Awards in the name of Mimi Pramatarova for 2022

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At its annual event, the National Trust Eco Fund awarded the prizes to this year’s winners of the National Literature Competition in the name of Mimi Pramatarova (the first Director of Rila National Park).

First prize – crystalline statuette, certificate and scholarship of BGN 500 was handed over to Konstantin Dimitrov – student at the National High School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences “Academician Lyubomir Chatalov” for the essay “Innovations, Sustainable Business, Tradition – meeting in Natura 2000 (network)”. The prize was handed by Mr. Toma Belev – Deputy Minister of Environment and Water and Deputy Chairman of NTEF Management Board.

Second prize – certificate and scholarship of BGN 300 was awarded to Izabel Spasova from the Foreign Language High School “Peter Bogdan” in Montana for the short story „At Home“. The prize was handed by Mr. Vladimir Milushev – Director of Rila National Park.

Third prize – certificate and scholarship of BGN 200 was awarded to Katerina Choleva from the Professional Forestry Highschool “N. Y. Vaptzarov”  in Bansko “Out of Love for Nature“. This prize was handed by Ani Kirilova, Chair of the Prize Winners Club at Ecoforum Plus Foundation.

Like every year, the prizes were awarded during the Annual NTEF event, at which the report of the Fund for 2021 and the Action Plan for 2022 were presented.

The event was held as a continuation of a climate change adaptation workshop within the project “Implementation of innovative measures for climate change mitigation and adaptation in municipalities in Bulgaria” under the Environmental Protection and Climate Change Program, funded by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (2014-2021).

Annual Event for 2019 of NTEF

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The National Trust EcoFund held its annual event for 2019 on June 3 in the Europe Hall of the Ministry of Environment and Water. The event was opened by Niko Dimov, Minister of Environment and Water, and the Chairman of the Board of NTEF – Penka Mollova-Smolenova.

During the first session, the Annual Report of the Fund was presented for the year 2018. The next session was dedicated to a seminar on Electromobility and eco-efficiency, which took into account the progress of NTEF’s Investment Climate Program for Electric Vehicles – the first national financial initiative to promote the use of electric vehicles in the public sector. During the workshop an up-to-date information on the environmental benefits and performance of electric vehicles was also presented for the implementation of priority environmental policies – improvement of ambient air quality, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution levels.

Dr. Veselin Grozdanov, a member of the Management Board of “Green Transport Cluster”, described electromobility as the challenge of the 21st century; Assoc. Prof. Durhan Saliev, PhD, from the Technical University of Sofia recommended that the state increases the investment in infrastructure for electromotive loading and education in the sector; Prof. Ivan Milenov from the Todor Kableshkov University of Transport presented a retrospection of Bulgaria’s achievements in the field and progress in the foreseeable future. On behalf of IKEM – Iliya Lefkov – called for investing in education of qualified staff.

The annual environmental prize Mimi Pramatarova was also presented at the event. This year’s literary contest for students, traditionally organized by the NTEF in 2006, was on the topic Heat Islands – City Gardens.

The winner of the competition was Greti Georgieva – a student from the 10th grade of 164 GIPE Miguel de Cervantes for the story The Island. She received a statuette “Rila Primrose” from the Deputy Minister of Environment and Water Mr. Nikolay Kanchev. The second and third prizes won the 9th grader Selma Stoynova from 91 “Konstantin Galabov” and Ivet Yotova, 11th grade student at Asen Zlatarev – Botevgrad.

Three additional awards were awarded to:

Stefania Doinova, 5th grade – Nikola Velchev Sports school, Samokov.

Yoanna Pavlova, 10th grade – Secondary school Otets Paisiy, Kardzhali.

Eleonora Marinkova, 11th grade – 79 Secondary school Indira Gandhi , Sofia.

The event was attended by representatives of ministries, higher educational institutions, vocational schools, NGOs, national parks and others.

Annual Event for 2018

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The National Trust EcoFund held its annual event for 2018 on 4th of June at the National Polytechnic Museum in Sofia.

The Annual Report for 2017 was publicly presented and the new tendency in introducing educational programs parallel with the investment projects to efficiently use the sites with introduced energy saving measures was discussed with the partners as well.

