On April 12, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, with the support of the European Union and KfW development bank and in partnership with the German independent energy consulting company GOPA intec hosted an opening event of the campaign “Make Your School more Energy Efficient” as part of the Georgian Energy Sector Reform Project (GESRP) project.
Romeo Mikautadze, First Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, opened the event with a welcome speech.
“Energy reforms are underway in Georgia, for the successful implementation of which the awareness and involvement of the public are of the most importance. The competition “Make your school energy efficient” aims to raise awareness and change the behaviour of children of school age regarding energy efficiency issues. Energy efficiency not only helps us save energy but also plays an important role in reducing our carbon footprint and impact on the environment. I believe that such competitions will contribute to the promotion of European practices of energy saving in Georgia and raising awareness of energy efficiency, which, ultimately, will have a positive impact on the country’s sustainable future and energy security,” he said in his welcoming remark.
After the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia Mzia Giorgobiani, senior advisor of the international consulting company GOPA-intec Vakhtang Begashvili and executive director of CENN Nana Janashia addressed the guests. The meeting was moderated by Omar Tsereteli, Deputy Head of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Policy and Sustainable Development Department.
The speakers emphasized the importance of improving energy efficiency in Georgia, the country’s energy independence, and the need for education and youth participation in these processes.
After the welcome part, an interactive information session about the campaign was held for the participating schools. CENN introduced the competition rules and evaluation criteria to the 10 participating schools from Tbilisi who will plan activities to improve energy efficiency in their buildings until June 15, and at the end of June, a commission composed of various agencies will select 3 winners and award them with energy-efficient prizes.
About 170 people from public, private and non-governmental sectors attended the event. Among them were representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Finance, as well as students and teachers from participating schools and project implementing partners.
About the competition “Make Your School More Energy Efficient”
The campaign will help to raise awareness and change behaviour among students and teachers about energy efficiency. As part of the campaign, training on energy efficiency and renewable energy for students and teachers will be organized, audits to improve energy and water performance will be conducted, and a 3-month campaign will be planned to reduce energy and water consumption in schools with local and international experts.
After the end of the campaign, certificates will be issued to students and teachers of selected 10 schools, and 3 schools with the best campaigns will be awarded prizes, technical equipment and other thematic gifts from the GESRP project.
Schools participating in the competition are:
- Tbilisi Public School #169
- Tbilisi #71 public school
- Cervantes Gymnasium “Aia-Gess”
- Tbilisi Public School #106
- Vladimir Komarov Tbilisi Physics-Mathematics Public School #199
- Galaktion Tabidze public school #51 of the city of Tbilisi
- Private school “Jejili”
- Tbilisi Public school #178
- School “Dea”
- Tbilisi #177 public school
This campaign is one of the measures that are implemented within the framework of the Georgian Energy Sector Reform Project (GESRP) in order to improve energy efficiency in buildings.
About the project:
Started in 2021, the Georgian Energy Sector Reform Project (GESRP) is supporting the Government of Georgia to strengthen its capacities within the Energy Sector, and, in particular, within the areas of Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Renewable Energy and the Power Market in line with Georgia’s obligations, as a Contracting Party to the Energy Community.
