EU Energy Days in Armenia
#EU4EnergyARM
“Each of us should realize that our actions have certain impact on the environment, we should try to spend less energy to meet our needs,” Elya Gasparyan, a 15-year-old student from Vayk says.
Elya and schoolchildren of her age from Vayk and Spitak towns arrived in Yerevan on September 27 to participate in the training course on energy saving, energy efficiency and renewable energy topics. It was initiated by Habitat for Humanity Armenia foundation, within “Access to Renewable and Efficienct Energy in Municipalities Vayk and Spitak” Project funded by the European Union, joining the EU Energy Days.
Elya tells that during the training she has learned, for example, that the solar energy is environmentally cleaner, does not cause any damage to the nature and requires less expenditure.
Drawing on to Elya’s idea, 15-year-old Harut Hovhannisyan cites that when you need to read a book in a necessaily lit surrounding, you can sit by the window and enjoy the sunlight, and not in a dark room by forcedly using the artificial light/bulbs.
During the course, the representatives of Young Engineers Association Hovhannes Karapetyan and Hunan Hovakimyan passed to the schoolchildren the knowledge on what the energy saving and energy efficiency were, which were the alternative energy types and their ways of application, how to make our behavior more energy saving and how to reduce the heating, conditioninig and electricity costs in our homes.
After the training, the schoolchildren should have appied the gained knowledge in practice by offering innovative ideas on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The Mayor of Spitak town Gagik Sahakyan attending the launch of the course, referred to the schoolchildren in his greeting speech saying that the energy efficiency and renewable energy issues should be taken seriously. “We have already started the implementation of thermal insulation of buildings in Spitak. We try to use energy efficiently, to have less expense for obtaining energy and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.”
17-year-old student Lilit Gasparyan from Vayk is going to start brushing her teeth meanwhile closing the tap, as the electricity is consumed to warm the water up, hence resulting in less expenditures.
15-year-old student Marietta Baghdasaryan from Spitak says that until now they have been using incandescent lamps in their house, which were both costly and less efficient at the same time causing damage to the environment. She inferred during the course that they will use LED lamps from now on for those were both more efficient and less harmful.
It was interesting news for 16-year-old Ani Danielyan from Spitak that it was also possible to get electricity from manure. Referring to the energy efficiency, she says that the lights should not be switched on and the water run for a long time if there is no need.
16-year-old Rafik Tumanyan considers it appropriate to use solar energy batteries for obtaining energy. “For obtaining larger amount of energy we need to use windmills and hydro power plants.”
After the training course, the schoolchildren were divided into groups and developed ideas of animation/video clips on these topics to present to the jury.
The ideas offered by the schoolchildren were mainly related to energy saving methods in the household and possibilities of having a “green future”.
The jury will select the appropriate idea during the upcoming days, which will serve as a basis to an animation/ video clip.
“Manana” Youth Center will support in the production of the video, involving also the schoolchildren.
It will be presented to the public as soon as it becomes available, with an aim of information and raising awareness on the subject.
About AREEM project
The overall objective of the Project is to support Spitak and Vayk Municipalities by developing and testing a replicable and efficient model(s) of energy savings through use of efficient measures and renewable sources in residential and public buildings, incorporated with their Sustainable Energy Action Plans aligned under the “Covenant of Mayors” requirements.
The Project is funded by the European Union and Co-funded by the Municipalities of Vayk and Spitak. More information about the Project is available here.
About HFH Armenia
HFH Armenia is the national office of Habitat for Humanity International and is dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing and improving housing conditions of families with low income. HFH Armenia implements various projects towards home renovation and repairs, energy efficiency and upgrades of residential buildings in partnership with financial institutions, as well as works toward raising awareness on creating affordable housing opportunities. It has been active since 2000 and has supported more than 5200 families throughout Armenia. For more information please visit www.habitat.am.
Public Journalism Club is the infomational supporter of the event.
