Promoting the Development of Sustainable Energy Project, Azerbaijan Report of Component 2: Increasing the awareness about renewable energy in Azerbaijan
Executive summary The report presents overview of the activities, outcomes and lessons learned as a result of the delivery of the educational component of the project on Promoting development of sustainable energy in Azerbaijan (Project hereafter). The main outcomes of the educational component include: Increased understanding and awareness among 100% of participants (in accordance with evaluation forms); Improved capacity of the trainers and educators for development and implementation of the educational and training activities in the field of ARES; Enhanced desire of the regional stakeholders to develop renewable energy projects; Increased capacity for implementation and replication of the best practices and actions to develop renewable energy projects in Azerbaijan; Strengthened networking and collaboration among the regional stakeholders; Among the key Project outputs are: the database of the regional stakeholders with 223 experts, the Education Roadmap with programmatic guidance on achieving a systemic changes in public perception of renewable energy, development and implementation of 4 training packages (for the policy-makers and energy-managers, general awareness raising seminar for the mixed audience, including business, governments and public sector, training for the regions of Azerbaijan, training for the students), which can be replicated by all the interested parties. The activities of the educational component covered 30 regions of Azerbaijan and directly exposed 137 policy-makers, energy-managers and other stakeholders involved in development of sustainable energy in Azerbaijan. One of the main conclusions is that despite substantial increase of awareness among various groups of stakeholders, there is still a need for systemic changes related to: Stronger policy level actions and leveraged private sector financing for utilization of
different renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan. Enhanced national effort and capacity for creation of market place for RES in Azerbaijan; Facilitated implementation of nation-wide awareness raising and educational activities on renewable energy in Azerbaijan; Improved perception of broader public and overall Azerbaijan society on renewable energy sources; Leveraging efforts and resources for development of sustainable energy via broader participation, creation of partnerships and alliances among various groups of stakeholders. Achievement of above-mentioned systemic changes will require development and implementation of complex measures in compliance with certain communication principles targeted at various groups of stakeholders. Furthermore, the method of road mapping should be utilised for providing a guiding strategic framework for crafting and implementing complex educational and public awareness activities on renewable energy in Azerbaijan beyond the framework of the educational component of UNDP/SAARES project on Promoting alternative and renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan. The Education roadmap developed within the project is built on the lessons learnt from implementation of the project activities and with consideration of the results of stakeholder analysis and the best international practices. The roadmap provides recommendations on how to enhance national effort and capacity for creation of market place for RES in Azerbaijan, makes education on renewable energy a more central part within overall educational system and improve the knowledge and perception of Azerbaijan society on renewable energy sources. Education Roadmap targets all the sectors of the society, including governments, business and public sector, i.e. NGOs, schools and universities, individual households etc, and provides customized activities in accordance with specific needs of the beneficiaries (the stakeholder database developed within the project presents a target audience for
Business Goverment implementation of the educational activities). Stakeholder analysis Group Interest Impact Actions needed Methodology - Achieving Development and - Build capacity for - Organisation of the sustainable adoption of policy and development of policy and tailored training and economic growth in regulatory mechanisms regulatory frameworks workshops; Azerbaijan (laws, strategic supporting renewable - Organisation of studytours - Improving energy programs, standards energy for raising awareness security and initiatives) for - Provide acesss to policy on the best international - Facilitating creation of favorable and regulatory practices practices. implementation of environment for for establishing a - Development of experts the international development of RE and renewable energy markets pools commitments EE. - Assist in accelerating - Organisation of the (Kyoto protocol) development of networking events with - Strengthened renewable energy sector participation of public and government s in a transparent and private sectors standing with the inclusive manner via multistakeholders - Facilitate creation of populace and dialogue working groups and advisory raised expectations committees consolidating among the citizenry various expertise under for a responsive Ministry of Energy and government SAARES - Access to the best practices of innovative financing tools and methods and investment opportunities - Business opportunities - Expanding the markets, - Generating competitive advantages Possess substantial financial resources and unique management capacities - Increase awareness on investment opportunities related to renewable energy, assist in finding business partners, provide access to information on the best practices - Develop methods and capacity to attract finance into the clean energy sector - Organisation of businesstours - Development and publication of reviews on potential for development of RES projects and - Organisation of workshops on development of investment proposals among project developers - Organisation of networking events for presenting potential projects and connecting projectdevelopers with investors - Assist in creation of RES Business associations - Establishment of business advisory services
Mass-media Public: - NGOs - Universities, schools, kindergartens - Individual users Up-to-date knowledge on recent developments and state of the art of renewable energy Access to information Public sector is one of the leading forces for providing systemic changes, which are necessary for removing barriers to renewable energy. The impact is achieved through facilitating, endorsing and mandating. Key opnion formers on renewable energy - increase awareness about the basic characteristics and prerequisites for increasing the use of local renewable energy sources and their national and local benefits - influence positively the public acceptance and interest in local renewable energy development and to provide a more fertile ground for further project identification and development activities at the local community level - Facilitating promotion of renewable energy via improved media coverage. Improving understanding among journalists on sustainable energy; - Improving quality of media reporting on renewable energy in Azerbaijan. -Building capacity for embedding educational programs in the existing system of media - Creation of online and offline information sources with essential information and publications on RES - Organisation of events, training and workshops - Development and dissemination of informational materials, reports and reviews etc - Creation of networks and facilitating sharing information and exchange of experience - Development of publications, social and public service advertisement - Organization of exchange programs and stipends - Development of educational courses, laboratories, classes and workshops - Organization of competitions, contests and awards - Outreach activities to involve parents - Organisation of the working groups and facilitation of information exchange among teachers - Creation of specialised media-pool - Development of subscription-lists with the recent updates and news related to RES - Organisation of workshops and trainings - Provide trainings for journalists - Facilitate networking and build professional knowledge on renewable energy
