Call for ideas on an Awareness-Raising Campaign “Energy Efficient Communities”, GIZ Armenia

Publish Date: Aug 03, 2022

Deadline: Aug 15, 2022

CALL FOR IDEAS

(in Armenian)

GIZ “Management of natural resources and safeguarding of ecosystem services for sustainable rural development in the South Caucasus” (ECOserve) programme announces a call for ideas on an Awareness-Raising Campaign “Energy Efficient Communities”

Background information:

The programme “Management of natural resources and safeguarding of ecosystem services for sustainable rural development in the South Caucasus” (ECOserve) is part of the wider German support in the priority area “Environmental policy, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in the South Caucasus”. The objective of ECOserve Armenia is to improve the preconditions for the Sustainable Pasture Management with particular attention on energy security of the rural population. In Armenia, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MoTAI) is the political partner and the Ministry of Environment (MoEnv) and the Ministry of Economy (MoEc) are implementing partners.

The energy component of ECOserve relates to the promotion of marketable approaches for more efficient use or substitution of firewood or dung as a source of heating energy that addresses the specific benefits of women (e.g., indoor air quality, room temperature, fuelwood procurement legality). Improved energy efficiency (EE) in rural households can significantly reduce the use of fuel (fuelwood, dung, etc.) for heating with consequent reduction of forest degradation and energy poverty of the population. Alternative solid biofuel from renewable biomass also has a potential to replace fuelwood/manure as heating fuel. In the frames of ECOserve, a number of studies on rural energy demand, supply, and efficiency in Armenia were implemented with the focus on rural areas and aspects related to use of fuelwood and manure. A pilot intervention in selected community clusters in Lori, Shirak and Kotayk marzes promoted locally manufactures energy efficient stove and (straw) briquettes, produced in the functioning facilities. The details are available in a brief leaflet. Potentially ECOserve is planning to address EE and renewable energy (RE) solutions not only in rural households, but also in public buildings with the measures such as solar energy, thermal insulation, and others.

Environmental Awareness-Raising is one of the key directions of the ECOserve with the main aim to increase the knowledge on natural resources management, ecosystem services, energy efficiency, and renewable energy considering the climate change, as well as to implement measures specifically designed to raise environmental awareness among youth and women.

In 2020-2021 an awareness-raising campaign on EE and renewable energy was organized in Lori, Kotayk, and Shirak marzes aimed at awareness-raising on energy topics through public talks, development of infographics and Wikipedia articles, creation of a board game “Energapolia,” and a community contest.

Another initiative Financial and Ecological Literacy to Promote Energy Efficiency in Rural Communities in Armenia (FELCA) was implemented in 2021-2022 with trainings on household financial management and savings linked to energy efficiency as well as environmental issues for more than 3600 rural inhabitants from 10 marzes, a video describing the main highlights is available.

Objective, target areas and target groups of the awareness-raising campaign

The objective is to implement gender specific awareness-raising campaign/measures on energy efficiency and renewable energy with the overall aim to foster behavior changes and create the preconditions for making the communities energy efficient, sustainable energy oriented and, in general, with reduced impact on environment and natural resources with consideration of the climate change trends. The issue of the reduction of the use of fuelwood/manure for heating should be in the focus.

The campaign should be implemented in rural communities in all or at least three of the following target marzes: Lori, Tavush, Gegharkunik, Shirak, and Syunik. It is encouraged to cover as many marzes as possible, however, the selected geography for the implementation of the campaign should allow for feasibility and efficiency. The rural communities can be adjacent to forest or situated far from forest. The final selection of the communities and respective settlements should be coordinated with ECOserve.

The main target groups include youth (15-33 years old) and women (teachers, representatives of local self-government bodies (LSGBs) and regional administrations, other active players in communities). It is expected to engage about 1000 youth and about 100 women with a focus on decision-makers (local council members/representatives of communities and regional administrations /other active community members). For the engagement of respective institutions, priority is given to public infrastructure with special importance for women and youth like kindergartens, health stations, cultural and sports centers, botanical gardens, local museums, schools, etc. (at least up to 10 institutions in each marz).

Potential activities/measures for the campaign

The applicant is expected to propose innovative, efficient/effective, practical, and participatory measures to reach the target group considering the practical or tangible outputs and sustainability after the campaign is completed. The examples of activities for implementation can include but not be limited to the following:

  • Suggest and conduct environmental awareness-raising measures aimed at the communities on EE/RE topics (this can be built around, be in line with or complement the potential practical implementation activities of ECOserve such as promotion of renewable energy appliances such as solar water heaters/SWH and PV-roof top installations on small public buildings, insulation measures for selected households and public buildings, promotion of energy-efficient stoves, etc.). Thereby, for the awareness-raising measures priority is given to relevant target groups in public infrastructure with special importance for women and youth like kindergartens, health stations, cultural, community, and sports centers, botanical gardens, local museums, schools, etc. (at least up to 10 institutions in each marz). Specific awareness-raising measures and activities (practical and tangible, interactive and engaging) should be proposed by the applicant.

  • Meetings (conferences, workshops, seminars, etc.) for woman representatives of LSGBs and regional administrations: specific topics, measures and activities should be proposed by the applicant.

  • Hackathon (1 in each target marz): potential topics “How to make your school energy efficient and reduce the impact on environment?” or “How to raise awareness on EE/RE in your communities?”. The hackathon can engage the teams to get an input on EE/RE topics, identify local problems and suggest solutions.

  • Creation of 4 interactive animations on clean energy addressing the following topics and dissemination via social media and partner channels:

  • How to make your household and community/settlement energy-efficient

  • Health and heating of houses with solid biomass fuel

  • Thermal insulation: benefits for families and environment, how to insulate your house with the most common insulation materials (walls, ceiling, basement, etc.)

  • Natural resources and energy efficiency/sustainable energy solutions

  • Proposals of other measures and activities

Eligibility for Application:

The envisaged type of agreement with potential implementer is a GIZ’s Local Subsidy contract. The proposed intervention should be in line with the mandate of the applicant and contribute to capacity building and development of the organization. The eligible organizations are non-profit organizations (NGOs, foundation, associations, etc).

Budget:

The threshold of the budget is 12,480,000 AMD. The budget could be changed due to the fluctuation of EUR-AMD exchange rate.

Duration:

From September 2022-August 2023

Application package:

The application package should include 

  • A Project Description or a Concept with a time schedule of implementation and milestones (as a word document)

  • Budget

  • Organization profile

The complete application package should be sent by email to biodiversity-armenia@giz.de:

 

Deadline for application submission and receipt is 15th of August, 23:59 Yerevan Time.

Similar Opportunities


Eligible Countries

Armenia

Host Countries

Armenia