Armenia

On November 11, at 11-00 from Republic Square started the march/flesh-mob/ SPARE international project’s pupils and citizens who have joined us for “International Day of Energy Saving”.

Representatives of 15 media channels — TV, newspapers and internet newspapers on November 9, participated in a press conference at the Press Club «Friday», which was devoted to International Energy saving Day" Festival and activities of the international project SPARE.

Within the framework the festival held an international conference on the theme “The role of civil society and private actors in Wildlife Protection in the South Caucasus”. SPARE international school projects coordinator in Armenia: NGO "Tapan" Eco-Club attended international conference.

SPARE coordinator in Armenia, NGO Eco-Club "Tapan" participated in the conference on "The role of the private sector and civil society in the conservation of wildlife" which took place in a frame of The South Caucasus Environmental Festival. The event was organized by the Armenian Fund "Saving Wildlife Heritage» (FPWS), the OSCE representative in Armenia and the "World Earth Fund» (WLT).

International seminar and annual coordination meeting, devoted to the SPARE development in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia took place 27-29 of May in Ukraine. Participants discussed development of educational materials for schoolchildren, domestic practical project on renewable energy and energy efficiency, NGO capacity building and involvement to national energy policy.

The list of courses with teaching hours for secondary schools for the 2010-2011 academic year was published in the newspaper «Education» of the Ministry of Education and Science. The long-awaited news: SPARE project course «The use of energy and resources» is in the published list.

According to the decision of the teacher seminar held in January this year the SPARE project coordinator in Armenia Eco-club «Tapan» organized a series of information seminars for decision makers in the marzes (provinces), principals and school teachers. The goal of the seminars is to tell school principals, heads of educational and environmental structures in marzes on activities and results of the SPARE project and thus to promote wider expansion of the project in schools of the republic.

On May 28th to 31st an international semonar on the development of the SPARE project took place in Minsk. An important theme of the workshop was the integration of SPARE project into the state education systems in the participants’ countries, as well as practical solutions for energy saving. Participants visited a straw house and a multistory house that was built with energy-saving technologies and was recommended as a model for construction in Belarus.

Norges Naturvernforbund/Friends of the Earth Norway has for several years cooperated with NGO partners in EECCA region on education, practical projects and policy development around energy and climate issues. We have now got the possibility to invite most of our NGO cooperation partners to Oslo, and on the 3rd of June we use the opportunity to arrange a conference on energy and climate in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA-region).

The joint meeting of SPARE group and students of schools from 3 villages – Marza, Mugni and Aragacotn was carried out on November 11th - on the international day of energy saving, in the school of № 2. Teacher, Mari Hodjoyan, described the reasons for the global warming, the present and expected consequences for the planet.

SPARE coordinators, teachers and pupils from the three Caucasian countries Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have in the end of September gathered for regional SPARE seminar in the mountain village Gudauri, Georgia. The participants have been discussing the development of SPARE in the region, the consequences of climate change and methods to teach pupils what climate change is and how it will affect the Caucasus.

The new Armenian Prime-Minster Tigran Sargsyan has met with representatives of “Ecological Union of Armenian NGO’s”. Members of Prime-Minister staff, Minister Nature Protection and Heads of different departments and gencies of ministry were present at the meeting.

SPARE coordinators from 11 countries have in the end of April been gathered for international SPARE meeting in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. The coordinators have been discussing results and development of educational and practical energy activities. The activity of SPARE is higher than ever, with 3 000 schools and 150 000 pupils participating in the project during the educational year 2007-2008.

September 26 the presentation of SPARE project took place in Armenian office of Academy for Educational Development (AED) in Yerevan. All regional (marz) coordinators and representatives of Youth and Community Action Program (YCAP) participated in it. The ways of further cooperation of two projects were discussed.