We are all winners today. These young people have come up with many innovative ideas and proven themselves to be professionals. – Zaal Kheladze
Green building is a form of future development that has become necessary to achieve sustainable human growth and solve energy and environmental problems of common concern around the world. Georgia is part of a global trend to introduce green architecture elements into their economies. The fact that this is a relatively new field in Georgia makes the role and activities performed by organizations that support this goal all the more important.
The Bazaleti Green Engineering Center is one of the pioneers in the field in the region. It has been sharing its knowledge through various campaigns for raising awareness about sustainable architecture, and building a circle economy. On June 4-5 in conjunction with the Caucasus School of Technology Architecture Program, it organized another important educational event.
The two-day event aimed to raise awareness and deepen knowledge about the combination of “green” skills and modern technology. It brought together students from the Faculty of Architecture of Caucasus University International Black Sea University University of Georgia and Ilia State University. The main goal of this event was to inform the young generation of nature-based solutions and their potential use in Georgia. It also aimed to integrate sustainable development principles into business models.
Participants and supporters included CENN, a ‘New Technologies Center’, the Green Building Council Georgia, Association Forest Products, Project Studios DMARK, Escoes and Meti Development.
Participants had the opportunity to attend special workshops and seminars conducted by highly experienced mentors. They could also attend public lectures and participate in various environmental activities.
The first day of the event at Caucasus University featured welcome speeches by management and faculty members of the Faculty of Architecture of the University. They introduced the activities of the Caucasus Environmental NGO, the role of the Forest Products Association, the principles of planning multi-apartment housing taking into consideration sustainable initiatives, creating an urban environment that is bird-friendly, certification of green building, examples of green project implemented in Georgia such as “Business House” – LEED Certification, land architecture philosophy of sustainable design and NBS -Nature Based Solutions Students of the faculty were given the opportunity to speak and share their ideas and initiatives in order to achieve sustainable development.
After the event, students were divided into working groups. They then headed to Bazaleti Green Engineering Center to perform practical tasks and to complete various special tasks assigned by their mentors.
After discovering the Bazaleti Green Engineering Center, and its eco-friendly solutions for the students, they began performing group work with their mentors along with free environmental activities at the shores of the beautiful Bazaleti Lake. The students planted trees and, with Architecture Doctor Gvantsa Kheladze’s help, planted several rare tree seedlings in the Center’s yard to celebrate World Environment Day and express their love for nature.
The culmination of this event saw the students’ eco friendly and creative works based upon the tasks given by mentors. These included: “birds’ eating house” arranged on tree, compressed soil earth bricks, an energy efficient university project, a house project utilizing energy efficient solutions and a trombe for generating and maintaining warmth in the building. The Bazaleti Green Engineering Center representatives and evaluators gave special approval to the latter. However, according to Zaal Kheladze, the founder of the Center, at the end, all of the participants were winners on this day due their creativity and environmentally-friendly ideas. He wished the students success and expressed his willingness to collaborate with the young generation interested in the sustainable growth of the country.
“Our center, and I personally, are always willing to share our knowledge and offer advice with all members of the society who are interested, especially youth. They can visit our centre, ask for advice on their future projects and activity, contact us through our hotline and collaborate with us so that we can build a healthier and greener economy for our nation,” Kheladze concluded.
He told GEORGIA Today that such events and meetings are important to find and connect with future professionals.
“Architects and engineers are the decision makers in our work. We are facing a shortage of highly qualified professionals with academic backgrounds. We need academics and professionals in other fields as well, especially if we want to develop green technologies. We are looking for professionals to collaborate on a local level. That’s why we are organizing active information campaigns with young people in various fields.
“About 15 year ago, our center launched the first seminars on green journalism and organized a competition. We have been working with architects and engineers to organize conferences and seminars. These events have helped to increase their sense of responsibility for environmental protection. The green lifestyle is for all, and our center’s main goal is to encourage people to care about natural resources and develop a sense of responsibility.
“We began collaborating with universities a long time back. In 2008, ‘Laboratory of Green Engineering,’ founded in collaboration with Technical University. It is important to maintain an active relationship with the younger generations, as they are potential partners and colleagues. We plan to create a special platform in the future to help professors and students with their studies. We already have a similar platform, but it’s for school teachers. We’re now moving on to the next stage. He told us that this was our future goal.
The Green Engineering Center also has exciting future plans. These include holding a contest called “Green Wine Enterprise 2021” aimed at developing a “green” wine production, with a gradual extension of the contest to more areas. Another exciting plan is building an energy efficient heaters factory near the Bazaleti Center in the mountains as these products are particularly necessary for the local population. They want to establish a vocational training institution based on the enterprise to educate young professionals in specific fields, such as electrics, welding, etc.
All environmental protection enthusiasts are welcome to enter the center. The space can also be hired for meetings or conferences, allowing businesspeople to learn from the center’s practical experience in sustainable architecture and environmental conservation.
By Ana Dumbadze
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