What is needed to improve living conditions through sustainable innovations?

Resolution of the National Conference “Innovations towards a Safe and Comfortable Home”

05.10.2013 |WECF

More than 100 participants from different sectors, governmental and non-governmental bodies attended the national conference from 23-25 May 2013 in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan. All were engaged and consulted to contribute to the resolution based on the experiences made in the Home Comforts project.

After a wide consultation, the final recommendations are the following:

To create more attractive conditions in rural areas it is necessary to widely introduce the advanced and affordable sanitary-hygienic and energy-saving innovations, such as energy-efficient stoves, solar water heaters, dry ecological toilets (UDDT).
For a wide spread of the innovative technologies, the political will and comprehensive support are required at all levels, as the energy efficiency and access to sanitation and hygiene provide a huge benefit to rural residents.
Dissemination of the sanitary-hygiene and alternative energy-saving technologies require a due support, and first of all financial support.
In short term, a priority State Program on Introduction of Innovative Technologies should be developed aiming at creating an environmentally safe and comfortable home and focusing on the energy efficiency as a measure to mitigate the effects of the global climate change, and that the villagers are willing to contribute their co-financing shares in implementation of this project.
The State Program on Introduction of Innovative Technologies is to foresee organizing and implementing scientific research in this area by providing a technical and financial support to educational programs for technical students.
The State Program on Introduction of Innovative Technologies should include development and implementation of a training course for students of the vocational schools with regard to constructing and operating of the energy-saving stoves, solar collectors, fruit dryers and ecological toilets (UDDT).
A significant support will be updating the list of Patent services by introducing the construction of ecological toilets and energy-efficient stoves, thermal insulation of residential houses, manufacturing of solar collectors, etc. to the category of small-scale construction works performed at reduced prices. The current patent for general construction work, covering the above-mentioned services of the innovative technologies is expensive, and the rural constructors, mostly young people, can not always afford to buy them.
A local self-government body is to consider an option for issuing the low-interest microcredits to the vulnerable part of the rural population to be used for buying and constructing facilities of sanitary-hygienic and energy-saving technologies directly through the Resource Centres, as well as to envisage co-financing of the innovative projects in the local budgets.
It is necessary to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Resource and Demonstration Centres of the innovative technologies and make a common database of the existing innovative technologies.
A local self-government body should pay a serious attention to the early elaboration of financial mechanisms to support development of infrastructure and social housing.
A local self-government body should first of all assist local communities to open ecological guest houses, which use the above indicated innovative technologies. Besides, the touristic routes need to be tailored considering the guest houses in the database, and to organize and ecological and agrarian festivals jointly with various touristic companies.
Growth of the potential of the local communities (CDWUU, self-help groups, women's and youth organizations, etc.) is crucial in dissemination of the advanced technologies, allowing raising the public awareness, training and consulting activities to a qualitatively new level. To increase the effectiveness of their activities it is necessary to attract external financial sources and donor support.

You can download the full text of the resolution here:

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