INOGATE PROGRAM FOCUSES ON THE BEST IDEAS AND PRACTICES IN THE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AREA

Five countries - partners of the INOGATE Program have participated during June 15 - 19, in Dublin, Ireland, in combined training activities related to raising awareness in the area of sustainable energy. The representatives of Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine were met on the airport from Dublin with an exhibition dedicated to the Sustainable Energy Week. The delegation of our country was represented by Nicolae Olari, Consultant in the Single Center of Information on Energy Efficiency and Renewables, Energy Efficiency Energy; Ana Nojac, Senior Consultant of the Division for Production and Supply of Thermal Energy, Ministry of Economy, and Constantin Borosan, Project Expert, Energy Efficiency Fund.

During these events, the middle-level managers from energy ministries, energy efficiency agencies and local public authorities of the partner countries focused on the best practices in developing and implementing efficient awareness activities related to increasing the level of sustainable energy use. The representatives of the Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources, Irish Agency for Sustainable Energy, "Earth Friends (Ireland) and Irish Council for "green" buildings have shared their experiences and best practices in developing software, communication, marketing and increasing awareness about sustainable energy.

As well, the participants have visited the Energy Agency from Dublin, CODEMA, which is the first institution of specialized training of specialists for passive houses located in Finglas region, as well as «TESCO-CABRA» - the first supermarket from Ireland with zero emissions and holding the award for innovations in the area of sustainable energy. As a result of all these visits, the participants were able to get familiarized with the newest examples of work with sustainable energy in EU countries and to underline the importance of the major role to inform citizens about the priorities of implementing measure to increase energy efficiency. The event came to an end with the media presentation by Duncan Stewart, producer of Eco Eye show - one of the most popular shows in Ireland informing people about climate change issues.  

"This event is very important and efficient for Georgian delegation, covering theoretical and practical issues, and this would allow us in the near futures to set up an information center on sustainable energy in Georgia", mentioned Margarita Arabidze, Head of Energy Efficiency and Renewables Department, Energy Ministry of Georgia.  

It should be mentioned that INOGATE is one of the longest program of technical assistance in energy sector, financed by the European Union. The Program started in 1996 and operates within the Baku Initiative and Eastern Partnership. The INOGATE Program collaborates with 11 partner countries to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and energy imports, as well as to increase energy supply security and mitigate climate changes in general.