20 other ships and vessels, including Soviet submarines K-2 and D-3, German submarines U-307, U 286 and U-387. During the Expedition, a lot of work was carried out in the filed of mapping. As a result, just the hydrographic vessel "Romuald Muklevich" alone performed a survey of the sea bottom on an area of about 3 thousand square kilometers. You can vote here.
The Murmansk Branch participates in the competition with two more projects – a book about the expedition to Franz Josef Land that was published last year (vote here), and a series of events dedicated to the 800th anniversary of Alexander Nevsky (vote here).
There are 11 categories in the Crystal Compass Award. Winners in 10 of them are selected by the expert council of the Award, and the "Public recognition" award is given to the winners of the Internet voting. You can vote for the best of the best on the Award website. The decision of the experts will be announced at the award ceremony. It will be held in Moscow in September 2022.