Twenty employees of the municipality of Rila attended a two-day training on citizen involvement in local decision-making in the field of energy efficiency. The training under the project “Increasing Civic Participation in Local Energy Efficiency Policies and Activities in Rila municipality ” took place from 21 to 22 July in Hotel Lyon, Borovets.
The workshop was opened by Ergin Emin, Executive Director of ABCR, who thanked the Municipality of Rila and the BSoP for their cooperation, emphasizing the importance of the topic for the successful development of the municipality.
After the official opening Dragomir Tsanev, Executive Director of EnEffect, presented to the participants the European policies and legislation in the field of energy efficiency in buildings and the communication strategy in support of the renovation programs. Between the two lectures, an online quiz “What do we know about energy efficiency in buildings?” was held, which contributed to the good mood of everyone with its competitive nature. The program continued with the participation of Radostina Angelova, Manager of Global Metrics, who presented the findings of the focus groups and survey conducted on the territory of Rila as part of the project. The day’s curriculum concluded with small group work on how to engage stakeholders and team building.
The second day of the training started with a lecture by Hristo Panchugov from New Bulgarian University who presented the “Index for Civic Health”. Afterwards, Georgi Prodanov introduced the participants to the methodology developed under the project for improving citizen participation in the processes of updating, implementing and monitoring energy efficiency policies at local level and set them tasks to work in small groups to develop steps for its practical implementation and use. Before the official closing, the participants presented and discussed the results of their work in the two small groups.
The project “Increasing Citizen Participation in Local Energy Efficiency Policies and Activities in Rila Municipality” is implemented by the Association of Bulgarian Cities and Regions and the Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” and funded by the Operational Programme “Good Governance” (OPG), co-financed by the European Social Fund of the European Union.