On the initiative of the European Union, Sustainable Energy Days are held in a number of countries and cities around the world having the objective to raise the awareness on this issue.
On June 4, in the framework of the “EU4Civil Society: Energy Efficiency in Armenian Communities” program the events of “sustainable energy week” were launched in Aparan Community on the initiative of Energy Saving Fund and the Union of Communities of Armenia. The events continued in Artik city as well. On 6 June, the 2nd Forum of Energy Efficient Municipalities Sustainable Energy Development Prospects in Armenian Communities took place in Yerevan. The forum was held within the framework of the EU funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project.
Mr. Hoa-Binh Adjemian, Head of the Cooperation Section of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, said at the opening ceremony noted that existence of such program is really welcomed and the EU will be happy to support it. “What is the peculiarity of the electric industry sphere? It’s a field that sustains stability, it is stable because your investments are compensated in 4-5 years. In order for the private sector to be able to access this investment field, we have to prepare a system and implement pilot projects so that we can clearly see those benefits,” Mr. Hoa-Binh Adjemian said.
Mr. Emin Yeritsyan, President of the Union of Communities of Armenia, Coordinator of Local Self Government Issues of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project noted that a platform that supported to make the attitude and activity of local authorities in the field of energy saving a model behaviour during the years.
“If we see experience in other countries and how it was implemented, we can say that here in Armenia we have already formed a mass movement, and this is a very important circumstance that electricity and energy savings should become the daily routine of local authorities and behaviour and from the aspect of both legal procedures and policies,” Emin Yeritsyan said.
Mr. Marat Atovmyan, Mentors’ Group Coordinator/Justice and Related Sectors Mentor of the EU funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project presented the program, and spoke about the cooperation achieved as a result of CSO-Community dialogue, which later can support to the development of the energy efficiency sphere..
“The “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project focuses on nine key areas: justice, human rights, public finance management, education, social sphere: social inclusion of children with disabilities, agriculture, economy and energy. I want to note that the program has several objectives, which are mainly the capacity building of CSOs, the development of existing coalitions and networks, and building coalitions/networks in the sectors which lack such coalitions,” Marat Atovmyan said. He also mentioned that within the framework of the project CSOs and local self-government bodies had meetings in Yerevan and several regions, during which they held active discussions on the issues that exist in the sector.