R&D Information on the lates technological developments Provision of the innovational solutions - Monitor the most interesting ideas, - Facilitate technology transfer - Development of the grantprograms - Facilitate networking and knowledge exchange between local and international scientific communities through organisation of conferences and stuyd-tours - Connect developers of the innovations ideas with business and financiers via networking events According to analysis of the informational barriers, the curriculum of the educational programs in Azerbaijan should be designed with consideration of the following training needs: Economic, social and environmental benefits affiliated with development of RES; Business opportunities and market schemes, conduction of feasibility studies and development of investment proposals; Policy and regulatory approaches facilitating development of renewable energy market; Available technological solutions and their costs; Engineering aspects of RES projects related to installation, operation and maintenance of renewable energy equipment; Case-studies of the best-practices and project implementation experiences. Additionally, the following principles should be taken into account while developing educational programs: accumulating and aggregating existing knowledge and the best educational practices on renewable energy; applying holistic approach; recognizing renewable energy as a part of sustainable development paradigm and as an approach for efficient use of energy resources; utilizing participatory design. The activities of the Roadmap shall be set for achieving by the mid 2013, which is in line with the time frame of the project. Among the strategic areas of the roadmap are:
1. Enhancing the knowledge level and roles of the regional stakeholders: strengthening expertise and enhancing capacity of public, decision-makers, project- developers and practitioners via organization of more tailored and higher quality training for every group of beneficiaries, which would address their information needs and facilitate contribution to development of RES in Azerbaijan 2. Raising profile of SAARES as a resource centre and a key coordinating agency on renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan: improving awareness of the various stakeholders on the roles and mission of SAARES as a specialized governmental agency is essential for demonstrating importance of development of renewable energy sources as one of the national priorities. 3. Strengthening Capacity for development of educational policies: development of the national educational policies and programs on renewable energy, demonstrating commitment at the highest political level and declaring it as a national priority will largely contribute to boosting renewable energy industry, increasing investment flows and development of the market place for renewable energy technologies and services. The challenge is given over to the Ministry of Education and SAARES to develop and integrate renewable energy into education policies and link the educational policies with other strategic renewable energy documents. 4. Integrating renewable energy issues in schools and universities curricula: introduction of interdisciplinary approaches, which would integrate renewable energy issues into existing knowledge areas such as biology, chemistry, physics, economics, geography, ecology etc 5. Facilitate dissemination of information and knowledge exchange: develop activities increasing usability and accessibility of knowledge through creation of networks and information exchange vehicles. The last, but not least important result of the project is substantial media coverage. The reports on the Project activities were published by 5 TV companies, 6 information agencies and 3 newspapers.
Goals of the Project The objective of the educational component of the Project is to promote the development of sustainable energy in Azerbaijan via provision of training and education to target groups and beneficiaries and reduce existing awareness, knowledge and capacity barriers. The added value of the educational component of the project is to provide a basis for further improvement of the institutional and regulatory framework and development of an enabling environment for renewable energy investments in Azerbaijan. Methodology The activities of the educational component were implemented using the following methodology: a. Identification of the key entities and individuals to whom the training and education on renewable energy development should be targeted via fieldwork and meetings with local experts. The database with 223 key organisations and experts involved in development of sustainable energy in Azerbaijan has been developed. The database also served as a basis for implementing the stakeholder analysis and identifying the beneficiaries of the educational activities (Refer to database and education roadmap). The organisations represented in the database NGOs, governmental organisations of the regional and national level, media, business, universities, student alliances etc. b. Research and review of the previous studies conducted on renewable energy in Azerbaijan to gain knowledge about the present status of their development and acceptance. In accordance with reviewed literature as well as communication with the regional stakeholders c. Conduction of the elementary analysis of the training needs based on research of the
background situation in Azerbaijan, evaluation of the knowledge gaps and informational barriers for development of sustainable energy through communication with the key regional stakeholders and literature review. The barriers have been identified as following: Poor understanding of the economic, social and environmental benefits affiliated with development of ARES among public Lack of understanding of opportunities among investors, business practices and market schemes Lack of understanding on policy and regulatory approaches among policy-makers Low technical expertise and insufficient awareness on technological solutions, their costs and maintenance among potential project-developers Lack of the information on the case-studies of the best-practices, project implementation experiences Absence of reliable information sources with information on various aspects of ARES d. Development of the training curricula and education activities for various groups of stakeholders in conjunction with training needs, best international practices and lessons learnt from other educational programs. e. Provision of strategic outlook on implementation of the educational program beyond the frame of the project via compilation of the Education Road Map. The proposed Road map suggests a broader framework of actions for increasing the impact and outreach of the educational activities aimed at development of renewable energy in Azerbaijan.