Build an environmental training center in Moldova

Dear friends,

Our Environmental Training Center is almost ready! The main walls are up, the windows and doors are in place and the elaborate solar/pellet integrated heating system is keeping it from freezing. We’re deeply grateful for all the support we received along the way from you this year, whether in the form of a message shared, a prayer or a donation, every contribution was much appreciated!

But the work does not stop here. In fact, the main job of developing the project and increasing the Eco-Center’s capacity is only starting. Till now the Center has been slowly building local capacities in the village: there are more people growing food ecologically in Riscova, 3 of our local workers were recruited for the summer to help build an eco-home in Romania and there is a newly registered local NGO, focused on sustainable rural development.

But the big question is how to make the Environmental Training Center even more sustainable. Here are a few ideas on our mind:

Environmental sustainability

• Responsible water usage – water-saving shower heads, composting waterless toilets, rainwater collection and drip irrigation are just a few steps we took towards saving precious drinking water.
• Energy efficiency – passive solar design and two solar water panels are aiding our heating system, thermal mass floor and well-insulated walls help maintain that heat, LED lights allow us to use less electricity. Next we’d like to install solar electric panels once we fundraise for them.
• Using primarily local resources helps us reduce the Eco-Center's environmental footprint

Financial sustainability

• Lowering operational and maintenance costs – our energy efficient design will ensure smaller heating and electrical bills, our garden already started providing fruits & vegetables, thus reducing the costs of our training events.
• Diversifying sources of income – in addition to crowdfunding we’re attracting funds through grants, social investors and income generating activities, like hosting training events for businesses and other NGOs.

Social sustainability

• More and more people know about the Environmental Training Center from participating in our training events, simply visiting or reading about it in mass media. We’ve noticed a growing community of people practicing more sustainable lifestyle (growing food ecologically, building eco-houses, using bicycles for transportation, etc.)
• Our Center triggers other community development initiatives: a local NGO was created in the village in August, local library introduced an innovative service – solar fruit drying, local school started a plastic recycling program and more individuals fixed up their homes, opening them to host training participants.
• Building individual capacities – our Center benefits from the knowledge, skills and energy brought to the project by staff, local and international volunteers, but it also provides opportunities for growth and learning. This year our core team doubled and we hope to engage and train more people to expand the Center’s capacity next year.

We’d love to hear your ideas on increasing this project’s sustainability and we count on your support in 2018, because we can only succeed thanks to partners like you!

Links:

• Our FB page offers more details on project's progress

Dear partners,

We’d like to dedicate this report to people that help us build the Environmental Training Center.

First, it is YOU who make the construction possible through your generous contributions, through spreading the word and through sharing your ideas with us. It is also people from different parts of the world who come to stay for a night or come to volunteer for a few weeks. It is training participants that don’t mind digging their hands into clay

It is a diverse team of architects, engineers, trainers, designers, builders and other specialists who help us think about various aspects of the Training Center: how to improve energy efficiency, reduce construction costs, create appropriate training atmosphere, allow multi-functionality.

It is also a number of people from the local village who are open to learning new construction methods, who decide to work on building something in their own village, rather than emigrate abroad. Several workers mentioned to us that they were offered opportunities to work in Russia, Germany, Italy. They decided to work at home, near their families, although the pay is smaller and less stable, but the work is more purposeful. For ex. Ion, a father of 3 kids, said at the beginning of the year: ‘My friend invited me to work in construction in Moscow. Although the pay would be higher in Russia, I prefer to help build the Eco-Training Center here, even if you can’t guarantee work for a full season’. As our fundraising progressed, we were able to employ Ion all season and it allowed him to connect his house to running water and to gas for cooking.

We’re happy that the Environmental Training Center provides jobs to local people, but it also places a responsibility on our shoulders to fundraise enough to continue construction, and once the Center is built to ensure its sustainability. And we can only achieve it with support of partners like you. Thank you for your generosity and commitment to this project!

The walls of the Environmental Training Center are almost ready. In the next few months we’ll be working on heating systems, kitchen equipment and windows. Stay tuned to more updates!

With warmest wishes from Moldova,

Liliana

This year Moldova was hit by a very unusual phenomenon – a heavy snow storm at the end of April when most fruit trees were already in bloom. Some places got up to a meter of snow in less than 48 hours. According to news reports, over 10,000 trees got broken in our capital city alone, 679 communities around the country lost electricity and when the snow started melting fast, many houses and agricultural fields got flooded.

This is just one of many examples of how climate change affects each of us and why an Environmental Training Center is so crucial in Moldova to help educate people about environmental issues, showcase sustainable practices and, more importantly, build a strong network among different stakeholders to reduce environmental damages and build more resilient communities. Together with you and your generous support, we can succeed!

