The team of the USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project in Ukraine started on June 13 a series of new two-day seminars for journalists, called “Key Information on Energy Efficiency in Media.” The first event included 24 journalists from Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and Khmelnytskyi oblasts.

On the first day, the journalists learned about the variety of modern energy efficient technologies, the specifics of the construction of energy efficient and passive buildings, the correct use of the key terminology in housing and communal services, and also dispelled myths on the establishment and functioning of the homeowners association. At the end of the day, the training participants visited the “ElDom” factory and learned about the manufacture of energy efficient windows and doors. Then the journalists visited the “Imidzh-1” homeowners association, which in the seven years of its functioning was able to implement very significant improvements: façade insulation, installation of new energy saving windows on all the staircases, replacement of lamps with LED lamps and the installation of motion sensors. The homeowners association chairman and the building residents told the journalists about all this.

On the second day of the training, the journalists were grouped into mini-editorial boards and worked on the development of interesting and motivating media creations based on the problems and situations that are typical for most Ukrainian multi-apartment buildings. The task of the journalists was to resolve these problems by using the information received at the training from the USAID Project specialists, and to find creative approaches to articulating this so that it would provoke interest and motivate the audience to action. The teams presented the created materials to an expert jury. In the very near future, the USAID Project will conduct five more such trainings in its partner cities.