Along with the presentation of the annual report, the event also included a seminar “The role of educational programs in schools to improve the efficacy of investment projects for energy efficiency”. During the seminar concrete results were presented from the two pilot educational projects implemented with the partnership of the German Ministry of Environment and the UfU, and future initiatives for the Fund and partners. The mayor of Lyulin District noted the need for flexibility not only in the technical solutions for energy efficiency projects, but also the importance of educational activities in order to increase the efficiency of the investments.

The highlight of the event was the ceremony for the traditional annual environmental awards for Mimi Pramatarova. This year’s contest was on ” The climate changes. Are people changing? “

The first prize was presented by the Deputy Minister of Environment and Water, Mrs. Atanaska Nikolova. The crystalline statuette was received by Svetoslav Georgiev Todorov from the Sofia Mathematical School for the poem “Tomorrow’s Dream”.

The second prize was awarded to Miroslava Tsvetanova Banchovska, from primary school “Vassil Vodenicharski”, in Hayredin, Vratsa region, for the essay “The climate is changing. Are people changing? “

The third prize is received by Katerina Adela Joeid from the 9th French Language School in Sofia for her short story “The Little Prince’s Sleep”.

Five additional awards have been awarded for

– Sabrina Ibrahimova Hodja, Petko Rachov Slaveikov, Yakoruda

– Kiril Valentinov Dimov, ODK “St. Yves. Rilski “, Kazanlak

– Kadrieh Ahmed Adem, Primary school “Hristo Botev”, Pavel Banya

– Iman Ivova Vakljova, Professional gymnasium “Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov”, Belitsa

– Elena Rumenova Sabahllakova, Yane Sandanski High School, Gotse Delchev

The contest after the name of the first director of Rila National Park – Mimi Pramatarova –  is held annually since 2006. The laureates of the competition have their own club.

Representatives of several ministries, partners from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, other funds, municipalities, schools, non-governmental organizations, national parks, etc. took part in the event.

Conference Students Save Energy in Their Schools

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On March 28, 2018 the final event in the framework of the Project for climate protection through improved behavior of energy users in European schools, implemented by the National Trust EcoFund in partnership with the Independent Institute for Environment in Berlin (UfU) and Environ NGO in Bucarest with the financial support of the Federal Ministry of the Environment environment, nature conservation, construction and nuclear safety (BMUB).

Mrs. Irena Georgieva, Chairman of the Board of NTEF, Mrs. Boryana Kamenova Director of the Climate Change Policy Directorate, Mrs. Lilyana Drumeva, Advisor to the Minister of Education and Science, Ms. Anja Krechting from the Federal Ministry of Environment of Germany , the mayors of Lyulin district in Sofia Milko Mladenov and of the municipality of Samokov Vladimir Georgiev participated in the opening ceremony of the conference.


The project partners from the Independent Environmental Institute in Berlin and the Romanian non-governmental organization Environ, directors, teachers and pupils from the four schools implementing the project – two from Samokov and two from Lyulin district in Sofia, lecturers at Sofia University participating in the programs of the National Training Center for Pedagogical Specialists, representatives of several other schools that NTEF has funded to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings all took part in the event.

The aim of the conference was to present the experience of the participating schools and to outline the prospects for implementing this initiative in more Bulgarian schools. In this sense, the conference was not conclusive, but it makes sense to launch a broad initiative to use the experience of these several pilot activities and apply it to all schools that receive funding to improve their buildings’ energy efficiency.

The students showed how they measure the temperature and level of lighting in their schools, how they check the windows, doors and radiators and how they share knowledge with their classmates and teachers. They showed how much energy was saved as a result of the activity by the specially formed energy teams.

The National Trust Eco Fund will launch its next initiative with the support of the German Ministry of the Environment, this time in partnership with six countries in Europe and ten new schools in Bulgaria in May. For the next stages and the wider application of the approaches towards improving the behavior of children in schools – further partners that will be involved are university lecturers from the team of the National Center for Improvement of the Qualifications of the Pedagogical Professionals, which has the ambition to establish their permanent program for qualification of the teachers from the whole country on subjects on climate and energy.

Annual event 2017

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The National Trust Ecofund held its annual event for 2017 on the 5th of June, the National Polytechnic Museum in Sofia.