Although the Center is still under construction, we’ve started a new program – active Organic focused on organic agriculture and permaculture. In a series of practical workshops and study visits we’ll cover such themes as soil rehabilitation, plant protection, efficient irrigation systems, CSAs (community supported agriculture), rural entrepreneurship and more.

First activeOrganic seminar brought together 30 participants from 15 regions in Moldova (selected out of over 100 that expressed interest) and included farmers, professors, NGO representatives, students, state officials, all eager to learn and practice environmentally-friendly agriculture on the land they own. One participant mentioned: “I was growing potatoes on the same piece of land for 16 years, not realizing how this practice depletes the soil. Now I’m ready to try crop rotation, and other soil rehabilitation practices like mulching and composting”. Many other participants mentioned that the training exceeded their expectations and they are looking forward to the next ones.

Thank you for making trainings like this one possible! Please consider telling your friends and family about our project - share the link on your blogs or social networks, use the tell-a-friend feature on the project page to email your network, or just bring us up in conversation. This summer we plan to apply natural plastering and we really need your support to employ more people from the village to finish cob walls by autumn.

With gratitude,

Liliana Botnaru

Links:

• Environmental Training Center Facebook
• Check out our educational programs

Dear partners,

Thanks to your support in 2016 we managed to complete construction of the wall frames of the Environmental Training Center and cover it just before the first snowfall.

Since there is a fair amount of wood used in natural construction, we initiated several tree-planting actions this autumn in an attempt to reduce the Center’s footprint. Through one of EcoVisio’s projects – Seed it Forward – more than 100 volunteers were mobilized to plant trees on public land, prone to erosion or soil degradation. Just in Riscova, were the Environmental Training Center is located, volunteers planted honey locust, poplar, ash, maple and acacia trees, as well as bushes like rosehip over about 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres) of public land. Tree-planting actions were also organized in other parts of Moldova through Seed it Forward initiative this autumn and will continue in spring.

As the Environmental Training Center is taking shape, its impact is already noticeable. I mentioned in our previous report how one of our training alumni got inspired to build a solar dehydrator for drying fruits and vegetables at Eco-village Moldova. But the initiative did not stop there. A month later he helped built a similar dehydrator for another NGO “Gradina Moldovei”, which promotes organic gardening and a first heirloom seed bank in Moldova. Then, in October-January, the same alumni helped facilitate a series of workshops on building and using solar dehydrators. As a result, one more dehydrator was built with participation of local community members and is now accessible at the village Public Library in Riscova. Study visits to that library were organized for local school students to learn more about renewable energy, healthy diet and social entrepreneurship ideas, like fruit drying.  

All these initiatives would not be possible without your care and support. We’d like to sincerely thank each one of you for believing in this project, donating to it and spreading a word about it!

Dear friends,

Autumn is harvesting time for most Moldovans, and Environmental Training Center is no exception. It’s been a busy summer, but now it’s time to reap what we have sown. Our Center started taking shape: foundations are ready, wall frames are mounting up. The Center will inclue a big conference room with natural light, a well-equipped kitchen, dining area in a green house up front and a few rooms for hosting training participants on the second floor. We hope to put a roof over the training room by the end of the year. There is still a long way ahead, but I trust that with your support we’ll make it happen.

Our educational programs continued this summer, ranging from one-day workshops for people in the village to week-long international seminars. Organic gardening and vegetarian cooking workshops turned out to be most popular, drawing over 40 people at a time. As one participant of the vegetarian cooking workshop noted: “I’ve been to many similar events, but this one was the most inspiring and fulfilling. Maybe it’s the special atmosphere I found here, maybe it’s your practical approach to training. I can’t tell, but I appreciate this workshop a lot”. Local community members were more attracted by the theme of upcycling old clothes into carpets and toys.

One of ‘activEco - sustainability in action’ alumni got inspired by his training and decided to take action by making a solar dehydrator from construction scraps he found laying around. The dehyrator allowed us to dry fruits and vegetables grown in the garden over the summer and preserve them almost at no cost. 

International seminars, like “Actors of Transition” gave an opportunity for people in the village to meet participants from Greece, Germany, Spain, Armenia and Poland. It led not only to a cultural exchange, but also joined efforts to rehabilitate a local soccer field, resulting in a friendly match. These seminars also allowed local families generate some income by hosting training participants. One elderly woman was able to cover all her winter heating costs and some house repairs from hosting training participants this season.

The interest and response we get from training participants and the impact felt in the village just demonstrates the dire need to keep developing the project.

Thank you for donating and spreading the word about this initiative! 

Links:

• Check out our news on Facebook