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The Community Development Support Program in the Russian Federation. Round 4

Project Complex

Yeravinsky Raion – a Sustainable Development Area

Grant amount  $58 164   Grantee contribution $30 573   Total cost  $88 737

Thematic projects included in the Project Complex:

1. From Energy-Efficiency to Savings – modernization of boiler plant equipment: installation of less energy-intensive boilers in two educational institutions of the community  
2. From Energy-Efficiency to Health Improvement- reducing heat loss and introducing health protection techniques
3. Yeravna - a Tourist Site – creation of a tourist and recreation framework in Yeravinsky Raion

 

Municipality Profile: Yeravinsky Municipality with a population of 18,400 is located in the Republic of Buryatia. It is an agricultural region (dairy-and-meat farming), however, because of the general cost increase and higher tariffs for transporting produce to markets in Ulan-Ude (300 km), many agricultural cooperatives and private farms have become unprofitable, giving rise to unemployment. The region is rich in natural, cultural, and historical resources. The system of Yeravinskoye/Arakhleiskoye Lakes is situated on Eurasia’s mega-watershed and feeds rivers flowing into the Arctic and Pacific Oceans (Vitim-Lena and Shilka-Amur). 350 years ago, an expedition that started out from Yeravna to Moscow, to the Russian tsar, resulted in Buryatia’s accession to Russia. The development prospects of this area are linked to the development of the tourism industry and mineral resources mining, although, in this case negative environmental impacts will have to be taken into account.

Community problems addressed by the Project Complex:

• High tariffs and rapid price growth for power and heating for municipal educational institutions and insufficient funds allocated by the local budget for covering these expenses.
• High percentage of respiratory illnesses among children (10-15 days per one child a year) because of low temperatures in the schools and other children’s institutions and, as a result, poor academic performance.
• An underdeveloped tourism and ecotourism infrastructure in a region that is rich in natural and cultural resources.
• The need to strengthen civic initiatives and increase public participation in social projects.

Synergetic effect of the Project Complex

The integrated effect of the projects was based on their interconnection and their common goal of promoting well-being in the community through energy-efficiency, resource-saving, conservation, ecotourism development; and improving the physical, moral and spiritual health of community members (in the first place, of children and youth). The region is rich in resources: lakes from which the country’s largest rivers take off; a geological nature monument – Ulzutsky Bioherm made up of trilobites, primordial sediments of marine organisms; mineral springs; and cultural and historical monuments. Creating a tourist infrastructure and involving local youth into the process of researching and recording nature and cultural and historical monuments is a promising development prospect for the municipality. The appearance of a Special Tourism Area (in accordance with a decision of the RF Government) in the neighboring Pribaikalsky Raion also fostered tourism development in Yeravinsky Raion. Creating comfortable conditions in educational institutions and training and providing career guidance to the local youth, as well as increasing their environmental culture,  is key to sustainable community development.

Project Complex contact:
Bayan Gurobazarov, first deputy head of Yeravinsky Municipality

Contact information:
113 Pervomaiskaya St., Sosnovo-Ozerskaya Settlement, Yeravinsky Raion, Republic of Buryatia 671430
Tel. 8(30135)-21655, fax 8(30135)-21709, e-mail: admineravna@ism.buryatiya.ru

Organizations, members of the Project Complex:

Title	Category	Profile
Yeravinsky Municipal Administration	municipal	Municipal governance
Middle School # 1 in Sosnovo-Ozerskoye Settlement	municipal	Educational activities
Middle school in Komsomolskoye Settlement	municipal	Educational activities

Duration (months)

10

Start date

01/09/ 2008

End date

30/06/2009

Project

From Energy-Efficiency to Savings – modernization of boiler plant equipment: installation of less energy-intensive boilers in two educational institutions of the community  

Organization:
Yeravinsky Municipal Administration

Type of organization: government

Start date September 1, 2008

End date June 30, 2009

Project summary:

This project installed less energy-intensive boilers (water-heating boiler KVR-08 and a gas-generating boiler) in two schools: Middle School # 1 in Sosnovo-Ozerskaya and the middle school in Komsomolskoye Settlement; monitored energy consumption and evaluated energy savings; developed a mechanism of reinvesting energy savings into the local Community Development Fund; and replicated project results in other schools of the raion: Ust-Egituiskaya, Gondinskaya, Tuldunskaya and Shiringinskaya.

Location:
Yeravinsky Municipality: rural settlements Sosnovo-Ozerskaya and Komsomolskaya with a subsequent replication in other parts of the municipality.

Contact information:
113 Pervomaiskaya St., Sosnovo-Ozerskaya Settlement, Yeravinsky Raion, Republic of Buryatia 671430,
Tel. (8-30135)21-8-94, fax (8-30135)-21709, e-mail: admineravna@ism.buryatiya.ru

Project coordinator:
Bayan Gurobazarov, first deputy head of Yeravinsky Municipality

Project objectives:

Reduction of hazardous emissions to the atmosphere caused by the large number of coal-burning boiler plants and the close proximity to the Dabargonkhorsky Coal Mine (30 km) containing high-ash coal.

Lowering energy consumption by heating systems had a positive effect on the budgets of local organizations and citizens.

