A municipal expert from Smolyan Municipality was trained within the project

On June 7 and 8, 2023, training was held in the city of Smolyan to improve the competencies of municipal employees under the "Partnership for adaptation to climate change" project. The project is financed by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEF 2014-2021). , under the "Environmental Protection and Climate Change" Program.

The project is implemented in a broad partnership, including 4 municipalities from Bulgaria - Municipality of Smolyan, Municipality of Asenovgrad, Municipality of Svilengrad and Municipality of Krushari, "Pleiades Bulgaria" OOD - a company developing activities in the field of sustainable development and a partner from Norway - the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The program operator of the program is the Ministry of Environment and Water.

The training is conducted in response to the needs of the municipalities to increase the capacity of employees regarding the implementation of measures for the production of electricity and thermal energy from renewable sources, adaptation to climate changes and environmental protection. Employees from the four Bulgarian municipalities participated in the training, and a representative of "Pleiades Bulgaria" OOD was also present.

The speaker of the training was Dr. Maria Trifonova, ch. assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". The topics that were presented by her included monitoring, analysis and evaluation of the implementation of strategic plans, programs and projects for mitigation or adaptation to climate change, international and European policies regarding environmental protection and climate change, decarbonization; data and information processing, for data analysis and development of models for future changes in climate and water resources, energy communities and the challenges to their creation and management, etc.

Representatives of the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim participated in the implementation of project activities, in the training of municipal employees. Prof. Anemi Wickmans and Dr. Dirk Ahlers presented their experience and the experience of the Municipality of Trondheim in implementing innovative projects in the field of energy efficiency and adaptation to climate change.

In order to familiarize themselves with additional innovative practices and exchange experience, the Bulgarian participants in the training participated in one of the panels of a training session under the +Cityxchange project, under the Horizon 2020 Program, implemented by the Municipality of Smolyan in partnership with a total of 32 partners, as a leading partner is the University of Trondheim. During this panel, the partners presented their experience, as a representative of the company "Ekoten" from the Czech Republic, presented a concrete example of the modernization of a school and the area around it, of its transformation into an energy-positive complex, showing a real example of the use of innovative solutions and technologies for adaptation to climate change.

For more information: Municipality of Smolyan, phone: 03067691, obshtina_smolyan@abv.bg