"School projects of SPARE in real life" - decided in Yaroslavl

Authors: Ludmila Zhirina and Irina Skiba

Interpreter:  Bamidele Oni, Founder, Green Impact International

In June 2021, an active group of the SPARE community in the Central Region of Russia made recommendations for conducting summer thematic excursions on climate, energy efficiency of buildings of various types and recreation areas. This 50-page brochure "Energy efficiency and heating of buildings of various types of Estates by P. A. Sokolov" (RUS) includes thematic author's texts on  excursions for tourists, volunteers, schoolchildren, and  local residents. Also, there was  the example of the territories of ancient Estates of merchant of. P. A. Sokolov in the Pervomaisky district of the Yaroslavl region. The authors added personal projects of Vasilisa Skiba to the collection, created for the All-Russian competition of school projects on energy efficiency "Energy and Habitat" within the framework of the School Project on the Use of Resources and Energy (SPARE) in 2017-2021. The electronic version of the brochure was provided free of charge to the local administration of the Yaroslavl region, institutions of additional education, family and Waldorf schools, ecological settlements, ancestral estates, environmental educational centers, summer camps working on textbooks, additional literature and materials of the School Project on the Use of Resources and Energy (SPARE).

The authors of the brochure are active long-term members of the SPARE Program.

Ludmila S. Zhirina- Dr. in Biology, regional coordinator of SPARE for more than 10 years.

Irina V. Skiba-General Director of the Autonomous Non-profit Organization for the promotion of the preservation of cultural monuments "Legend of the Russian Estate" (Yaroslavl region, the village of Menchakovo). School projects carried out on the basis of the Estate took diplomas of 1-2 degrees in the All-Russian competitions of SPARE in 2017-2021. Head of volunteer school camps in 2017-2021.

Skiba Sergey Yu. - Head of school projects of Vasilisa Skiba in the SPARE Program. Practical organizer and performer of reconstruction, development of the Sokolov Estate.

Skiba Vasilisa Sergeevna is the author of projects in the SPARE Program, a guide to the territory and buildings of the Sokolov Estate.

The materials of the brochure are designed for eight two-hour excursions on the following topics:

1. General overview of an old manor of the 18-19 centuries on the example of the Estate of P. A. Sokolov (buildings, park, farmland, rivers, ponds).

2. Creation of climate comfort, energy-efficient and energy-saving technologies of the central building of the Sokolov Estate. Energy efficiency in Russian:

2.1. Energy efficiency of a traditional hut;

2.2. Energy efficiency of the central brick building of the Estate.

3. A warm, energy-efficient winter house for geese.

4. Drones in biodynamics-help farmers protect energy resources and the climate!

5. We are building a small family hydroelectric power station with our own hands!

6. The heat of the earth for heating a residential building in Russia is real!

7. Energy-efficient lighting of the Sokolov Estate Park.

8. The possibility of using modern energy-efficient technologies in the restoration of the central building of the Sokolov Estate.

In the summer of 2021, 120 schoolchildren and teachers took part in excursions and workshops on the territory of the Estate. And more than 200 schoolchildren of the Moscow, Vladimir, and Ryazan regions took part in excursions based on the materials of our brochure on the territories of their settlements. The form of conducting excursions: full-time and remote.

The brochure "Energy efficiency and heating of buildings of different types of the Estate of P. A. Sokolov" helped in an interesting form of excursions to increase the competence of guests, tourists, specialists, students and their parents on the problems of energy saving, energy efficiency of buildings of different types and recreation areas.

Each excursion began with a theoretical introduction to the object of study and the energy-efficient possibilities of warming each building with cheap or waste materials. After the theoretical part, schoolchildren aged 8-15 and volunteers participated in workshops: they learned locksmith skills, collected and dried moss and straw, participated in energy audits using thermal imagers, compared lighting with different lamps on park alleys, launched drones.

The brochure is presented in the form of a virtual trip for schoolchildren and parents. The authors examined in detail the innovative directions developed by schoolchildren of our region within the framework of the SPIRE Program. All the recommendations can be really implemented in every locality in the Central part of Russia. We hope that members of the volunteer movement, participants of field summer practices and camps, students of Waldorf schools will become active participants in the insulation of buildings with traditional and innovative methods. We hope that the materials of the excursions will encourage the desire of schoolchildren to get acquainted with the cultural and historical heritage of Russia through architecture and construction work.