OREANDA-NEWS. March 05, 2011. At the end of February 2011 an official award ceremony of the first regional contest “Energy Efficiency School” was held in Kaluga. The contest was organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kaluga region together with the Kaluga Center for Science and Technologies - branch office of the Federal State Institution “Russian Energy Agency”, supported by the Federal State Institution “Russian Energy Agency” and the I.T. Group of Companies.

The relevance of this type of event was discussed by participants of the “Energy Efficiency School” meeting (http://www.ibrae.ac.ru/content/view/425/) in April 2010. At that time everybody agreed that the most crucial challenge is to identify and support schools that are actively involved with improving energy efficiency, as well as to bring students’ attention to the problem associated with energy savings.

In October 2010 the branch office of the Russian Energy Agency in Kaluga together with the Autonomous Institution “Regional Center for Energy Efficiency” and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kaluga region supported by the I.T. Group of Companies, started preparation of the contest “Energy Efficiency School”. In this respect, special attention was paid to the support and encouragement of school activities aimed at students’ involvement in energy saving education.

Almost 30 educational institutions submitted more than 200 works for the contest that evoked a tremendous interest in schools. 27 students and teaches were awarded. The award ceremony took place in the Kaluga Art Center for Youth in a solemn and festive atmosphere.

The award ceremony was attended by Nina Gennadyevna Kalugina, Director of the Kaluga Center for Science and Technologies - branch office of the Federal State Institution “Russian Energy Agency”, Vitaly Alekseevich Khmyrov, Director of the Autonomous Institution “Regional Center for Energy Efficiency”, Pavel Vladimirovich Kondrashev, Deputy Head of Department for External Relations of the Federal State Institution “Russian Energy Agency”, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kaluga region and the Kaluga Art Center for Youth. All guest speakers noted the high level of submitted works and a genuine interest of participants to the problem of rational use of energy resources, as well as expressed their hope that similar contests will be held on a regular basis not only in the Kaluga region but also in other Russian regions.