Final results:

• Modernization of the equipment in the boiler rooms of two schools and the installation of 2 efficient boilers (combined gas-producer and water heaters), which made it possible to convert the boiler rooms to the use of wood processing waste instead of coal;
• Decreased use of high-ash coal from the Dabargonkhorsky Coal Mine by 369 t (33%);
• Saving 390,000 rubles of budget funds a year and reinvesting this amount into energy-efficiency and social programs of the municipality;
• Improving the environment: greenhouse emissions in a CО2   equivalent dropped by 130 t (20%) and 12% (202 m ³) less of firewood is used;
• Contests of  small socially significant projects aimed at supporting youth and unprotected categories of the population were held at the cost of energy savings and raised funds;
• Dissemination of project results to other schools of the raion: Ust-Egituiskaya, Gondinskaya, Tuldunskaya and Shiringinskaya.

Total project cost $38 559

Own contribution $13 559

Received amount $25 000

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Project

From Energy-Efficiency to Health Improvement- reducing heat loss and introducing health protection techniques

Organization:
Middle School # 1 in Sosnovo-Ozerskoye Settlement

Type of organization: government

Start date September 1, 2008

End date June 30, 2009

Project summary:

This project  winterized the enclosures of the school’s building and, thus, created an optimal indoor temperature and comfortable conditions for 623 children and staff; installed air ionizers (Chizhevsky Chandeliers) in all classrooms. This  helped to improve the health of the students. Prevention activities were carried out in the school with the help of Frolov breathing apparatuses. A “winter garden” was created. Experience was disseminated to other educational institutions of the raion.

Location:
Sosnovo-Ozerskaya Settlement (population 6,650), Yeravinsky Raion.

Contact information:
46 Matrosova St., Sosnovo-Ozerskaya Settlement, Yeravinsky Raion, Republic of Buryatia 671430
Tel. 8 (30135)-21486, fax 8 (30135)-21826, e-mail: sossh1@mail.ru

Project coordinator:
Zhargalma Mukhanayeva, principal of Middle School # 1 in Sosnovo-Ozerskoye Settlement

Project objectives:

Reducing energy costs and creating comfortable conditions in the school by increasing indoor temperature to the standard level (the current actual average temperature is 14-170С, while the standard temperature is 20-220С) and, as a result, improving the quality of education and the health of the students. Taking prevention measures and increasing public awareness about energy-efficiency through training seminars.

Final results:

• Reducing heat losses by 110 Gcal (10-15%) in the largest school of the raion - Middle School # 1 in Sosnovo-Ozerskoye Settlement with 623 students -  by winterizing the building (replacing 20 windows and 4 entrance doors with new ones and also insulating the remaining 102 windows with the use of a low-cost technique and with the help of senior students).
• Saving 100,000 rubles that were reinvested into meeting the needs of the school and health improvement activities for the students.
• Creating an optimal temperature mode in the school (increasing indoor temperature from 14-17 0 to 20-220) and comfortable conditions for 623 children and the school’s staff.
• Reducing the level of respiratory illnesses among the children by 40-50% and also the number of days missed because of illness by 8-10 days a year per one child.
• This project, which has been assigned the status of a pilot site for the introduction of innovative initiatives in rural schools, helped to increase public awareness about energy-efficiency and child health protection and also to replicate its results in other educational institutions in the raion.

Total project cost $28 932

Own contribution $10 214

Received amount $18 718

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Project

Yeravna - a Tourist Site – creation of a tourist and recreation framework in Yeravinsky Raion

Organization:
Middle school in Komsomolskoye Settlement

Type of organization:  municipal

Start date September 1, 2008

End date May 31, 2009

Project summary:

This project organized trips along local tourist routes with the participation of schoolchildren who collected information, documented and describe nature, historical and cultural monuments as sites of environmental tours; developed five tourist routes that include identified historical, cultural and nature sites and present them at a raion-level tourist fair; put out advertising leaflets describing the tourist routes; published an album about the nature and historical/cultural monuments of the region; improved the area around Pogromninsky mineral spring; cleaned and upgraded the polluted banks of  Lake Dolgoye known for its medicinal waters; and created a Website to support tourism development. 

Location:
Yeravinsky Raion

Contact information:
36 Sovetskaya St., Komsomolskoye Settlement, Yeravinsky Raion, Republic of Buryatia 671441
Tel./fax 8(30135)-35170, e-mail: mir54@list.ru

Project coordinator:
Gennady Efrikin, teacher at the school in Komsomolskoye Settlement

Project objectives:

Formation of regional recreation resources of Yeravinsky Raion.

Final results:

• 40 nature and cultural and historical monuments of the raion were identified  to serve as a foundation for developing five tourist routes;
• Improving the area around Pogromninsky mineral spring  that was first mentioned by Pallas in 1739, cleaning the banks of Lake Dolgoye and building camp sites;
• Creating a tourist map of local valuable sites with information about the natural, cultural and economic resources of the region with emphasis on community development priorities; the map were used for justifying social, environmental and business projects and also for educational purposes;
• Teaching  schoolchildren to conduct regional research in the process of developing tourists routes and studying the recreation potential of the region – this helps with career orientation regarding jobs connected with tourism and also develop creativity in children;
• Publication of advertising booklets and 2 albums about the nature and historical/cultural monuments of the region (“Tourist Yeravna”), conducting a photo exhibition and creating a Website devoted to tourist routes in Yeravna.
• Increasing public awareness about the need to build a tourism and recreation infrastructure and organizing a raion conference Local Values (attended by 95 participants from 18 schools and broadly covered in the local press).

Total project cost $21 246

Own contribution $6 800

Received amount $14 446

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