At the event, the annual activity report for 2016 was presented to the public. Besides the implemented investment projects totaling over BGN 13 million, in 2016 the Fund also launched a Pilot Scheme for the Promotion of the Use of Electric Vehicles, the Mineral Water Investment Program, and started working on the development of combined financing mechanisms for project financing energy efficiency, as well as purposeful behavioral level work with Bulgarian schools on climate change.

Along with the presentation of the annual report, the event also included a seminar on “The NTEF Approaches to Implementing Flexible Financial Instruments in Publicly Funded Energy Efficiency Projects”. During the seminar the concrete steps of several pilot projects with the implementation of financial instruments, which the NTEF develops with its partners, were presented – those of Gabrovo, Samokov, and region Lyulin of the Sofia municipality. The Mayor of Gabrovo stressed the importance of innovative approaches towards technical decisions, as well as in the financial models of the energy efficiency projects with the aim of making the investment more effective.

The event also covered the traditional annual environmental awards under the name of Mimi Pramatarova. This year the competition was for school projects on climate change. First prize went to Secondary School “Ivan Vazov”,  Mezdra, for their  “Vazovche” Project and they received a statuette, diploma and the prize of 1000 leva. The project team will build a mini-weather station to aid the students in their climate education. The second place was awarded to Maths and Science Highschool “Prof. Emmanouil Ivanov “, Kyustendil, for the project” Environmental Monitoring of the Dragovishtitsa River “, for which they were awarded a diploma and 500 leva with which to continue working on their project. Ranked third were the students of PGT “Dr Vasil Beron “, Veliko Tarnovo, for the project” Classroom – borrowed from nature “, and received a diploma and 300 leva. The awards were presented by the Deputy Minister of Environment and Water Mrs. Atanaska Nikolova, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NTEF Ms. Irena Georgieva and Anita Kirilova from the Prizewinners of the competition’s club. The cash prizes are intended to support the implementation of upgrading project activities.

Conference “Students save energy in their schools”

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On 26th of April 2017,  conference “Students save energy in their schools” was held in Sofia as part of the project for improving the behavior of energy users in the Bulgarian schools. The project is being implemented by NTEF in partnership with the German Independent Institute for Environment – UfU with the financial support of the German Ministry for Environment, Nature conservation, Building and Nuclear safety (BMUB).

The purpose of the conference was to present the experience of the participating schools and to initiate a discussion about the future continuation of the project in Bulgaria.

Participants in the conference were municipalities, schools, NGOs, and other organizations with relevant experience in the field of climate change and energy efficiency.

 

Conference Program

Project description

 

Presentations from the conference:

Energy saving in schools – Presentation by Hoai Nguyen from UfU

 

 

 

Students save energy in their schools

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A conference in the framework of the project for energy saving at school will be held on 26th of April 2017 from 10.30 am in park-hotel Moskva, Sofia. The conference is organized by NTEF and the German Independent Institute for Environment  (UfU). The project is implemented with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Environment.

Program of the conference

Project resume

 

“Talking” bins in Veliko Tarnovo teach children to recycle

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Follow-up on the climate change public awareness project financed by the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety

On 07.03.2017 NTEF visited one of the series of lessons performed by the students of “Dr. Peter Beron” school in Veliko Tarnovo as part of their project on climate change. The project “Learn to teach” included education on the causes and consequences of climate change, the impact of waste and recycling through “talking” bins. The preparation of the project included study trips to а waste treatment plant and to the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water. It is one of the three projects aimed at increasing the awareness of Bulgarian students on the topic of environment and climate, which received awards in the “My climate” competition in 2015.

Green tales without an end

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Follow-up on the climate change public awareness project financed by the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety

On 01.02.2017 NTEF visited a school theater play organized by the students of “Akademik Liudmil Stoyanov” in Blagoevgrad. The play was performed as part of the project “Green tales without an end – from children to children”. The students wrote tales on the topic of environment and climate, organized school plays based on them for the younger children, and prepared posters with instructions on how to save energy. The project took second prize in the “My climate” competition in 2015 and with the decision of the Board of NTEF received funding for its implementation in 2016.

The green tales you can find here.