Firstly, at the beginning of June, members of the +CxC team held their 3rd self-facilitated Climate Fresk in the co-creation space Sky Hub Smolyan with the participation of ninth-graders from PGI “Karl Marx”. The primary mission of the initiative was to familiarize children and adults with the causes of climate change. The understandable language in which the cause-and-effect relationships were described in the workshop kept students’ interest and made it easier for them to learn the connection between human activities and climate change. Students learned new concepts, discussed measures to combat climate change and gave their suggestions on which of them should be implemented in their city to make it more sustainable.
Secondly, over the two day course, 6-7 June, an energy efficiency expert from the Municipality of Smolyan held open lessons for ninth graders in the “Ivan Vazov” high school, Smolyan. The class focused on the tools provided by the Horizon Energy Box, a set of different modules were used to demonstrate different types of RES and how to use them together. The initiative aimed to gain interests in young people about using green energy through practical experiments that showed how different RES like solar panels, fuel cells, salt-water cells, etc., work. During the lessons, students learned the principles behind the demonstrated RES and had chances to perform experiments in a controlled environment.
Thirdly, from 20-26 June, Smolyan city organized a campaign to improve garbage collection. The survey was conducted through an online tool provided by Space Engagers, partners in the +CxC project, that enables the city and residents to experiment and work together to improve the urban space. As a result, citizens can express their opinion on where additional containers for household waste and containers for separate collection need to be placed. The municipality also received feedback where other containers such as park bins, public composters and construction waste receptacles are most needed. 65 responses were received and the survey showed increasing of interests in improving the waste management, the use of public compost bins, collecting plastic bottles and recycling bins. Some suggestions included: promotions of civic control, placement of waste receptacles based on the number of residents in the area, video surveillance on critical regions, fines for violators, information campaign about disposing electrical and electronic equipment and construction waste, introducing a collecting specific time.
Fourthly, The +CxC team from the Municipality of Smolyan facilitated the 4th Climate Fresk workshop, this time together with the youth organization “Young Innovators for Youth Development” YIYD. The event aimed to introduce wide audiences to climate change’s causes and consequences, and discussed possible solutions and the role each of us plays in preserving the environment. The participants showed great initiatives in giving specific measures and solutions implemented in the city by partnership between local government, civil society and business. Some ideas included adapting the urban environment for bicycle transportation, using electric scooters, replacing heating appliances, using rainwater, reforesting and cleaning green spaces, etc.
Fifthly, Smolyan city was facing many challenges in setting the Bold City Vision 2050. One of which was development a sustainable city environment. So that, on 13 and 20 July, the municipality asked children aged 6-12 – who joined the initiative “Summer Vacation in the Museum” by the Regional historical museum “Stoyo Shishkov” – to imagine how their city will be in the future. By using LEGO sets, the children played with building future Smolyan as their thoughts. They had options to work in a team or independently and created everything which they thought necessary, such as buildings, vehicles, equipment, robots, etc. After making mock-ups, each participant explained what they had created and where they placed it in the future city model.
Lately, On 23 and 28 of June and 21 of July, experts from the +CxC team of the municipality organized demonstrations of the kit aimed at children aged 7-12 as part of Summer Programs organized by the Regional Library “Nikolay Vranchev” and the Regional History Museum “Stoyo Shishko. The Municipality acquired Horizon Energy Box to acknowledge students and the Next Generation Smart Citizen about RES. The Renewable Energy Box provided demonstration of how fuel cell technology interacting with renewable energy sources and creating an entirely sustainable power grid. There was a range of fuel cells to compare: PEM hydrogen fuel cell, the salt water fuel cell and a direct ethanol fuel cell. The box gave experiments and demonstrations about energy principles and had plenty of space for creativity.
