The 10th session of the UNESCO/ISEDC Co-Sponsored Fellowships Programme for young specialists from developing countries and countries in transition has been successfully implemented from 3rd to 28th of October 2016 according to the strategy and objectives of the approved Terms of Reference 2016.

The Fellowships Programme was held in one basic location in Moscow–International Sustainable Energy Development Centre under the auspices of UNESCO (ISEDC). Highly skilled professionals in the amount of 19 international fellows from Argentina, Belarus, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Fiji, Guatemala, Kenya, LAO PDR, Madagascar, Malawi, Mongolia, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe participated in the 10th session.

The main subject of the Fellowships Programme was related to “Effective use of energy resources. Municipal energy management and energy efficiency in buildings”. The topical issues, such as energy saving, energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy generation, environment protection and development of cooperation in the field of energy were studied in the framework of the programme. During the training, participants examined the state of modern energy efficient and energy saving technologies, familiarized with the environmental management system and the existing systems of municipal management of energy resources, including the stages of implementation and current state of such systems in Moscow region. The curriculum consisted of 125 academic hours of theoretical and practical classes, visits to research and educational institutions, thematic exhibitions and conferences.

The programme was held in partnership with the UNDP/GEF Project “Building energy efficiency in the North-West of Russia”. The aim of the training course was to upgrade participants’ qualification in developing and implementing measures to improve energy efficiency in municipal buildings and showing the benefits of such measures, and strengthening of the institutional and human resource potentials in this particular field. The up-to-date knowledge and experience gained during municipal energy management training course would be useful for all fellows (energy managers, engineers, ecologists, municipal officials, etc.) with different levels of professional qualification. Throughout the training period, lecturers created conditions of maximum immersion in the course subject and actively applied the method of “teambuilding” in order to ensure a high-quality education.In addition to the primary subject, there was a rich cultural component of the programme as well. After intensive training and excursion programmes, the fellows where introduced to the sights and traditions of the capital of Russia – Moscow.

The teaching process of the 10th session was professionally managed by highly skillful experts. The main training course on energy management and energy saving was conducted by qualified professionals – Dr. Vitaly Bekker and Dr. Andrey Dodonov from the UNDP/GEF Project “Building Energy Efficiency in the North-West of Russia”, also with participation of the experts Dr. Sergey Kishchenko from “GFA Consulting Group”, Dr. Dilyara Karimova from ISEDC and Dr. Sergey Antipov from the Project “Standards and Labels for Promoting Energy Efficiency in Russia”. The lecturers shared their experience in the field of sustainable energy development, industrial energy management and energy management of information systems in the CIS countries and worldwide. Furthermore, the invited experts made significant contribution to the programme in terms of conducting their lectures, presentations and scientific works for fellows.

The visits to subject-oriented institutions, specialized conferences and exhibitions became a must part in the framework of the Fellowships programme as well. International fellows participated in the following events:

• International Congress “Renewable Energy XXI century: energy and economic efficiency REENCON XXI”
• International Scientific conference and 10th Young Researchers School “Renewable Energy Sources” organized by Geographical Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University
• The 4th International Forum on Renewable Energy “Renewable Energy: Towards Raising Energy and Economic Efficiencies”, which was organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)
• “Power Generation” Russian Conference & Exhibition – leading meeting point for the Russian and International power generation industry
• The International Forum for Innovative Development “Open Innovations 2016” – dedicated to the latest technologies and the prospects for international cooperation in the field of innovation technologies. At the forum fellows took part in a round table on innovative energy technologies, and also visited the exhibition, which collected advanced products and innovations.

During the 10th session fellows visited various educational, scientific and research laboratories and institutions. International students from developing countries and countries in transition had an excellent opportunity to participate in a seminar held by the Joint Institute for High Temperatures (JIHT) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and visit the laboratories of hydrogen energy technologies. The participants of the programme also visited All-Russian Research Institute for Electrification of Agriculture. During the visit Dr. Igor Tyukhov arranged tours to experimental laboratory of electrical agriculture equipment, laboratory of technology of photovoltaic cells and electronic devices, experimental technological laboratory of solar cells and laboratory of bio-energy installations. Students also attended the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering (MSUCE). They got acquainted with the state of the art engineering developments of scientific and laboratory facilities of the university. During the MSUCE lab tour, international fellows visited research and production laboratory of aerodynamic and aeroacoustic tests of building construction, educational laboratory of engineering research and monitoring of building structures. Head of laboratory of intellectual systems in construction, Dr. Artem Sedov, familiarized students with scientific and educational Center for information systems and intellectual automation in construction. Dr. Sedov presented the peculiarities of intellectual systems and demonstrated the operation of the system by an example of the conference hall, equipped with all kinds of sensors and advanced devices. Head of climatic tests laboratory, Dr. Stanislav Pashkevich, arranged an excursion to the Research Department of building materials and familiarized students with the research of durability and corrosion resistance of building materials and products. During the programme international fellows also visited Energy Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow Energy Institute, Moscow Ecological Center, State Regional Center for Standardization and Laboratory on Renewable energy sources of Lomonosov State Moscow University.

In the framework of the final exam, trainees tried their hand at defining the list of energy efficient measures for various buildings and calculated estimated energy savings. Moreover, participants of the training course assessed the economic efficiency of different energy civil objects, made predictions in terms of using efficient and energy saving technologies and conducted environmental and economic risk assessment of the municipal buildings. In the end of the training course fellows were awarded with certificates of successful completion of the 10th session of the UNESCO/ISEDC Co-Sponsored Fellowships Programme.

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